Jason DeSanto Jones
Washington,D.C.
Summary
Results-driven higher education professional with over 19 years of experience in program leadership, educational technology solutions, learning and professional development, business process design, change management, and career and academic advising. Thrives on making distinct, long term impact on organizational enhancement, the student experience, and strategic campus priorities.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Project Manager / Acting Director
Office Of The Provost - University Of Maryland
11.2019 - Current
- Serve as acting Director of TerpEngage/Salesforce since March 2022 overseeing personnel, budget, implementation roadmap, and executive reporting
- Lead all onboarding efforts for Salesforce Student Success Hub (TerpEngage Advising) connecting 40,000 students and 700 advising personnel to a centralized advising portal
- Manage the migration of communications and marketing teams to Salesforce Marketing Cloud in coordination with the Office of Marketing & Communications and department-level units
- Work with implementation partners to conduct discovery sessions, document requirements, and design solutions
- Develop comprehensive training documentation
- Schedule and conduct virtual and in-person trainings, demos, and strategy sessions
- Supervise the work of consultants, technology staff, graduate assistants, and interns
- Approve and process systems access requests
- Develop annual project budgets and multiyear financial projections
- Devise a chargeback policy and user agreement for all units using Marketing Cloud
- Leverage Jira to gather and prioritize business requirements from campus stakeholders
- Manage two-week agile sprints to move new enhancements into production
- Conduct monthly steering committee meetings with campus stakeholders to gauge training needs, user adoption, and required new enhancements
- Deliver timely communications regarding planned system outages, release notes, and other campus-wide announcements
- Leverage Salesforce reports to analyze change management metrics, including onboarded units, individual and aggregate usage statistics, student adoption, and stakeholder feedback
Administrative Director
ARHU School Of Languages - University Of Maryland
09.2018 - 11.2019
- Managed daily office operations, negotiated contracts, managed vendor relations and served as primary liaison with outside organizations
- Supervised three full-time administrative staff and 12 part time staff
- Oversaw staff hiring, training, HR appointment paperwork and performance evaluation materials
- Coordinated Department of Defense grant proposal writing and submission, tracked expenditures, and provided regular financial and performance reports to the funder
- Directed marketing and outreach strategy in an effort to increase regional and national recruitment which resulted in a 28% increase in Summer 2019 program applicants
- Prepared budgets with forecasts and projections for accounts totaling over $1.5M annually
- Planned and implemented career development programming for students
- Directed the nine-week UMD Summer Language Institute, which integrated intensive language and cultural immersion with career development
- Expanded scholarship programs to drive recruitment of underrepresented populations
- Transitioned staff and faculty to new organizational workflows and a team-based project management system
- Created and sustained relationships with external stakeholders to ensure a robust career recruitment pipeline (e.g., FBI, NSA, CIA, Department of State, etc)
Associate Director, Smith Undergraduate Program
Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
06.2006 - 09.2018
- Managed operations for the 2,800-student Smith Undergraduate Program
- Supervised two coordinators and seven student services staff
- Piloted and implemented Salesforce CRM and Salesforce Advisor Link in coordination with the Office of the Provost. Established requirements, conducted user testing and created a go-live plan involving hundreds of staff and thousands of undergraduates
- As part of a project team, implemented Marketing Cloud at the Smith School of Business; engaged in instructor-led and asynchronous training to learn the platform
- Developed high quality marketing materials and comprehensive social media campaigns to promote student-facing programs and events
- Advised and mentored a specific caseload of 400 business students from admission to graduation
- Prepared benchmark reports, study abroad plans, senior audits, and graduation clearances
- Advised five student organizations in professional development programming
- Designed and distributed pre- and post- program learning outcomes assessments
- Coordinated multiple Smith alumni networking events in Maryland, DC, and New York
- Served as co-chair of the 2012 UMD Academic Advising Conference which offered professional development and technology training for over 200 advising staff and faculty
- Directed an annual leadership development program focused on diversity, social justice, and social impact which involved five months of planning and assessment and over 120 hours of curriculum
- Coordinated Smith's transition to two subsequent generations of degree audit systems
- Collaborated with representatives from two other colleges and the Office of the Registrar to develop a campus-wide course approval system using Kuali
- Developed and maintained relationships with corporate, government, and non-profit sponsors of student programming
- Represented Smith on five active campus-wide committees serving deans, advisors, and IT staff
Assistant Director of Undergraduate Advising
University Of Maryland Global Campus
09.2004 - 06.2006
- Directed a team of nine academic advisors and one support staff member in the daily duties of student advising, primarily in the context of an online or blended learning environment
- Handled escalated student issues with regard to transfer credit and admission policies
- Created strategic outreach and retention plans resulting in a 12% increase in overall undergraduate enrollment for my team
- Chaired hiring committees for six new staff in the Department of Enrollment Management
- Prepared official and tentative academic audits for new or current students
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive eight-week long training program for new staff
- Served as the departmental coordinator for UMGC's implementation of PeopleSoft
Academic Advisor
University Of Maryland Global Campus
09.2003 - 09.2004
- Served as primary point of contact for students of all majors regarding all academic matters
- Conducted face-to-face and phone advising sessions tailored to each student's academic and career goals
- Participated in various faculty committees to regularly revise academic policy or discuss programmatic updates in each academic area
- Served on a steering committee to discuss and implement outreach and assessment efforts
- Coordinated student-facing programs to aid in recruitment and retention efforts
- Conducted training sessions for new staff members and mentored new advisors
Education
Master of Science - Higher Education Administration
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN2003
Bachelor of Arts - Biology and Spanish
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN2001
Skills
- Salesforce Sales & Service Cloud (Salesforce Administrator Certification anticipated Jan 2023)
- Marketing Cloud Administration
- New technology implementation
- Leading successful teams
- Program management and assessment
- Budget creation and management
- Procurement and financial systems (KFS)
- Expert user of UMD student systems (SIS, Advise on the Web, uAchieve, Kuali Forms)
Timeline
Senior Project Manager / Acting Director
Office Of The Provost - University Of Maryland
11.2019 - Current
Administrative Director
ARHU School Of Languages - University Of Maryland
09.2018 - 11.2019
Associate Director, Smith Undergraduate Program
Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
06.2006 - 09.2018
Assistant Director of Undergraduate Advising
University Of Maryland Global Campus
09.2004 - 06.2006
Academic Advisor
University Of Maryland Global Campus
09.2003 - 09.2004
Master of Science - Higher Education Administration
Indiana University
Bachelor of Arts - Biology and Spanish
Indiana University
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