Uniforms alienate security guards
Security guards at AUC expressed their dissatisfaction with their new uniform. Many of them want to switch back for the older one, saying they have been mocked by a number of members of the AUC community.
The new uniform, which went into effect last month, makes a distinction between access control security guards, who wear a blue outfit, and internal patrol guards, who dress up in beige.
Both uniforms also include a winter jacket with the word “Security” written in bold at the back.
All of the shirts have badges and shoulder insignias.
Seven security guards of different ranks spoke to the Caravan on condition of anonymity for fear of being penalized. The guards mostly disapproved of the new uniform.
One guard said that the security guards have been made fun of by a lot of people including staff members. “What we wear now is similar to that of the police; people don’t easily recognize that we work at the American University.”
Mokhtar Shalaby, senior director for security at AUC said, “The choice for this uniform was selected by a committee that included some of the security men. The idea is when the security men are on the scene, they have to identify themselves as security.”
Shalaby explained that the initiative took place when consultants from Colombia University visited AUC, in order to provide a general assessment of the university’s performance.
Among the criteria discussed were security and safety measures on campus and one of their recommendations was that the security guards must have a distinctive label.
He clarified that the guards have to look unique for the students and the visitors, and they have to be easily identified as security.
“They also gave us another reasonable recommendation that the access control guards have to dress differently from the internal patrol guards,” said Shalaby.
He added that the access control guards have to be present at their checkpoints, and the distinctive uniforms help the university ensure that.
The guard said, “The last uniform did not look like a uniform, it was very casual. It made us look as if we are working in the public relations, for example, not in the security. It was much better.”
One of the main reasons why security guards don’t like the new uniform is that it is similar to that of outsourcing companies.
“When students saw the new uniform, their attitude towards us changed drastically, thinking that we work for an outsourcing company,” a security guard said.
He said that he worries about the conflicts that may occur, creating a more tense environment between students and the university’s security team.
However, he also added, “If the students are aware that we are members of the university’s staff, they will deal with us in a better way.”
Part of the new uniforms for the guards with lower ranks seemed to have a shoulders insignias. This has caused a different problem; one where security is defined by rank.
“We receive a lot of rude comments about it,” said a security man.
Shalaby explained that it symbolizes the different ranks of the guards, highlighting the role of each rank. He added that, for example, higher-ranking guards would be the ones taking decisive action.
He added that the security guards always had rank insignias, even before moving to the New Campus and it was never a problem.
Many of the guards shared the idea that the new uniform does not present a good image for the university.
“People make fun of us because of the new uniform all the time. We represent the American University; we want to wear something decent that shows that,” another guard said.
Another security guard said, “We have been working here for a long time, and we have become very recognizable by now, so having to wear a jacket that reads ‘Security’ at the back is not essential in order for people to know that we are the security guards.”
“Among the complaints that we received from the security team is that they don’t like the word ‘Security’ on the back of their jackets. I ordered the same jacket for myself with my title ‘Security Director,’ so when I go to any place wearing it, I use it to identify myself as the director of security,” Shalaby said.
Shalaby argued that security guards should to be proud of their job and their importance. But if they are not, it will affect their job performance, a fact they are well aware of.
A feedback report was conducted by the Property Inventory and Warehouses Control Office at the end of last month, with a random sample of 67 people from the community. They were asked to give their opinions about the AUC staff members’ new appearance and the results were generally good with some negative comments about the new security uniform.
A number of undergraduate students said that the security’s uniform gave the impression that they were not part of the staff on campus.
A faculty member reportedly said, “Good job! However; please, please, please reconsider the security members’ appearance.”
The faculty member explained, “Shoulder insignias and badging every centimeter in their uniform with a security label is not making them more known. This increases the discrimination between each other. Simplicity is the way of professional appearance.”
In the report, a security guard was quoted as saying that “the uniform seems to be a good one,” but he also stated that they disapprove of the arm tags and the shoulder badges as they “became a source of mockery” to many students and colleagues.
All of the security team members interviewed seemed to agree that the university has spent a larger sum of money on the new uniforms, compared to former years. Many also added that while the uniform was of excellent quality, their problems are mainly with the design.
Shalaby spoke of the possibility of changing the uniforms in the next fiscal year that starts in September 2014.
The administration makes a selection of both the summer uniform and the winter uniform at the same time – beginning of the fiscal year – which means neither summer nor winter clothes can be changed at the present time.
