Most people know her name from all of the parking emails—usually with the subject “Parking lot information”—but who is the woman who fills up the inboxes of students, faculty and staff on a regular basis?

As coordinator of parking and transportation services, DeAnn Jones makes sure all the shuttles on campus are running smoothly, coordinates any shuttles for special events, handles the payroll for the TCU Police Department and processes all ticket violations, in addition to sending out her weekly parking emails.

“I was interested in employment at TCU to take advantage of the tuition benefit because I had, at the time, three children in high school or younger," she said. 

At the beginning of the semester, Jones and her colleague, Janet Martin, usually work on distributing parking permits to students, faculty and staff. 

TCU Police Officer Clay Buckelew began working at the university after retiring from the Fort Worth Police Department and Jones made his job easier immediately.

“My transition would not have been as easy if it was not for DeAnn. She helps me with bus loadings, and if it was not for her organizational skills, I would not be able to do the job I do,” Buckelew said. “She has a really fun attitude. She takes her work seriously, but does not take herself seriously.”

TCU Police Dispatcher, Julia Graver perfectly summed up Jones’ persona around the office.“She is all smiles, and is the engine of the whole area,” Graver said. 

The TCU Police Department is meant to help the students and faculty, not to cause them grief, Jones said.

“My goal is to be as precise with the information, by describing where the lots are, what is going to happen, how long it is going to happen, and just trying to cause less frustration.” Jones said.