Professor Haynes joined the Department of Communications faculty in the fall of 2006 as a lecturer in print journalism. She is a former adjunct professor of journalism at Biola University, Regent University, University of Maryland at College Park, and Bowie State University.

Before making her transition into the classroom, Professor Haynes was a staff writer of the Los Angeles Times, Ebony, and the Providence Journal-Bulletin. She has two decades of experience as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, essayist, book reviewer, copy editor, news editor, photo editor, and page designer.

Professor Haynes holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in print journalism from Clark Atlanta University and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She has completed MBA courses in statistics, accounting, marketing, human behavior in organizations and organizational theory at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

Professor Haynes lives in southern Maryland with her husband and their two children.