Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
900 Wood Road, Kenosha
Faculty: 300-plus | staff: 160-plus
uwp.edu
When Lynn Akey’s son was touring colleges in the spring of 2021, Akey, a longtime university leader in Minnesota, was also looking to expand her horizons. After 28 years at Minnesota State University, Mankato – most recently as the vice president for student success, analytics and integrated planning – Akey struck up a relationship with Debbie Ford, then-chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, right around the time her son decided to attend college at the small Kenosha-based campus. When Ford announced in 2023 that she would be stepping down from the post to take a job at an Indiana university, Akey, along with dozens of other candidates, threw her hat into the ring. In September, university officials announced that the Minnesotan had been selected from a group of three candidates to succeed Ford in January. BizTimes Milwaukee reporter Cara Spoto recently sat down with Akey to talk about her first few months on the job and how she sees Parkside serving the region.
BizTimes: What attracted you to UW-Parkside?
Akey: “I was first exposed to the university in the spring of 2021 when my own son was looking for a place to pursue his college career. He was looking for a school with a strong academic program in the subject that he’s pursuing as well as the opportunity to participate in track and field. It happened that Parkside had that combination, and so, in the spring of 2021, we came over from Minnesota to tour the institution as a family, and he enrolled later that fall.
“Since I was a Parkside parent before I became Parkside’s chancellor, I had an opportunity to really come to know both the institution and the region as someone who was visiting campus. I also had the opportunity to establish a relationship with my predecessor, former UW-Parkside chancellor Debbie Ford. At the same time my son was starting school at Parkside, I was moving through executive leadership programs for university leaders aspiring to be presidents and chancellors. As part of that process, Chancellor Ford and I connected on a regular basis, and I had an opportunity to come over and visit the institution as I was shadowing her.”
What was it like having Chancellor Ford be your mentor before this opportunity came up and then getting the chance to fill her shoes?
“Chancellor Ford certainly was a wonderful leader for the university, and I think the campus community was fortunate to have her leadership for 14 years. It’s tremendous to have that kind of stability and forward-thinking focus for that length of time. So, I really looked at the opportunity to follow her and to also have her mentorship as just providing me an outstanding foundation to build upon.
“I think when we look at Parkside, which was founded in 1968, and what it’s accomplished in that short tenure, it’s something to be proud of. Other university communities – perhaps around the upper Midwest – that I’m familiar with don’t have the type of regional growth and development that the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee-Chicago corridor has. And I think we have some unique opportunities to be a part of that growth.”
What have you learned about Parkside in the roughly four months you’ve been on the job?
“We have really strong programs focusing on student success, and we are centered on providing affordable access to higher education, especially since we are the most diverse institution within the Universities of Wisconsin. But we’re also thinking about how we continue to do that going forward.
“Right now, we’re really launching into a series of conversations about what that future looks like. We have a couple of areas in which the institution already has tremendous strength, one would be in our suite of health programs. Those programs produce students with acceptance rates into medical schools of between 89% and 92%. We’ve also just been approved by our creditor to add a master’s degree in a physician assistant program, and so we’re working to bring that online starting in the fall of 2026. The other area we have a lot of excitement about is investments within artificial intelligence and data analytics and bringing forward a center for data analytics. We certainly have had a strong foundation as an institution within our business and information and computing science programs.”
How do you see Parkside serving its students?
“Beyond just adding new programs, I think there’s an even more important conversation that we’re having as an institution, and that’s how we offer our program. So, for example, we’re talking about how we might offer stackable credentials that would be more supportive of students who might be coming in and out of higher education. Instead of saying to our prospective students, ‘You need to be able to commit to four years.’ It’s asking, ‘How much time can you commit?’ Let’s look at what an 18-month experience might be. At the end of that program, you might have a certificate you can use within the workplace. And then you can return a year or so later and complete another 18-month experience.
“We’re thinking about how we can offer courses and learning experiences that match who our students are. We recognize here at Parkside that most of our students are trying to live, learn, and work at the same time, and so we want to make sure that we’re actually enabling students to do all three of those things very well. We’re also looking at work-based learning programs – fully funded internship-type programs that enable a student to both learn and work at the same time – and accelerated degree programs, whether that is dual enrollment or allowing students to earn baccalaureate and a master’s degree at the same time.”
What are some of the things you like most about Parkside?
“It’s a beautiful place. It’s kind of a nature preserve in and of itself since it’s situated on a little over 700 acres of land. It’s sort of a little oasis in the middle of everything. Within five minutes, you can go from a very urban setting to a suburban area, and then be in a rural location. And to have access to all of that is really phenomenal. When I’m on campus, though, I like being able to get away from the hustle and bustle to be able to focus on the learning and the experience that we provide here.
“Parkside is the most affordable university in Wisconsin, and so we provide access to an education that many students might not have thought was possible for them. Once our students see the tremendous opportunity that’s in front of them, they just pursue their studies with a passion that’s incredible to witness. I feel so blessed to be able to observe the journeys that they are on.”
