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The joy felt from helping people achieve their dreams through education is really rewarding, said Karen Jones, whose unexpectedly long tenure at the University of Florida has demonstrated firsthand the immediate positive impact she and other staff can have on UF students.

The administrative specialist in anthropology initially did not plan to make UF her career; in fact, growing up she often thought about being a teacher. Yet, she’s found that lessons are not only taught formally inside the classroom and believes her time at UF was a welcome surprise. It’s a joke around the office now that she never intended to stay because advancement seemed to suggest moving onward and upward into new positions across the university, but she fell in love with the anthropology department and here she is 30 plus years later.

Growing up in a one-stoplight town an hour from Gainesville, to Jones, Gainesville represented “the big city.” At age 17, when looking for a temporary summer job, she applied to the university, originally being placed in the IFAS vice president’s office.

“I thought, ‘oh, this is a summer job I’ll take for a year or so before I go to college’ and that turned into 2 years there,” she said. “I received my University of Florida education through working with so many knowledgeable staff…you really learn a lot as a staff member, soaking up a little about the department you’re working in, like osmosis.”

After IFAS, Jones took a break from the university for two years before coming back and being placed in the anthropology department in CLAS.

“Here I am, 30 plus years later, because I just fell in love with this department,” she said. “The students are amazing, the faculty are doing such interesting work, and I have been fortunate enough that when I wanted to advance, there were different positions in the department that opened up, that I could advance into.”

Each day in the department brings something new, Jones added.

“I come in with a list of things that I think I’m going to work on, and if I’m lucky, I get to strike a few things off that list,” she said. “There’s always problem solving or the need to find new solutions, which I think is why, for me, I like the challenges of working in a large, but close-knit department. We have a greater variety of tasks to manage, and a greater variety of problems to solve.”

Being adaptable is one of Jones’ greatest strengths, constantly finding innovative ways to approach new problems.

Throughout her time at UF, as the university continued to grow, she said, the department stayed true to the initial family atmosphere she felt when she was first hired. Now, it and UF are just a much more extended family tree.

Being at UF is helping people achieve their dreams, according to Jones.

“Undergraduate and graduate students alike use their education as a steppingstone to start their life,” she said. “But it’s a necessary step for a lot of people, and so you’re able to be that little cog in the wheel that helps them get to where they want to be. That’s pretty exciting.”

Outside of the office, Jones is the great aunt to quite a few nieces and nephews who lovingly call her “Aunt Carrot.” They misunderstood “Karen” for “Carrot” and the nickname just stuck.

Being able to see her extended family more often is the biggest thing she is looking forward to in the future. Her plan is to forgo the Facetime calls and become the traveling Aunt Carrot after she retires from the university next summer.

One accomplishment while at the university was when Jones proposed a doctoral completion award for her department. The suggestion was accepted and became the Elizabeth Eddy Doctoral Completion Award program. According to the anthropology department website the award is “paid via the Bursar’s Office in two lump sums in the term awarded, one after you make first submission and one after you make final clearance; plus the funds to cover the required credits of in-state tuition for graduation that semester.”

The award helps graduate students who just need a little assistance so they don’t have to worry about finances and can instead focus on completing their dissertation and finishing up, she said. This program has really helped make a difference in students’ lives.

“It’s pretty exciting to be able to look around the department and see where I made an impact. They might be small, and it might not be that anybody would tote it up on a list, right? But when I came to the department, we did not do this, and now we do, and I know I was part of that.”

“I would say that I’ve been fortunate enough within this department that there have been opportunities to advance, but there are always opportunities for staff to learn as much as you want to learn or to get involved as much as you want to get involved. Those opportunities are there, and that’s a good thing.”

“I know a lot of people who started and trained at UF. Maybe they moved and took jobs in other places, but they could confidently walk in, get a job… and feel like they could keep advancing their careers. Then there are people who worked with me through the years that maybe started as a student assistant or in an entry level position in our department, and now I know they are in equivalent administrative positions in other units on campus or elsewhere…every now and again, they’ll send me an email, ‘I find myself color coding or organizing things like you did!’ so maybe I impacted a few staff lives over the years as well.”

“I did not see myself in the beginning as making UF my career, and yet now here I am,” Jones said. “When I retire next year, I will have been at UF for 36 years. I know I will always remember all the amazing staff and faculty that I have met and worked with and the thousands of undergraduate and graduate students that have come through the Department of Anthropology since I started. I can hardly believe how fast the years have gone by.  Now, at this stage in my life…I’m looking forward to transitioning to my new job as the traveling Aunt Carrot!”

Staff contributions are crucial to the success and continued growth of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.  We would like to highlight individuals throughout the year as examples of the breadth, creativity and talent of our team. If you know someone you would like to suggest for a profile, please email commsupport@clas.ufl.edu.