Cindy Akers is the associate dean for academic and student programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources.
Cindy Akers, the associate dean for academic and student programs in the Texas Tech University College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, was named president of the Non-land-grant Agriculture and Renewable Resources Universities (NARRU) this fall at the annual conference of the professional organization in San Angelo.
NARRU, part of the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU), serves as a unifying force for faculty, students, staff and administrators of agriculture, food and renewable resource programs at NARRU state-funded public colleges and universities.
"NARRU is an organization that gives these institutions a unified voice," Akers said.
According to program officials, the group promotes excellence in science-based teaching with hands-on experience in conducting responsive, issue-based research and communicating findings to stakeholders and the general public.
Non-land-grant universities have a successful history of educating and preparing professionals in agriculture, food and renewable resources and many related fields, Akers said. Forty-five percent of the bachelor's degrees awarded each year in agriculture, food and renewable resource-related majors are from non-land-grant institutions in the 13 primary states served by these institutions.
Akers, who also serves as a professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications, has received numerous educational honors, including being named a Fellow in the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE) in 2017. In addition, she's the past president of the AAAE-Western Region and has served as chair of Texas Tech's Teaching Academy, a group of approximately 200 members from throughout the university supporting, promoting and recognizing teaching excellence.
Akers, who joined the Texas Tech faculty in 1997, also has received the AAAE-Western Region Distinguished Teaching Award (2011), the Texas Tech Departmental Excellence in Teaching Award (2005), the Texas Tech President's Excellence in Teaching Award (2005), Texas Tech Parents Association's Hemphill-Wells New Professor of Excellence in Teaching Award (2004), and the Texas Tech Alumni Association Outstanding New Faculty Award (2004).
A native of Estancia, New Mexico, Akers earned her bachelor's degree in agricultural communications, her master's degree in agricultural education and her doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the College of Education at Texas Tech.
