By Mallory Doeckel
Loraine Crutchfield is a marketing coordinator with over 26 years of experience at the University of Houston.
She is part of the Marketing and Communications team that develops marketing plans, content and materials for departments within the Office of Administration, including Cullen Performance Hall, Dining Services, Parking and Transportation, the Cougar Card Office and more.
Crutchfield first began working at the University of Houston in 1988 for the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. During this time, she was asked to create several digital graphics for a textbook that one of the chemistry professors was writing. It was then that she realized she had a knack for design and was something she enjoyed. She became a full-time student so that she could earn a degree to pursue a career in marketing.
After graduation, she returned to work at UH, starting in Printing and Postal before taking on her current role as a marketing coordinator. Initially, this position focused more on outreach tablings and events, and creating graphics and promotional material. Although she still works on plenty of design projects, her focus has transitioned to developing and maintaining websites, which she enjoys due to the new challenges and varying work it brings each day.
Several large projects she’s currently working on include designing next year’s parking permits, developing the Office of Administration website and maintaining the Cullen Performance Hall website. Throughout these projects, she works closely with the departments to assure that the information they want shared is accurate and available, while still maintaining consistency with approved UH branding style and logos.
One of Crutchfield’s favorite pieces to work on is the monthly Administration and Finance Focus newsletter.
“It’s like putting a puzzle together,” said Crutchfield. “Articles and photos come from different people throughout the division and I have to figure out the best way to arrange the content and set up website links.”
She also enjoys opportunities to interact with students, including events like Finals Mania, where UH staff volunteers serve pancakes, snacks and drinks to students in the library so they can take a break while studying for their finals.
“Finals Mania takes a lot of preparation and hard work, but it’s one of the most rewarding things we get to do,” she said. “The students are thankful and you get to see them smiling and really, that’s why we’re here.”
She and her husband, John, are both Houston natives but they love to explore the world and learn about how other people live.
She has visited Switzerland, Germany, Alaska, Jamaica and the Bahamas, just to name a few. Her adventures have allowed her to see everything from the Eiffel Tower to a life-size Nativity scene built in the town square in Cozumel on Christmas Day.
Just this past Christmas, she and her husband went on a cruise to Hawaii where they spent Christmas Day at a luau. She said they love traveling but they can have fun doing anything together in their free time.
“We’re best friends,” Crutchfield said. “We enjoy any time we can spend together, whether it’s traveling, going to the local arboretum or spending time with our two dogs and three cats.”