JCSU News Release

JCSU Promotes Alum as Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs

November 1, 2007 - Johnson C. Smith University recently promoted Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins as its Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs. Dawkins will replace veteran vice-president for academic affairs Dr. Marilyn Sutton Haywood on November 15, 2007. Dr. Sutton Haywood announced earlier this fall that she has accepted a position with Bethune-Cookman University in
Daytona Beach, Fla.

She received her B.S. degree in Physical Education from Johnson C. Smith University. She then completed her M.A. in Adapted Physical Education and Recreation from The University of Michigan. She then went on to earned her Ph .D in Adapted Physical Education with a Minor in Psychology of Mental Retardation from Ohio State University.

Dawkins also received a Certificate of Leadership from the Harvard Institute for Higher Education (Management and Leadership in Education-MLE) and a Certificate of Leadership for the Mable Parker McLean Women’s UNCF Leadership Development Forum.

Until her new appointment on November 15, 2007, Dr. Dawkins will continue to serve as the Dean of the College of Professional Studies, a Professor of Physical Education, and a member of the Honors College at Johnson C. Smith University. Previously, she was Chair of the Division of Education and Psychology and Chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education.

Dawkins is a national expert on the concept of learning communities. In 2001, The Learning Communities Program was selected to participate in the National Learning Communities Project, sponsored by The Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education.

Dawkins is the Director of the Faculty Development Program that includes a Steering Committee with training strands in Learning Communities, instructional technology, learning across the curriculum, faculty discussions about academic discourse, Faculty Learning Communities, and engaged pedagogical teaching strategies.

She conducts scholarly research, publishes, and writes grants in the areas of faculty development, case development, and learning communities.

She is from Asheville, North Carolina and is married to Dr. Bobby G. Dawkins, a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and Cornell University. Her husband is a Senior Polymer & Fiber Associate of the Research and Development Unit for PBI Performance Products, Inc. They have two daughters, Malia and Demi.