Matt Jones recently joined the Kelley School of Business at IUPUI as an undergraduate academic advisor. He started in June; the staff picnic was his second day.
Although he’s new to Kelley, Matt has almost always worked in higher education. He started his career at the University of Indianapolis, where he worked as an assistant registrar. He then moved to Franklin College to work as registrar, and then back to University of Indianapolis where he served as a business advisor. In these roles, he discovered he truly loves working with university students. He’s always been interested in working at the Kelley School of Business, and he found that although it’s a larger campus, there is a very tight-knit community within Kelley at IUPUI.
Matt works as an international and probation student advisor. His favorite part of advising is helping students find their passion and interests. He loves figuring out how to help each individual student discover their goals for the upcoming semester. During his appointments with students, he helps them find courses, connect them with campus resources, and find out where they are in their academic and professional career. He says the most rewarding part of his job is volunteering at commencement, because it is an opportunity to watch students reach their biggest goals.
Outside of work, Matt enjoys spending time with his friends and family and watching sports. He especially loves basketball and serves as the score keeper for a local high school girls’ basketball team.
One of Matt’s passions is going on road trips. Matt loves to drive so much that he even drives for Lyft part-time. Sometimes, he’ll get in the car without a destination in mind and just travel until he comes across an interesting stop. One of his favorite road trips is the time he spends going to Gatlinburg. He loves the beautiful drive down there and staying in a chalet near the Smoky Mountains to relax for a few days. Someday, Matt wants to drive cross-country and drive along the West coast.
Matt also teaches business communications at the University of Indianapolis, and he loves the interaction he’s able to have with students. The best piece of advice he’s ever received was: “You’ve got to go live your life for yourself; you can’t live your life to please other people.”
His biggest goal for this school year is to meet as many Kelley students and faculty as possible. He also hopes to establish more outreach for international business and pre-business students. He believes there’s a good opportunity to bring together our international community, listen to their concerns, and help everyone feel connected.
Posted by: Caitlin Karas, cunnical@iupui.edu