Faculty Profiles
Willis Jones
Associate Professor, Higher Education and Student Affairs
Email Address: jonesw150@usf.edu
Phone: 813-974-3146
Office Location: Tampa campus
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Willis A. Jones is an associate professor of higher education and student affairs at the University of South Florida. He joined the USF faculty in 2020 after nine years on faculty at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Jones earned a PhD in higher education leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University. He also earned a master’s degree in higher education from the University of Arkansas and a BA in Sociology from the University of North Texas.
Dr. Jones’ research uses quantitative data to examine the antecedents and outcomes of college/university behavior, strategy, structures, and policies. Within this broad research agenda, his primary area of interest is the study of intercollegiate athletics. Dr. Jones has published numerous peer-reviewed articles exploring how intercollegiate athletics influence both organizational and student outcomes.
In addition to work in intercollegiate athletics, Dr. Jones engages in scholarship exploring a wide range of issues in the field of higher education. He has published on college student retention, college rankings, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, student body racial diversity, the role of non-tenure track faculty in institutional governance, and competency-based education.
Dr. Jones regularly teaches courses on community colleges, research methods, the economics of higher education, and higher education governance/administration.