SLU to require all employees to wear ID badges
As a security measure — and to improve customer service — St. Louis University will require all faculty, staff, and student workers to wear their ID badges while they are on the job starting next month.
“It might seem like a small thing,” Sam Simon, administrator for safety and emergency preparedness, said in a news release. “But it truly enhances the feeling of safety on campus.”
SLU’s Medical Center has already required employees to wear ID badges for years. The school’s Emergency Preparedness Committee recommended extending the practice to the rest of the campus.
In addition to the stated aims of preventing thefts, disruption, and even terrorism, the new policy is also a way that the school can provide better customer service to “internal and external customers,” the new policy states. In other words, the school hopes it will enable campus visitors to identify people who can help them.
So what happens if you are caught without a badge after August 1? Well, there is a 30-day grace period. But then after that, supervisors will be asked to monitor employees for compliance. Non-compliance could result in disciplinary action as set out in various university rules. The policy also adds that supervisors “have discretion to address negligent or irresponsible failure to wear or produce the SLU Card through corrective counseling or the performance evaluation depending upon the frequency and disruption to the particular unit.”
A university spokesman said that the new policy does not change anything for visitors to campus, who may need identification to get into certain buildings or areas of campus, but who can otherwise walk around campus without visible identification.
The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday,com/thegrade.
Kavita Kumar covers retail for the Post-Dispatch. She was previously the newspaper's higher education reporter. 
And this is news? A 12 year old with a color printer, Photoshop, and a cheap plastic badge can make an official looking badge. Some security there.
“But it truly enhances the feeling of safety on campus.”
What an idiotic statement. That campus would be safer if it allowed CCW.
Sam Simon is 100% correct. It enhances the FEELING of safety. It doesn’t actually make anyone safer, and is just a waste of money and time. But people FEEL safer.
Thanks Sam!
This is just now happening??!!! Other schools have been doing this for years. What took them so long? If I was a parent of a student at this college, I would be upset that they are just now thinking of this!
Actually, Cardsfan15, I’m not aware of other college campuses in the area that have similar ID badge policies. Are you? I believe that many K-12 school districts have such policies, which is not surprising because elementary or high schools are smaller, more confined spaces. But college campuses are much bigger places with many more buildings and lots of open space in between to which anyone has access. So requiring employees to wear ID badges on a college campus is not very common as far as I can tell.
Cardsfan15, you can’t be serious…or do you really not think things through?
What benefit will this have for anyone? None of the colleges I’ve attended (3 of them in the last few years) have required this. It’s just a PR move to make people FEEL better without actually doing anything, like Dorothy said.
The badges SLU distributes are smart badges. SLU is securing many buildings with cameras and doors that require card swipe authentication. Is it foolproof? Of course not, but its a step in the right direction.
While this will provide better visibility of employees to students and visitors to campus, it also provides peace of mind to the 8500 or so employees and faculty. If you think that shootings and theft aren’t a concern to these folks, you are mistaken.
I applaud Sam Simon’s efforts.
I do contract work. I’ve been at a lot of different coompanies that required wearing badges. Make the students and visitors wear badges. Anyone on campus without a badge can be stopped. Make the badges key cards like the one on my hip. Contol what buildings people can enter.
RR, trust me, I know crime is on the minds of employees. So why are we going to make them wear a tag that screams “Rob me! Take this pass and you can get into the buildings!” ?
Seems like a terrible idea to me.
Heck, while we’re at it lets make the SLU employees wear signs that say how much cash they have on them, and have their supervisors discipline them if the signs are not accurate.
Kavita: You should get out more, this is common practice. RR is correct re: smart badges.
Deborah - RR was correct - These are “SMART” badges - they contain detailed information about the individual using the badge. They can even have security levels. They are very similar to badges used by law enforcement I am sure. Relax. Mr. Simon knows what he is doing.