She entered higher education's community college environment in the late 70's as a faculty member at Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In the nearly ten years at Berkshire she served as faculty and Coordinator of the recreational leadership program, Coordinator of student activities and the college union, and later as Director of Personnel Services.

In 1990, Dr. Jones was named Vice President for Multicultural Affairs at the State University of New York, College of Oneonta. She was also a tenured professor while at the College of Oneonta. Prior to coming to Three Rivers, Dr. Jones was the president of the College of Eastern Utah (CEU), Price, Utah, since 1996. Dr. Jones' education degrees are from Ohio, Illinois, and Kansas. She earned her Ph.D. in Organization Behavior from the Union Institute (Cincinnati, Ohio), her master's degree in Community Recreation with Group Work Method from George Williams College (Downers Grove, Illinois), and her bachelor's degree in Physical Education from Washburn University (Topeka, Kansas).

A member of Phi Beta Phi, Dr. Jones received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Washburn University, and she was selected as a Distinguished Kansan in Education in 1997. She is the author of "Mission Possible - Diversity in Utah," which was published in Community College Week in 1999.