Jackasha-Janaee Wiley

Jackasha-Janaee Wiley is the acting associate vice chancellor for educational equity at Rutgers–New Brunswick. She oversees Pre-College Initiatives, including Upward Bound Math-Science, Thrive Student Support Services, and the Cooperman and Posse cohort programs. Ms. Wiley works with community and district partners to increase pre-college outreach to strengthen the college-going pipeline and works with institutional partners across Rutgers–New Brunswick to improve student transition to college, promote persistence and retention, enable timely graduation, and post-baccalaureate success.

Ms. Wiley is a two-time graduate of Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in history and Women and Gender Studies from Douglass College and a Master of Education from the Graduate School of Education. Before Rutgers, she served as a K-12 History and Financial Literacy educator. In addition to being actively involved in urban communities through mentoring and volunteering, she conducts research on African American males in (urban) education, has presented her research at various conferences, and is actively involved in regional and national education equity advocacy associations to expand student and staff development opportunities.

Welcome to Upward Bound-Math Science Pre-College Program at Rutgers–New Brunswick. In June 2015, I was appointed the Director of Upward Bound and Pre-College Initiatives. As a three-time TRiO participant, and most importantly a Rutgers Upward Bound alum, I am extremely honored and enthused to take a leadership role with Upward Bound as we approach 52 years here at Rutgers. Since taking on this role, our staff has worked tirelessly to increase program retention, awareness and visibility within our community and our schools, overall student commitment, post-secondary aspirations and enrollment.

The Pre-College team works with students, families, school districts and the university, to not only prepare students to attend the college/university of their choice, but also instill lifelong memories through a transformative academic, social and cultural experience. We aim to aid and provide our students with the necessary skills to become college graduates and future leaders of tomorrow.

This is an exciting time to be a part of the TRiO/Upward Bound community, in any capacity, during this transformative experience to improve student access and educational equity. If you are ever on Livingston campus, and would like to learn more about what we do and the students we serve, we would love for you to stop by!

Jackasha Wiley