College of education major to represent FAMU at doctoral conference

Tiyana Herring at the The 6th Annual Black Doctoral Network, Inc. Conference.
Tiyana Herring | The Famuan

Florida A&M University will be represented Tiyana Herring, a senior elementary education student at The Sixth Black Doctoral Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27. Herring’s attendance at the conference will be a positive addition to her academic and professional resume, and put a spotlight on FAMUs College of Education and its faculty.

The mission of The Black Doctoral Network Conference is to lead the next generation of African-American scholars to new heights by encouraging intellectual curiosity and transformative research. The conference serves as path between scholars, disciplines and academic universities.

“I got this opportunity from one of my professors, Dr. Cheron Davis, she forwarded me the email with all of the information,” Herring said. “Within the same 24 hours that I’d applied to present at the conference, The Black Doctoral Network had emailed me back confirming that I would be competing in a poster presentation competition.”

Herring plans to pursue graduate degrees so this opportunity was timely. Herring expressed that she is nervous because she will be the only FAMU student to attend but this opportunity is rewarding overall.  

Cheron Davis, Ph.D., and College of Education professor, was not surprised that Herring continues to be successful.

“I appreciate how diligent and dedicated Tiyana is, not only in her school work, but her research, and anything she sets out to do,” Davis said. “She is always ready to get out there and just do whatever she is called to do, and she does it ever so effortlessly.”

In addition to the conference, Herring has a research fellowship with Florida State University through a program called PURPOSE. She was granted a total annual stipend of $6,000 and an additional $2,000 for research materials, travel, and other fees in support of her research.

Director of The Candidate Empowerment Center Pamela G. Thompson, Ph.D., believes the conference will be a great way for Herring to showcase her talents and intelligence she gained at FAMU.

“Tiyana is an outstanding individual who loves learning, and because of her excitement towards her studies, she has been able to do so much on behalf of herself as well as being a golden representation of The College of Education,” Thompson said.  “This opportunity is wonderful especially as she approaches the end of her internship and graduation.”

Herring hopes to gain a broader network of professionals and researchers in education at the conference. She believes the conference will lead to more opportunities as she gets more practice presenting and being critiqued by professionals in the field.

Herring was also selected to attend a graduate feeder weekend at Ohio State University during the same weekend as the conference. She expressed that she is thankful for their support system and credits them to her success.

She said, “I look forward to sharing my network with other students here at FAMU when I return, because I know that if it weren’t for the encouragement and guidance from my family and professors, I would not be blessed with these same opportunities.”