UW–Madison alumna Nicole Soulier, who earned her PhD from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA) in 2024, is receiving the 2025 Dissertation of the Year Award from the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC).
Soulier is a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and a three-time Badger, having also earned her bachelor’s in human development and family studies and certificate in American Indian studies in 2009, and a master’s in educational leadership and policy analysis in 2015 with an emphasis in higher education and leadership in two-year schools.
Soulier currently serves as director of college access and experience programs at Madison College.
Soulier’s dissertation is titled, “In community: A critical qualitative investigation of engagement with Indigenous communities to improve community college access.” This work investigates the relationship between community colleges and the communities they serve. By centering the voices of Indigenous community members, the aim of her scholarship is to explore how Indigenous people define and experience college access and engagement within the community college setting. Her dissertation was driven by her intention to positively influence both research and practice, and amplifying Indigenous voices and addressing the needs of Indigenous communities. The dissertation reflects a culmination of 40 years of personal, educational, and professional experiences interwoven on college access, Indigenous education, and the outreach imperative embedded within the American community college mission.
“As an Indigenous scholar and community college practitioner, my approach to this research was deeply rooted in my desire to serve my community and others like mine, while also contributing to the field of community college scholarship and educational leadership. I bring my heart’s passion and full self to this work, and strive to push the boundaries of traditional educational research to consider alternative paradigms for exploring the intersections of community and community colleges.”
Soulier adds: “This award is a reflection of the brilliant leadership and collaborative mentorship of ELPA colleagues and faculty, and more specifically my advisor Dr. Xueli Wang, who encouraged me to pursue this research and provided unwavering support and guidance throughout the process. As the landscape of higher education continues to evolve, my hope is that this work will inspire others to think critically for how education works to serve the needs of diverse communities.”
The annual CSCC Richard M. Romano Dissertation of the Year Award honors doctoral students who graduated during the previous calendar year, and whose dissertations have explored community college-related topics and exhibited exemplary skills in research and scholarship. Further, the dissertation should demonstrate excellence in scholarly inquiry, illustrate originality of thought, and include significant findings that make a substantial contribution to the extant literature on community colleges; that shed new light on how issues and challenges facing community colleges are researched, theorized, and interpreted; and/or that potentially could have an important effect on community college policy and/or practice.