Akindes Takes on New Role at UW System

University of Wisconsin-Parkside Communication Professor Dr. Fay Yokomizo Akindes will join the UW System Office of Academic Programs and Educational Innovation (APEI) as the director of system-wide professional and instructional development starting in August. In her new role, Dr. Akindes will provide administrative oversight and direction for faculty and teaching instructional staff development programs that improve teaching and assessment of student learning.

UW-Parkside Provost Dr. Rob Ducoffe said that a “dedication to student success and a commitment to the professional development of her colleagues” have established Dr. Akindes as a highly respected faculty member during her 20-year career at the university. “Regardless of the academic discipline, Dr. Akindes’ insight on key university issues is sought after and valued,” Ducoffe said.

Dr. Akindes has served as chair of the UW-Parkside Communication Department, directed the Center for Ethnic Studies for eight years, and, most recently, was faculty director of Community-Based Learning & Research. Dr. Akindes earned her Ph.D. in mass communication and M.A. in telecommunication management at Ohio University. While at UW-Parkside, she was a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow in 2000, managed a summer institute, facilitated workshops, and co-edited the book “Diversity in the College Classroom.”

"Leaving UW-Parkside is difficult," Dr. Akindes said. "However, the opportunity to apply what I've learned here to the 26 campuses throughout the System is an exciting challenge. I am carrying Parkside with me to Madison."

Dr. Akindes served as a 2005 Fulbright Teaching Scholar at the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin, West Africa, and taught at Dalkeith Palace in the “Wisconsin in Scotland Program” in Spring 2017. She received UW-Parkside’s Stella Gray Teaching Excellence Award in 2004. Prior to graduate school she worked in broadcast marketing and promotion in San Diego (NPR affiliate) and Honolulu (CBS-TV and PBS affiliates).