FACULTY FELLOW - Dr. Aneika Simmons
Dr. Aneika Simmons is a Professor of Management in the College of Business Administration (COBA). She completed her doctorate at Texas A&M University, her masters at The University of Houston, and her undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a true Texan! Based in Houston, she also previously worked for Accenture and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young as an information technology consultant.
Dr. Simmons has been a professor at SHSU for 14 years, serving our campus at the university, college, and departmental levels. She is a Faculty Senator and also serves on: the Graduate Appeals Committee; the Faculty Professional Development Committee (co-chair); Attendance Reporting Improvements Team; the Alpha Kappa Psi organization (co-advisor); and is a recurring presenter for The Learning Academies: Management Academy. Among other service activities, Dr. Simmons has served as a moderator or panelist on several SHSU programs: COBA Alumni panel; Women’s History Month panel discussion; Inaugural Women’s Leadercast conference, WeLead Tenure & Promotion panel; and the COBA What Do We Do Now? panel discussion held this past summer. In sum, she enjoys being a part of and contributing to the Bearkat family!
Dr. Simmons has conducted research on creativity, diversity, leadership, and justice for many years and believes in the dignity of all people. In response to observing the negative impact of stress, in 2019, she began to do work on job burnout. Dr. Simmons co-authored a presentation accepted and delivered at the technology conference by Lead Developer New York. "Managing the Burnout Burndown" combines contemporary academic and technology content and was presented at a crowd of over 500 at the New York Academy of Medicine. This work has also been presented in London, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Houston, and virtually (due to COVID-19) in Pittsburgh and South Africa. This year, a version of this talk has also been given virtually at Texas A&M University and The University of Texas at Austin. (Watch "Managing the Burnout Burndown” on YouTube.)
Recently, Dr. Simmons was selected as a 2021 Faculty Administrative Fellow by SHSU’s Office of the Provost. As such, she will be leading a project to help make the campus more burnout resistant at the university, college, and departmental levels by, among other things, working to bring in leading speakers from this arena and building related collaborations across campus for university-wide workshops and programs. “This initiative will work to build burnout-resistant faculty and staff as well as provide a campus-wide environment to allow for healthy recovery from burnout for those who have experienced it or are experiencing it now,” said Dr. Simmons. “It will also seek to help remove the stigma from being burned out and provide a space where people can acknowledge both being engaged and enjoying their position while overcoming burnout.” Overall, the program will attempt to provide support and resources needed for a healthier campus.
