SON recognizes Alumnus of the Year, Early Career Achievement award winners

The timely touch of helping hands has been a constant in the careers of Dr. Jennifer Hitt and Michael Jones, the School of Nursing’s alumni award winners in 2026.

They were honored Thursday during a luncheon at the Fairview Inn. The ceremony also recognized the school’s inaugural Spirit of Nursing Award, given to 1979 alumna Jo-Ann Vandergriff, who with her husband, Bill, established the JoAnn McCullar Vandergriff Scholarship in 2016. The new award  recognizes those who have made a significant and lasting impact on the school and the nursing profession.

For Hitt, the school’s Alumna of the Year, the help came during coursework for her master’s degree in nursing at UMMC and in the form sometimes referred to as a “road map” – though not the kind that leads anywhere.

“I can remember getting my first paper back and it being just marked up with red ink,” Hitt said. “I hadn’t had that happen before, but what a gift it was to get good feedback afterward from those experts. I was taught how to be a great teacher by some incredible instructors at UMMC, which led the way for me to go into academia. I worked with a lot of them down the road and I’ve kept in touch.”

Hitt, of Memphis, is executive director of the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement. A Chattanooga native, she completed the MSN at UMMC in 2007 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in physics at Ole Miss in Oxford and a Bachelor of Science in nursing at the University of Memphis. She earned a PhD in nursing from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

She taught in the bachelor’s and master’s programs in Oxford for seven years, including four as assistant professor. She advised and provided career counseling for dozens of master’s and bachelor’s students. It led to similar positions at the University of Tennessee and the University of Memphis before her first administrative role, at Christian Brothers University, where she served seven years before her current role.

“UMMC is really where I learned to be a researcher, and that’s what I’m doing these days,” Hitt said. “I was called by the director of the bachelor’s program at the time and asked to come work for them – I wasn’t even finished with the program yet. But, it worked out well. I went from being a student to working for the Medical Center for seven years on the Oxford campus.”

Jones, the 2026 Early Achievement Award winner, credited a team of helpers who guided his progress as he earned BSN and MSN credentials. They shaped his thoughts on how to teach adults already employed but wanting to improve their careers.

“Education is a huge part of nursing, no matter what your role is,” Jones said. “You’re educating patients or their families on a plan of care or how to do certain things. When I was earning my master’s, I picked up on how to educate adult learners, especially adults who are professionals. Adults have their own motivation for learning. They understand they have to learn these concepts to be successful.”

He first entered nursing in 2014 after working several years in human resources. His first job after earning his BSN a year later was in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s of Mississippi.

“I got to see how health care affects people’s lives,” he said. “I’d see a baby born in the NICU go from a preemie needing all the support to stay alive to slowly recover and go home without issue. The consistency of care we provide makes for a big impact on those families.”

Since 2024, Jones, of Brandon, has served as manager for RN development and education at the children’s hospital. He directs the Transition to Practice Program, which involves creating the curriculum that helps new graduate nurses put what they learned in their coursework into practice. With the help of clinical nurse educators, Jones developed the program from the ground up, supporting each new pediatric nurse during their first year on the job at the hospital.

“The literature shows their first year is the hardest,” Jones said. “There’s some of the highest turnover in the field during that time. We talk with each new graduate nurse about times when they’ve had to work with others, how did it go and what was learned. We take a look at how patient outcomes are affected by either good or poor communication. We offer support and provide tools for a successful transition to the workforce at Children’s and professional development.”

Dr. Tina Martin, dean of the School of Nursing, congratulated the day’s honorees and noted the flurry of activity for SON in the past year.

“We’re busy,” Martin said. “We have almost 1,000 students. Great things are happening, with the biggest excitement is our new building we will be moving into in the fall which will allow all faculty and students to be together in one space. We continue to see a strong interest in nursing and are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.”

For Jones, the impact of working in the NICU for nearly a decade has meant becoming a mentor when he least expects it, such as when he led a recent tour of the children's hospital with community college students and was spotted by a mother whose child was once a patient at the facility.

“One student came up to me and said I was her baby’s nurse in the NICU back in 2016,” he said. “She told me he was doing fine and the experience with us made her want to go back to school.”

Both Hitt and Jones implore today’s nursing graduates to think long-term on what kind of mark they want to make on the field and in their patients’ lives.

“The research courses opened my eyes to the importance of nursing, owning your own research and having done subjects that are impactful,” Hitt said. “I feel like I’m at the point in my career where my job is to hold doors open for other people. I do a lot of work with newer nurses ensuring they’re in the positions they want to be in.”

Jones encourages nurses to look beyond job security.

“Try to figure out what you actually want to do and what impact you want to have,” he said. “Nursing is a good, secure career, but something else has to be the top motivation. Health care is a career of service. People who’ve gotten into it for that reason are the most successful.”