Parks holds a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education from Fairmont State College and a Master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction with a specialization in Teaching in Higher Education from West Virginia University. She has also completed doctoral hours at WVU and Grambling State University. Parks designed the college’s Early Assessment program, which delivers academic outreach services to area high schools. She teaches Composition Skills and Freshman Seminar. Parks also administers placement testing for first-year students. She has worked with first-year students at Fairmont State since 1989. She is married, lives in Fairmont, and is the mother of two teenagers.