Of course Jim, if you don't work at the U of M, you must work at another smaller university (there just aren't that many in town, are there?)which guessing by the number of mailboxes, I'd say is probably Hamline. Am I right?

The other problem here is, as I said earlier, we are only getting your side of the story. It is hard to understand what the actual conflict is, when we only here one person's side of it.

Just from my experience working at area colleges and universities as a temp (we find our way quickly to the departmental policies and procedures books pretty quickly just to survive day to day on the job), I would guess that the rule/policy you are talking about wouldn't be found in the university wide policy manual, but in your departmental policies and procedures book, which most departments have explaining the procedures for how to perform routine tasks for your department or area, that they use to train employees.

But also, I truly don't understand what you are seeking as the solution to the "problem" when you seem to be the only one having it. It sounds to me like you are asking that a departmental policy/procedure be changed, ie what the procedure is for students picking up packages at the window. We all know bureaucrats who are petty tyrants, but in my experience there really aren't THAT many (though urban legend tells us otherwise), and I have certainly run into my fair share of them over the years. I have my horror stories too.

Now, the culture of the department can be such that if the supervisor is a petty tyrant, and their charges are encouraged to behave using the same model for students, it can be a real problem. But other than that, there are usually ways to work around these things, if people are willing to be flexible. Usually the #1 barrier to changing procedures is that people don't want to learn a new way of doing something.

What did you specifically ask your supervisor to change? You said she told you it was a university policy (and may partly be that), while it sounds to me more like a a department policy/procedure, specific to your work area. Is your reason for requesting this change because you feel you have a better way (ie more efficient, less time consuming, etc) way of performing the task? I know how resistant to change bureaucrats are, and I know it can be tremendously frustrating to have to keep performing a routine task that is part of your job when you think you've found a better way of doing it, and everyone resists changing it "because we've always done it this way".

But there also seems to be an element of you not feeling comfortable performing the task of enforcing, as I said in an earlier post. Some people don't like having to do that part of their job. I work with someone like that. She doesn't like having to enforce the rules and policies that students are required to follow (as we all are in life, regardless of our life's path).

So if you could explain to us which of the above two scenarios applies in this case, we might be able to offer some savvy advice.

You are right when you say there are fewer problems with identity/IDs at a small institution vs a large one, which is what I was assuming you worked at, obviously. You do get to know the students personally. Once you know a student personally by both face and name, I see no reason to request they show you an ID at all, regardless of the situation. That would be be petty power tripping.

But seeing as you are writing about this at the beginning of the school year (are you a new employee?), I'm guessing the issue is important to you now, whereas it may become largely irrelevant once you know the kids, later in the semester. To ask for an ID for someone you know personally by face and name, know their student status, etc would be silly. But at the beginning of the term, there will be a good number of faces and names you don't know. You will always have the occassional "stranger" you've never seen before, but then you just ask them to present their student ID, and they are good to go.

But the problem in a university/college/school setting is this. We need to verify that the person in front of us is actually a student at your institution, and not impersonating a student, or a currently non-enrolled student at your institution, the same way employers sometimes need to verify that when they don't know the person in front of them. A drivers license doesn't tell you that the person is a currently enrolled student or employee with a mailbox, although I expect if they give you the student/employee ID number, you can look that information up in their student/employee record if you have access to that system.

This isn't nearly as much of a concern at Hamline as it is at the U, where it happens ALL THE TIME. Students who have holds on their records at the U aren't allowed to register for classes until they clear the holds. So you have a lot of kids trying to check out books, use the computer labs, gain access to mailboxes, all sorts of things, when they aren't currently enrolled. At the U, they use ID scanners virtually everywhere now. But they also do this at all the community and technical colleges, small colleges, etc. for book check outs in the library, to get into the computer lab and log on to use a computer, that sort of thing.

Which is why I initially balked at the idea of kids not having their IDs. Some kids will balk at anything, I know, I've worked in education at the secondary and post-secondary level for 15 years.

But aside from that group, if students use the labs, the libraries, etc. on a routine basis, they just plain learn to always have their ID with them, because there are NO EXCEPTIONS to these rules. Period. Just like writing a check with a legal id, or having your drivers license on you while driving. It's the process we all have to follow. People who insist upon fighting that have every right to push the boulder uphill, if that is what they feel the need to do to make their point. But most of us learn at a pretty young age (and high school and college is usually the age at which they start to get on board with the program), that life is much easier and sweeter when you don't push the boulder uphill when you don't have to do it.

Now, some of you may think that is cruel and unusual punishment, but it is the standard operating procedure nowadays. The time to have been worried about the ID thing was 30 years ago. Some places are stricter than others. We didn't use to have to show a picture id to get on airplane. Now we do.

But perhaps you can let us know what you think the rule should be Jim. Also, let us know if would you just prefer not to have to be in the role of enforcer of policy and rules. Some people just don't like to do that sort of work, and I have no problem with that, if they can easily be accomodated without putting a burden on other staff.

So, it would help us help you, I think, if you can define the problem more specifically, and explain what you think the solution will be, as you have explained it to your supervisor, tell us whether you are a new employee (and are you new to higher education too?). Then, we might be able to offer some truly useful advice to you. Some stuff is just learning curve. Some stuff is about the culture of the institution (Hamline is pretty conservative in that WASP authoritarian sort of way), some is the culture of your department, leadership style of your supervisor. But it does sound to me like you are new to this position, and maybe to working in higher ed.