Jonathan Morrell has been the full-time director of Student Support Services since October 1, 1997.
He joined Dixie State College in October 1988 as the Director of the Upward Bound Program He was the director of that program until 1991 when his Talent Search grant was funded.
Mr. Morrell was born and raised in a small farming community of Bicknell, UT in south-central Utah. He graduated with departmental honors from Weber State University in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Communications/Public Relations. His minor was in Asian Studies with an emphasis in Japanese. After graduation, he spent 18 months working in Tokyo as a communications consultant. Upon his return, he worked for Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) as a technical writer/editor. He completed his Master of Arts degree in Communications from Brigham Young University in 1986. Shortly after completing his degree he transferred to San Diego to work as a technical trainer for CSC. He made the move to postsecondary education in October of 1988 as the Director of Upward Bound at Dixie State College.
He has presented twice at the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) Conferences (1996 and 1999), four ASPIRE Conferences (1995/1996/1997/1999) at a WESTOP Conference (1996) and twice at the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience Conference (2000/2001)
Aside from his TRIO participation, he has served as the Staff Association President for the Dixie State College employees (1993-94) and served on the executive board for three terms, was a member of the Celebrity Concert Series Executive Board, and Rebel Awards committee. He is currently serving on the college Campus to Community and Campus Benefits Committees. In 1994, he was presented with the College’s Distinguished Service Staff Award. He served a two-year term (1994-96) as the founding President of the Utah Higher Education Staff Association (UHESA) and was a board member since 1992. He was a 12-year member of the St. George Southwest Chorale and is currently singing with Fourte, a St George a cappella group.
He is also an adjunct instructor at Utah Tech University presently teaching COMM 2110 (Interpersonal Communications), COMM 1270 (Argumention and Critical Thinking), SSC 1001 (Smart Start Seminar), and SSC 2990 (Smart Start Seminar II). He has taught Introductions to Communications, Public Speaking, Introduction to a Personal Computer, Desktop Publishing, Beginning and Intermediate WordPerfect, Beginning Writing, Freshman Composition and Study/Success Skills.