Snapshots Announcements Spotlight UTSA Athletics

May 2012, Issue 10



True Colors

True Colors logo

A Brief Conversation About True Colors

A few days ago, I had a conversation with five students who work at the Campus Recreation Center regarding their current knowledge and use of True Colors® while at work. Specifically our discussion was based on the 25 page manuscript titled Keys To Personal Success by Don Lowry.

The conversation began at the Membership Services Desk during the start of the students work shift. Three of the students were stationed at the desk and the other two were heading to their respective stations at the North and South entrances.

I asked a basic question: "How do you use True Colors while at work?". The first student to respond was Latron, sophomore architecture major. Latron began by saying that he really enjoyed knowing True Colors because it helped him to better communicate with the different people that he works with. I was really excited about his initial response and was hopeful that each of the other students where going to share something very similar. My excitement waned a little when Latron was not able to recall his color spectrum. Latron said that he could not wait for the fall student staff training because True Colors is always covered there. After some review with his peers, Latron believed his color spectrum is Green, Gold, Blue, and Orange.

The second student to respond was Melissa, a first-year graduate student in the kinesiology Department. Melissa shared that she really likes True Colors because it helps her determine how to share constructive feedback with peers and those that she supervises. Melissa was quick to recite her color spectrum of Orange, Blue, Green, and Gold.

The third student to share was Joey, a junior real estate and finance major. Joey shared that he really likes the concepts of True Colors and the characteristics associated with each color, but did not think it was used much during his work shifts. Joey stated that he thought it would be good if True Colors was discussed during each pre-shift meeting in some way. Joey was able to recall his most and least dominant colors of Gold and Orange, but was not sure of the order of his two middle colors.

The fourth student to respond was Doyle, a senior communication studies major. Doyle said that True Colors helps him gauge how people respond to any situation encountered on the job and their approach to problem-solving situations involving peers, staff, patrons, etc. Doyle was able to easily share his color spectrum which is Blue, Orange, Green, and Gold.

The fifth and final student to respond was Becca, a senior kinesiology major. Becca was very elated to share that she loves True Colors and uses it all the time at work and with her friends. I could not help but notice that she was the only one of the students to have four colored dots representing her color spectrum on her nametag. Becca said “There are so many different people that we work with here at Campus Recreation and True Colors helps me to better decide how to communicate with each individual during each different situation.” Becca was very proud to share her True Colors spectrum of Gold, Orange, Green, and Blue.

After my brief conversation with the students at the Membership Services Desk and on my way back to my office, I began to reflect on what each student shared. They all seem to have a solid understanding that a primary goal of True Colors is to enhance communication between people and groups. They each seemed to be comfortable recalling some of the characteristics associated with each color and that each person has four colors that compromise their individual spectrum even if they could not recall their own. They all also seemed to suggest that they need more review and work-related scenarios incorporated in their respective staff meetings and in-services. I was hoping to hear from the students that there most likely would be a change in how they respond to situations under stress.

The students helped me reaffirm that once a semester training on True Colors, the monthly newsletter information, and the colored dots on their name tags was not enough to best help them recall and incorporate True Colors into their respective shifts. Until I am able to figure out what works best for the student staff here at Campus Recreation I will continue to have those brief conversations. If you had the same brief conversation with your respective student staff, what do you think they would say about their use of True Colors at work?


True Colors Upcoming Training --


True Colors Training Schedule for STAFF (SD 410) ---- SPRING 2012

Training Schedule for Spring 2012 ----- COMPLETED
Training Schedule for Fall 2012  --------PENDING

True Colors Training Schedule for Student Affairs STUDENT employees (SD 417) -- SPRING 2012

Training Schedule for Spring 2012 ----- COMPLETED
Training Schedule for Fall 2012 --------PENDING



Any comments? Please send to VPSA@utsa.edu



Four C's

Four Cs logo


Four C’s Training Schedule for STAFF   (SD 415) – SPRING 2012

Training Schedule for Spring 2012------ COMPLETED
Training Schedule for Fall 2012 --------PENDING

VPSA@utsa.edu