For some University of Tennessee at Chattanooga students, an on-campus job is more than a way to gain experience while earning a degree—it is the first step toward a career. From recreation and information technology to marketing and communications, former student employees are turning the skills, relationships and confidence they developed at the University into full-time roles after graduation.
Caroline Jacobs, Kailey Agoo, Ryan Geyer and Dixie Edmondson each began working at UTC as interns or part-time employees. Now, they are building their professional careers on campus, supporting the University community while applying the lessons they learned in the classroom and on the job.
Caroline Jacobs is the operations coordinator at the UTC Aquatic and Recreation Center. Photo by Angela Foster.
Caroline Jacobs, who graduated this past May with a Bachelor of Science in Sport, Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management, worked at the UTC Aquatic and Recreation Center (ARC) during her time as a University student.
Jacobs grew up in Atlanta but visited Chattanooga regularly while attending mission trips and traveling for softball. She started as a recreation assistant at the ARC during her freshman year, and over time, moved up the ladder.
“I wanted to continue to get leadership roles … because I enjoyed being there so much,” Jacobs said. “I moved into a student-led role and had more hands-on leadership experience.”
As Jacobs continued working at the ARC, the operations coordinator role opened, and she was more than happy to put her name in the hat.
“It was previously a graduate assistant role,” she said. “I applied for it because it lined up perfectly with when I was graduating, and I wanted to continue to be here and work for the University.
“I ended up getting the job and was really excited about it.”
Jacobs’ new role involves overseeing student staff and coordinators at the ARC, helping set up events at both the ARC and Maclellan Gym, and scheduling staff members’ schedules.
Jacobs officially moved into her full-time role on July 1 and said she is grateful for her work with the ARC. Her post-grad opportunity at UTC will set her up well for the next chapter of her career.
“I made a lot of connections here through academics and work,” Jacobs said. “I feel like this is a community I want to continue to grow into and hopefully it will lead to more.
“Working here straight out of undergrad was a good stepping stone for me. I’m getting to experience post-grad life but with people that I know. I think I’ll continue to grow and challenge myself more, and I’m really excited about it.”
Kailey Agoo joined the UTC Division of Communications and Marketing in May.
Kailey Agoo was hired as a digital content specialist by the Division of Communications and Marketing after graduating in May 2025.
She started working at the IT Help Desk during her sophomore year, which led her into web development.
“During my last year in web, I was doing a lot of project planning with web accessibility in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines,” said the Nashville native. “I think the Communications and Marketing Department really liked that I could do and plan things.”
Agoo described the transition into her full-time role as “super easy,” and emphasized the comfort of already having support in the building. She was also able to offer a student’s perspective to better market the fun and useful aspects of UTC to potential students.
“They asked me if I could apply for this job and thought I’d be a good fit,” she said. “I applied and everyone was super kind. It was also nice because I had already met everybody. I felt really comfortable because I already knew the campus and the people, and I think that helped me in thinking about marketing.”
Agoo is confident that her early full-time job experience with UTC will help prepare her for future endeavors and make her more well-rounded.
“Having marketing skills will benefit me in the long run,” she said. “On my resume, people will know that I know marketing and strategies. I’ve never taken a marketing class at all, so I’m really learning a lot in this job and in the marketing world.”
Ryan Geyer is a current student working full-time at the IT Solutions Center,
Ryan Geyer works as a client services technician in the IT Solutions Center at the Mocs One Center. Geyer is on schedule to graduate in December with degrees in history and philosophy and minors in French and computer science.
“I’ve always been technology focused and tech savvy,” he said. “When I was a teenager, I got into gaming and built a PC. From there, I was interested in networking and all of the more human parts of IT and computer science in terms of how people use these and what we do with it in the world.”
Growing up in Jackson, Tennessee, Geyer was naturally drawn to UTC over other surrounding schools for several reasons.
“I really liked Chattanooga for the school,” he said. “UTC is about the right size for me, and the city is not too big, either. I see UTC as a nice in-between where I could get comfortable and figure out what I wanted to do.”
When Geyer started working in IT during the 2022-23 school year, he was originally looking for a part-time job. However, as the spring 2023 semester was ending, a new opportunity presented itself.
“I was part-time in IT for about eight months, and then the semester was over and it was time to go home for the summer,” he said. “They asked me to stay on to work on a special project they were doing over the summer. I did that for a little bit, and then they were hiring for another full-time position in my area.
“I thought, ‘Well, I’ve built myself up here, I understand what’s going on, and I have a good skillset that works well for this job.’ So from there I applied and went through the process.”
“I must have convinced them somehow,” he said jokingly.
Geyer started his full-time role in July 2023 and said that working with UTC has prepared him for the job industry.
“I feel like it has really helped me with working with people in terms of collaborating, helping people that come in looking for help, and of course dealing with management and figuring out how business hierarchies work,” Geyer explained. “It has helped me adapt to that and find my place within that regard.”
Dixie Edmondson sits in her Mapp Building office in the Center for Professional Education.
Dixie Edmondson graduated from UTC this past May, majoring in communication and minoring in humanities and criminal justice. She now works as the marketing and communications manager for the Center for Professional Education (CPE).
The communication field wasn’t always in Edmondson’s plans. It took a push from a UTC staff member to align her in that direction.
“I originally thought that I wanted to go to law school, and in my mind UTC was just a stepping stone,” Edmondson said. “I didn’t really have a degree that I felt really passionate about. Chad Harris from the communication department is a longtime family friend and mentor. I asked him and he said, ‘Go get your communication major. You’re a really creative person, so you may actually like it, but it could also help you for law school.’
“In the spring semester of my freshman year, I got into my first social media seminar class with Nagwan Zahry and I was absolutely hooked. It was research and creation in a way that I had never even known was possible.”
As time went on, more connections were made, which led her to her current position.
“After having a lot of conversations with Dr. (Ethan) Carver, the dean of the UTC Graduate School, it became evident that (CPE) definitely needed an internal communications person,” she said. “They knew I was graduating and needed someone to help them in the interim.
“I started working part-time for the graduate school and part-time for the Center for Professional Education from February to May, and I really loved it. I loved the people and I loved the job. When the position opened up, I applied. It was a nerve-wracking process, but it turned out really good.”
Although she has only been in the position for the last several months, Edmondson has been busy.
“Currently, we are going through a full rebranding of the office,” she explained. “All of our core missions, visions and values of our programs are getting redone. At the moment, it’s a lot of consumer research and looking at what we have and what it needs to be, and then building it up from there.”
As she transitions further into her career, Edmondson is excited to use the tactics she has learned while working at UTC.
“I’m definitely using every single thing that I have ever learned in my toolkit right now,” Edmondson said. “There are so many different projects everywhere, and I’m a person who really likes working on multiple things at one time. UTC has definitely prepared me to do that because I was working on so many different things and performing so many duties.
“It is also the connection I am making at the moment. We’re talking to so many different community partners, nonprofits and companies in places like Chattanooga, Nashville and Atlanta. I feel like those relationships will build over time and be really good, and I can have a positive impact on community engagement and accessibility.”
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