Bennett College October 29, 2015 Bennett Selects Phyllis Dawkins As Its New Provost GREENSBORO, NC -- Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, a seasoned academician at Cheyney University, has been appointed the new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Bennett College. She is scheduled to begin her tenure at Bennett on December 1. "We are very pleased with this appointment," said Bennett College President Rosalind Fuse-Hall. "She has an extensive history working as provost and has served before in that capacity in North Carolina. I am very happy to have someone with her experience and background join our team." Under Dawkins' leadership at Cheyney as vice president for academic affairs, she revised institutional academic policies and practices, overhauled financial aid and admissions, and signed new/updated articulation agreements with University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, LaSalle University and the Community College of Philadelphia. She also reinvigorated the International Program, established the Ad Hoc Advisory Committees on Retention and Admission Criteria, and promoted a culture of assessment, continuous improvement and data based decision making. Prior to her arrival at Cheyney University, Dr. Dawkins served as provost, senior vice president for Academic Affairs, professor, the associate provost, vice president for Academic Affairs, and director for the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Academic Technology at Dillard University. Prior to that, Dr. Dawkins worked at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) for 28 years serving as the chief academic/administrative officer/dean of the College of Professional Studies, former interim vice president for Academic Affairs, and chair and professor of Physical Education. Dawkins assumed critical responsibilities at all three institutions for successful reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities, Commission on Colleges ((JCSU and Dillard) and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Universities (Cheyney). She also served as the Accreditation Liaison Officer at all three institutions and has made numerous presentations at SACSCOC Annual Conferences on topics such as Faculty Development, Learning Communities and Institutional Effectiveness. Having worked extensively with faculty development throughout her career, Dr. Dawkins developed national and international perspectives on the contributory roles of faculty and universities in the expanding global society. Her leadership positions include past president of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network (a network of faculty developers), former president and co-founding member of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Faculty Development Network, board member of the Higher Education Teaching and Learning (HETL) Association and the Association for General and Liberal Studies (AGLS), and Resource Faculty for the Washington Center's National Summer Institute on Learning Communities. She served on advisory boards including AAC&U's Preparing Critical Faculty for the Future (PCFF) project in the sciences, the Brown-Columbia Universities Inter-Ivy League Pilot Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), and the International Council for Educational Developers (ICED), 2011-2012 in Belgium. Dr. Dawkins received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, M.A. from The University of Michigan, and B.S from Johnson C. Smith University. She is married to Bobby G. Dawkins, Ph.D., who recently retired as a Senior Polymer and Fiber Associate in Research and Development from PBI Performance Products, Inc. They have two adult daughters: Malia Dawkins, M.A., who is an Actress, a Writer/Producer and an Account Manager for the NCompass International, and Demi Dawkins, M.D., who is in a Neurosurgery Residency at the University of Wisconsin. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.