"Purple Notes" for good deeds

By Xan Angelovich

If a faculty member observes another performing a good deed, he or she can let them know how special it was.

The university’s Staff Assembly started a new program that could bring a sense of community back to faculty and staff.

The program, named the Purple Notes Campaign, provided faculty and staff members a convenient way to support each other through notes of encouragement, congratulations and condolences.

Craig Elders, associate director for Student Affairs Information Services and Chair Elect for Staff Assembly, came up with the idea after being on the receiving end of a random act of kindness from another staff member.

When Elders first talked to the entire staff about the campaign he recalled Drew Brown, a member of the university’s physical plant. Elders stated Brown showed up in his office with a student from India, his mother and aunt, and a cart full of belongings. Elders said the family took a cab from the airport and was inadvertently dropped off at the physical plant, a significant distance from the student’s dormitory.

”So, he loaded up their bags and brought them up to me, and you know he could’ve called somebody or done something but he stopped what he did, and he came up and brought those people up here,” Elders said. “And to me, that’s just a little something special, and he’s one of those people that you want to send a note to and say ‘That was very nice of you to do that.’”

The campaign included the provision of official Staff Assembly stationary. A staff member could fill out the note card and send it to their co-worker through campus mail, Elders said.

The money for the note cards came from a fund that Elders requested from university chancellors.

“We thought it would be worthwhile, so we did it,” Elders said.

Susan Oakley, human resources manager, said the campaign had a positive effect on the overall morale of faculty, and even aided in the retention of staff.

“What a welcoming thing to get, a little note card that says ‘Welcome to TCU,’” Oakley said. “TCU is known to be a very friendly campus, but that’s just a real tangible thing that someone might have to know that they really were truly welcomed and someone took the time to write them a little note.”

Oakley added that programs like the Purple Note Campaign would make the transition for new faculty members easier.

“We sort of call it the frog factor sometimes, because if people are here for a certain length of time, then they just stay forever,” Oakley said.

Elders said he had already received a lot of positive feedback on the Purple Notes Campaign and hoped its popularity would increase.

“I even got one a few weeks ago from someone, so I thought that was kind of cool,” Elders said. Elders added that he hoped everyone who received a note would appreciate the thought and consider themselves part of a larger community.

See an extended interview with the Associate Director for Student Affairs of Information Services, Craig Elders at http://blip.tv/file/3180510