Division of Academic Affairs announces 2026-27 Academic Leadership Academy cohort

Wayne State University's Division of Academic Affairs has announced the 2026-27 Academic Leadership Academy (ALA) cohort. The prestigious group of fellows will work on projects to improve an aspect of campus life and build leadership skills.

"Faculty and staff play an essential role in advancing Wayne State University's unique mission for student success, research excellence and community engagement," said Dr. Christina L. Bloebaum, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. "The Academic Leadership Academy fellows reflect Wayne State's values of collaboration and continuous improvement to positively impact academic excellence."

The ALA was launched in 2019 as part of Wayne State's ongoing commitment to the success and growth of its faculty and staff. The fellows represent a range of disciplines and units from across the university.

"The Academic Leadership Academy fosters a culture of lifelong learning, empowers leaders and amplifies Wayne State's strategic commitment to advancing teaching and learning on campus," said Dr. Sara Kacin, assistant vice provost for faculty development and faculty success and director of the Office for Teaching and Learning. "We're excited for the newest cohort to engage in thoughtful, collaborative work that will benefit our university for years to come."

Following a competitive application process, each ALA fellow identifies a project or focus area to improve a facet of campus life while building their own leadership skills through the group's retreat, monthly seminars, and ongoing coaching and mentoring.

"I applied to the Academic Leadership Academy because of my commitment to ongoing professional and personal growth, as well as my passion for supporting transformation in others," said fellow Carrol Reaser Parris, academic advisor in the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts. "I believe growth serves as a catalyst for meaningful change, and that change, when approached intentionally, creates opportunities for innovation, equity and empowerment within the communities we serve."

2026-27 Academic Leadership Academy

Honilynn Henricks

Honilynn Hendricks
Assistant Professor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education, Director - College of Education Early Childhood Center

Hendricks' project will aim to build community partnerships and boost enrollment in the birth-kindergarten early childhood education degree program.

Amanda Leggett

Amanda Leggett
Associate Professor of Psychology, Institute of Gerontology and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Leggett will work to create and host a panel focused on multidisciplinary careers in aging to highlight the diverse array of career pathways in the field.

Carrol Reaser-Parris

Carrol Reaser-Parris
Academic Advisor II, Department of Communication - College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts

Reaser-Parris' project will aim to embed direct links to key student support services into the admissions experience, ensuring newly admitted students can easily access resources such as financial aid, technology support, basic needs assistance, academic advising and wellness services before classes begin.

Ramesh Boggula

Ramesh Boggula
Assistant Professor (clinical) of Oncology, School of Medicine

Dr. Boggula's project will focus on creating hands-on lectures for medical students and residents to better learn how AI tools are becoming part of cancer treatment.

Tonima Tasnim Ananna

Tonima Tasnim Ananna
Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Tasnim Ananna will focus on increasing and improving community outreach events within the Department of Physics and Astronomy, with a long-term goal of encouraging more program applicants.

Stacey M. Sears

Stacey M. Sears
Assistant Professor (clinical), College of Nursing

Dr. Sears' project will focus on improving faculty support, consistency and student engagement in the Flex learning environment across graduate nursing courses. In collaboration with the Office for Teaching and Learning, the project will identify faculty barriers, assess current practices and develop a structured framework to strengthen the implementation of flexible learning.

Meagan Slappey

Meagan Slappey
Academic Services Officer II, Wayne Med-Direct Coordinator, Irvin D. Reid Honors College

Dr. Slappey will work to lead a collaborative, foundational initiative with campus partners to develop a more comprehensive pathway to academic success, which will promote more proactive and meaningful interactions, build competence, develop confidence in STEM (and beyond), and increase retention in STEM degrees.

Stacie Moser

Stacie Moser
Academic Advisor IV, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Stacie Moser's project will focus on academic staff professional development and wellness as essential expressions of institutional care, supporting the development of a career coaching pilot.

Andrew Moser

Andrew Moser
Educational Development Specialist, Office for Teaching and Learning

Andrew Moser's work will proactively help students develop discernment, confidence and ethical decision-making toward the responsible use of AI in academic contexts. He will use active-learning pedagogies and strategies to create self-paced learning modules, workshops and discussions. These resources will provide strategies to help students identify when AI is supporting or replacing learning and help faculty reframe AI conversations around building trust, student efficacy and growth.

Candice Turner

Candice L. Turner
Chief of Staff and Deputy Athletics Director, Department of Athletics

Dr. Turner's project, the Warrior Forward Student Success Ecosystem, is a strategic initiative to create a more connected, university-wide approach to student success by integrating academic support, career readiness, wellness, financial aid and student services into a coordinated model. Initially piloted in WSU Athletics, the project uses the student-athlete experience to develop and refine strategies that can scale across campus, with a focus on strengthening early intervention, embedding career development, expanding access to support services and improving outcomes for first-generation and underrepresented students.

Melissa Lipari

Melissa Lipari
Associate Professor (clinical) of Pharmacy Practice, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Dr. Lipari's project will analyze pharmacy student performance over time to identify students who may need support earlier and improve curriculum design to better prepare graduates for clinical practice.

Kayla White
Program Specialist, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

White's project will explore how humanities majors will fare in an increasingly technological workforce and determine what support they need to succeed.

Jyotsna Mainkar Diwadkar
Associate Professor (teaching) of Mathematics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Diwadkar will work to identify courses across campus where students consistently struggle and develop a collaborative learning community to strengthen learning strategies, study habits and academic confidence.

Rebekah McBride

Rebekah McBride
Academic Services Officer I, James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering

McBride will develop her leadership skills with a focus on supporting increased enrollment and recruitment initiatives for graduate students in the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering.

Jaclyn Demetrak

Jaclyn Demetrak
Student Service Center Warrior One-Stop Coordinator, Student Affairs

Demetrak will develop a Student Success Kit for incoming first-year and transfer students to provide a simple, accessible guide that helps them better understand how to navigate their first semester and connect with the right resources at the right time.

Michelle Hooks
Financial Aid Officer I, Student Affairs

Hooks will seek to develop her own leadership skills in service of her role as a mentor in the Wayne Women LEAD's Next Level Career Conversations program and inform a podcast about Detroit in the future.

Carrie Leach

Carrie Leach
Assistant Professor of Research, Institute of Gerontology, Division of Research & Innovation

Dr. Leach's project will focus on strengthening how community-engaged research is supported and accessed across the university, with the goal of making it easier for faculty, staff, students and community partners to connect and collaborate.

Applications for the 2027-28 Academic Leadership Academy will open in December. Anyone with questions or seeking additional information should email Joanna Poe at [email protected]