Fayetta Keys, associate professor (clinical) with the School of Social Work, is one of five inaugural members of Wayne State University's Academy of Teachers.

The academy seeks to create and sustain a culture of teaching excellence based on the diffusion and implementation of evidence-driven, inclusive, and student-centered pedagogical and curricular practices across the university. Among other things, it will support and recognize professional excellence, promote information- and idea-sharing among faculty, and advise the provost on matters related to teaching and learning.

A member of the university's social work faculty since 2006, Keys has demonstrated superlative skill in the creation of sophisticated and innovative learning environments. She serves both as the school's education technology coordinator and as coordinator of the online B.S.W. program (Where Online Works!), in which roles she designs, develops, implements and evaluates new technologies for teaching and learning and conducts onsite professional development seminars, workshops and retreats. At the university level, she has worked to maximize the integration of Blackboard and Canvas across campus and has shared her knowledge of these learning management systems with faculty colleagues in other school and colleges.

Keys is recognized as an outstanding teacher within the School of Social Work and the university-at-large, receiving the School of Social Work's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2012 and the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2013. She is also an active scholar, having been involved in research on gambling attitudes, motivations and gambling patterns among urban elders. In recommending her for admission into the academy, Distinguished Professor and (then) Interim Dean Jerrold Brandell praised Keys for demonstrating "a rare blend of teaching mastery, innovation, scholarship and curricular leadership."