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Dr. Brooklyn Herrera, a 2024 graduate of the University of North Georgia's (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) Doctor of Education program, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Dissertation of the Year award by the Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA). Herrera presented her research at the SACSA annual conference, held Nov. 1–4 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Dr. Michael Lanford, associate professor in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Ed.D. in higher education leadership and practice program, served as Herrera's dissertation mentor.

"Almost every winner of this award has previously come from a Ph.D. program at a major research university, like the University of Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Maryland, or Florida State," Lanford said. "Those students often receive full-time living stipends to work on their research, as well as research grants from their universities. Brooklyn balanced her full-time job at Dalton State while attending our Ed.D. program, and this award speaks both to her work ethic and the quality of our Ed.D. program. Brooklyn's work is a powerful example of how scholarship rooted in day-to-day practice — like the student success work happening at Dalton State College — can shape the field."

Herrera, assistant director of peer education at Dalton State College, focused her dissertation on achieving equity through asset-based peer support. Her research examined how asset-based peer tutoring fosters belonging and persistence among Latinx students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions by emphasizing students' cultural strengths rather than perceived deficits.

"Latinx students enter college with strengths that, through peer-to-peer relationships, make meaningful contributions to navigating college successfully," Herrera said. "It's meaningful to be honored individually, but even more meaningful to see the students' experiences and the broader implications of this research shared. The study fills a gap in the literature, and it is meaningful to me that higher education associations are clearly emphasizing student success."

She also expressed gratitude for Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Ed.D. program receiving the recognition.

"Receiving this honor is also a reflection of the program itself at Â鶹ÊÓƵ," Herrera said. "Most of all, it honors the student participants who shared their experiences and spent time with me while balancing college, work and family responsibilities."

Lanford said a particularly interesting research technique involved Herrera asking students to bring in photos that were important to their stories and talk about the images.

"Student photographs and narratives demonstrated how participants drew on strengths from their homes and communities to navigate higher education and support one another," Herrera said.

Herrera is thankful to Â鶹ÊÓƵ for being able to tailor her dissertation to her passion, and the faculty have supported her every step of the way, even now.

"The research doesn't end with your program. We are still consistently working on publications and articles," Herrera said. "The faculty members still support me from a mentorship standpoint. If I need to run anything by Dr. Lanford or Dr. Katherine Adams, the program coordinator, they're always there to talk about it."

Herrera later won the College Reading and Learning Association Dissertation of the Year Award.