Before interviewing and taking the job at then-Lynchburg College in 2014, Michael Jones contemplated working elsewhere and moving his family across the country, something he had done “a number of times.”
Jones, who spent 42 years in higher education and several years as a newspaper reporter, at the time had been serving in a leadership position — senior director of strategic communications and marketing — at the University of Virginia for 10 years.
Someone mentioned to him one day about the job at then-Lynchburg College.
“Somebody said ‘hey, they got a job at the University of Lynchburg’ … I didn’t know anything about the place. I had only been to Lynchburg soccer games with my children,” he said.
Jones then called and asked about the job opening, and was invited down for an interview.
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He said what intrigued him about the school was his visit prior to the interview at 8 a.m. to eat breakfast.
Jones said he saw students happy and faculty eating in the same dining hall. He talked to students for almost two hours and it convinced him the college was the place he wanted to work.
Jones — who's title evolved from director of creative services to vice president for enrollment, communications and marketing — went on to work for nine years at the college, a job he said “sort of fell in my lap."
“I kind of viewed it as a happy accident because it gave me the opportunity to do what I loved and not move my family,” Jones said.
In an email to the campus community, according to a release from the college, President Alison Morrison-Shetlar said Jones "has been an essential pillar of my tenure at the University of Lynchburg, and we will miss him dearly."
“His dedication, vision, support, and guidance have been invaluable as we reimagine this University together,” she added.
Aaron Basko, who took over as the new president of enrollment, marketing and communications, said Jones has been a great mentor to Basko since he started, and he will miss working with Jones.
“He's a guy with a lot of character and a lot of integrity. And he really leads by doing what he feels is right and that's a great example to set for the people who work for you,” Basko said.
During his time, Jones worked alongside staff to reimagine the process of recruiting students, rebrand and merge marketing and communication departments together.
In terms of enrollment, Jones said the group had to “get back to basics.” Jones said the visiting experience wasn’t as good as it could have been, an engagement with families and students needed improvement. The idea was to focus on the individual students and communicating with them.
They began with finding the best students to approach, using College Board, which is a not-for-profit organization that connects students to colleges using data.
He said they decided to buy names from colleges, a practice most colleges adopt, but strategically doing so by using data to look at geographic areas that tend to come to the University of Lynchburg.
In the past, Jones said the college wasn’t very strategic and took the “shotgun approach” when recruiting students, hoping they would inquire about the school.
Once they got students into the process, he said it was a matter of engaging them. One way was having faculty record videos and send them to students who are accepted. For example, a biology professor may send an acceptance video to a student who wants to study that subject.
Also, the group began doing online workshops, including one that helps families with financial aid.
Jones said merging the marketing and communications department was important.
“We kind of relied on our reputation as a great place to be. A lot of people talked about how we were a well-kept secret and in the environment for attracting students, you can’t be a well-kept secret, you don’t want to be a well-kept secret. So that was a big change,” Jones said.
The merged group, Jones explained, helped with student recruitment and rebranding.
Effective July 1, 2018 and launched July 2 of that year, Lynchburg College changed its name to the University of Lynchburg, something Jones is proud of. He said changing the name of the institution was a “logical next step.”
Jones spent the better part of two years doing research, looking at the pros and cons of changing the name, what it meant and what was needed to get the process finished.
He said there were general costs such as signage, business cards, printed materials and highway signs, but he also stressed the importance of search compatibility.
Jones explained they were actively engaged in rebranding for about three years, which involved a National Public Radio sponsorship, workshops and developing a brand guidelines book to help faculty.
“I think it was the right move at the right time and it took some hard work, but I think it was proven to be right,” Jones said.
After spending more than four decades in higher education and reflecting on his time working at the University of Lynchburg, working each day is something Jones said he has to get used to which is something he enjoyed doing.
“I always describe myself as having a great work ethic but the reality is, I've been a workaholic most of my adult life, and it's hard not to get up and come to work every day,” Jones said.