J. Jeffrey Jones, a vice chancellor at Indiana University South Bend, has been named UCF’s new vice provost for Regional Campuses, a network of nine campuses that stretches from Daytona Beach to Palm Bay to Leesburg.
Jones will begin his new job July 1, UCF Provost and Executive Vice President Tony G. Waldrop announced following a national search.
“I’m really excited to become a member of the UCF team,” Jones said. “During my recent visits, I was very impressed by the dedicated and thoughtful people I met. I’m sure that with the tremendous staff that’s in place, we will continue to build a very robust regional campus system.”
Since 2007, Jones has been vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management in South Bend, where he provides leadership for admissions, financial aid and scholarships, housing and residence life, and dean of students functions. He also has been involved in strategic planning and enhancing retention efforts.
The South Bend campus has about 8,500 students and is the third largest of eight campuses in the 110,000-student Indiana University system.
“My entire 28-year career has been devoted to serving regional campuses of state universities,” he wrote in a letter to the UCF search committee. “I understand the unique challenges of navigating a blend of local autonomy and system-wide collaborative initiatives.”
Jones wrote that his experience will help balance “the demands and desires of our local students, faculty and staff with the need to successfully collaborate within a large, complex university system.”
In his letter, Jones said it is “an exciting time to be affiliated with this ‘up and coming’ institution” because of UCF’s academically rigorous and engaged position in education.
“Certainly, there is a strong underlying brand surrounding the University of Central Florida,” he wrote. “However, I believe it will be important to continue to tell the story of the unique services and programs provided by the regional campuses in the diverse communities each serves. Ultimately, this comes down to determining local needs and wants and working to satisfy them. It might mean working with academic deans to determine a unique product mix, or how the programs are ‘packaged.’ It might be about delivery channels, such as UCF’s robust web-based courses.”
Prior to working at Indiana University South Bend, Jones served in a variety of roles for more than 23 years at Purdue University North Central in Westville, Ind. Purdue has four campuses and more than 75,000 students, and shares two campuses with Indiana University.
Jones earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Purdue University-West Lafayette, a master’s in Communication from Purdue University Calumet, and a baccalaureate degree in English from St. Joseph’s College of Indiana.
He has been active in many community organizations, serving on numerous boards of directors including the local school board, Boys & Girls Club, workforce development board, two economic development corporations, and La Porte Hospital.
“Dr. Jones brings a varied background and creative perspectives to UCF, which will help our regional campuses flourish,” said Waldrop. “I know that upon his arrival he will reach out to the UCF community and to our college partners to strengthen our relationships and enhance our students’ experiences.”
Jones and his wife, Pam, plan to live in Oviedo.
Waldrop also thanked Joyce Dorner for serving as interim provost for Regional Campuses, and Joel Hartman, vice provost for Information Technologies and Resources, for serving as search chair.