Dr. Annie C. Jones has been named Director of the Upward Bound Program at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She replaces longtime director Booker T. Scruggs, who has become an adjunct faculty member at the University.
Jones’ 22-year career has covered college admissions, public service, recruitment, financial aid, program coordination and advocacy, resource development and adult occupational counseling. She was most recently an adjunct faculty member at Lakeland College in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and as a counselor in student services/student success and as special projects assistant at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Upward Bound at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga began in 1968. Today it is a pre-college program for students who have the ability to complete a program of post-secondary education, but who may not achieve that goal because of constraints imposed by family income levels and the lack of knowledge about the college admissions process. The program provides supplemental academic assistance, educational and career guidance and cultural enrichment activities for students at Howard, Brainerd and East Ridge High Schools. The goal of the program is to help students acquire the prerequisite skills, motivation and knowledge to enter and complete a college or university.
“Research has found that students whose parents did not complete college or never attended are often not academically prepared for college. These students have little, if any information on applying to college as well as limited information on financial aid,” said Jones. “And often there may be some difficulty in students acclimating to college after they are enrolled and are on campus. Upward Bound affords the first generation student the opportunity to live on campus for a minimum of two summers, receive tutoring, academic enrichment courses, admission testing preparation, and sessions that guide them in preparing for college and in helping them understand what will be expected of them once on campus. Upward Bound is the catalyst that opens the doors to post-secondary for the student that participates.”
Jones, herself, was once a student involved in the Upward Bound program at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. “I knew I wanted to attend college; attending Upward Bound stabilized the confidence in me that college was attainable. It also exposed me to various cultural activities– in Upward Bound I saw my first Broadway Play,” said Jones.
On the UTC campus, Jones would like to increase student participation in Upward Bound and strengthen retention of the students enrolled. She is also assessing the financial challenge of funding programming, academic enrichment courses and support services needed to serve the students. “I propose to allocate the majority of the funding to programming for the students, to focus on measurable academic improvement modules, have Upward Bound become visible on campus and the community and to generate parental involvement for the program,” Jones said.
Jones earned a B.A. in political science from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin; the M.S. in Counselor Education at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville; and the Ed.D. in Higher Education/Leadership/Administration from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
She has served as First Vice President, Green Bay Branch of the NAACP and she has been a board member of the Girl Scouts of Lac-Baie Council. She is a member of the American Vocational Association, the Green Bay/DePere Business and Professional Women’s Club and Eta Xi, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She was honored with the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Education and Business and Professional Women’s Woman of the Year Award.
