By Bobbi-Jo Wathen
In February, Dr. Bobbi-Jo Wathen joined UConn full time as the Director of Pre-College Summer. She is no stranger to UConn’s Office of Early College Programs as she has been a Site Representative for the UConn Early College Experience program since 2014. Dr. Wathen has also been teaching in the UConn Counselor Education Master’s program since 2018 when she started her doctoral studies at the University. As a doctoral student from 2018 through 2023 her research focused on supporting black males through post-secondary transitions. Her mentors created opportunities to publish several works on this topic, contributing to the academic discourse. Her desire to engage in this research began when she was a high school counselor, and she witnessed the inequities in college access.
In 2011, she earned her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in School Counseling from Cambridge College and started a wonderful career in school counseling. Since then, she has worked in a variety of school settings and supported numerous students as they explored careers and made postsecondary plans. She has been a longtime advocate for high quality rigorous education for all and worked alongside organizations like the Legal Defense Fund, The Sheff Foundation, and NCWIT’s Counselors for Computing to create a real impact for students and families.
In her most recent position, she was the School Counseling Department Head at a large title one school district in CT. In this leadership role, she was able to adjust her service to supporting school counselors and district leaders with the same goal in mind, providing exceptional rigorous education for students that lead to positive postsecondary outcomes. During this time, she worked closely with CT Rise to create functional systems that evaluate school level data to impact student success as students transition into high school and out of high school.
Becoming a full-time Husky has brought much joy. From Johnathan sightings, basketball games, the beautiful sunsets, and a lively quad on a warm day are the things that make UConn special to her. More than that, she has really enjoyed preparing for her first summer welcoming high school students from around the globe to UConn’s Pre-College Summer program. She can’t wait to watch young high school students fall in love with UConn and build the confidence they need to find a sense of belonging in college. She believes every young person should have a champion telling them they CAN and SHOULD pursue higher education if they want to. This program has the opportunity to give that to the young people who find their way to campus.