Change suggested to avoid confusion about district values.
By fall 5,000 Alamo Colleges employees will sport new ID cards with a price tag of more than $31,000.
The ID badges are horizontal instead of vertical, include a barcode on the front instead of a magnetic strip on the back and have the Alamo Colleges’ mission statement and values printed on them.
The mission statement is “Empowering our diverse communities for success.”
It’s not clear how this expense will empower our community.
Further, “Students First” is the first value listed on the district’s website. Does spending more than $31,000 on ID badges put students first?
Perhaps district officials think having the values they consistently contradict listed on employees’ badges puts students first.
The Alamo Colleges Leadership Academy recommended the new badges because of employee confusion about values and mission and vision statements.
During the March 4 Faculty Senate meeting, Linda Lowman, early childhood studies professor, said it was absurd the district is paying this much for ID badges when she only uses her badge for copies and suggested the money be used to hire someone.
Maybe district officials should have saved money and instead referred faculty and staff to a more user-friendly website, which would list the values and mission and vision statements on the home page for all to see.
Oh wait, they already did: Search the words “mission statement” and then find it under “Alamo Way Glossary” on the second page of the results, or visit this website: www.alamo.edu/main.aspx?id=34085.
