Dr. Cindy Blackwell is an Academic Director at ACUE. Blackwell’s interest in faculty development began during her PhD program when she seized the opportunity to earn a college teaching certificate from the Center for Teaching Excellence at Texas A&M University. Through that certification process it was impressed upon Blackwell that faculty development is not one certificate, but rather a career-long process of learning best practices and advancing teaching methods as technology and research evolve. Through her faculty development journey, Blackwell earned ACUE’s Certificate in Effective College Instruction in 2017 at The University of Southern Mississippi and later served as a facilitator for the USM ACUE cohorts.
Blackwell was a tenured associate professor at Oklahoma State University where she was co-director on several grant projects. Through one UDSA Higher Education Challenge Grant, Blackwell co-directed the Leadership Education Institute preparing university faculty to offer leadership education programs. Blackwell also served on two Department of State grant projects focusing on developing media professionals in Mali, West Africa and Kenya. While at Oklahoma State, Blackwell was the 2010 CASNR Exemplary Faculty award recipient presented by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Alumni.
Most recently Blackwell served as the associate director for the Center for Faculty Development at USM where she was also an associate teaching professor and the academic integrity officer for Southern Miss. Blackwell’s solid focus on students and student learning led her to be honored with USM’s University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019. Blackwell earned a Bachelor of Journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Urban Planning and PhD from Texas A&M University.
