Op-Sec is short for Operational Security. It's a military-used (and coined?) term and it was a word I learned about when our family went to briefings before moving to Germany (and a word we heard again, especially after 9/11). If we were touristing somewhere as a family and my dad wanted us to all be aware of something, he'd simply mouth the word "Op-Sec" and we'd gather together and head in whatever direction he deemed necessary. Wasn't ever anything serious really, thank goodness, but Op-Sec is a word I still use sometimes and think of as not only short for "Operational Security" but in general more a word meaning being safe and more aware of the people and things around me.
This morning, I went to work an hour early, as usual. I drive in early to avoid traffic, so usually I just eat breakfast and surf the Internet for awhile until my boss and coworkers get there and we end up chatting 'til time to open up the office. I got to work today and our usually-locked door was being propped open by an ink pen. Everyone who works in our office has keys, though, so I went in thinking maybe someone from another campus was visiting and propped the door open. I didn't see anyone's things but heard music as I entered. I called out my fellow earlybird coworkers' names but didn't receive a response. All office doors were closed and I was starting to become very worried.
Op-Sec.
I know that an ink pen propping open an office door isn't always bad, but when you work in Financial Aid and with disgruntled students almost on a daily basis, it is wise to be mindful that we are, well, the enemy for some students. We are the reason, to them, that they cannot get financial aid to come to school, or we are the reason their child is ineligible for aid to pay for their school. We see many happy, satisfied students on a daily basis, but we are also often witness to students who curse, scream at, and sometimes even threaten our office or teammates.
Last week I attended a meeting which centered around campus safety. So that meeting being fresh in my mind, OF COURSE I called campus security right away and left the office.
Wrong. (whomever wanted the door propped open was somewhere outside of the office and our campus was empty at the time).
So, OF COURSE, I called campus security right away and stepped inside the office.
Wrong.
I called my BOSS to make sure we weren't having any other-campus visitors (directors or executives) who I did not particularly wish to call campus security on. That's the key to one day receiving a promotion after all--calling campus security officers to rescue you from an executive who practically owns the office.
Bad Rachel! Bad Op-Sec! My boss said to call Campus Police and that no one should be in our office, even someone from another campus.
I should have called Campus Police right away, which I did. (After calling my boss.)
Op-Sec fail.
I was so worried that I would call Campus Police and they'd come on their segways to my rescue to the dismay of my boss's colleage or my boss's boss who propped open the office door to go use the restroom. An ink pen left propping a door open wouldn't have been scary had all the office doors been open or had I not heard a noise when I walked in the door.
Campus Police were there in 2.23452 seconds and searched the entire office (it's bigger than you'd think since we each have an office) and found no one. I told them I knew I heard something when I first walked in and apologized in response to what they were probably thinking: "Yeah, this one's crazy." No, seriously, our police officers here on campus are some of our office's bestest coworking friends. They stick up for us, they come visit us, and we share snacks with them to return the love. :)
Soon after, my coworkers and boss started arriving at the office. They said I did the right thing in calling Campus Police but that I shouldn't hesitate next time. (Yeah--next time it WILL be my boss's boss that I'll call Campus Police on. That'll be great.)
I found out that the noise I heard as I came in the door was a coworker's cell phone. She'd left it there overnight on accident and it was ringing when I came into the office. Of course it didn't ring when the officers were sweeping the office for evidence of an intruder.
It is a mystery who (or what!) propped open our office door last night with an ink pen. I recommended to the security officers that we dust the ink pen for prints, but they said the lab might take too long to get back to us.
No, really, on a serious note, we think it was the nightly cleaning crew that must have left the office door open.
Op-Sec. Live it. Love it. Take it seriously. I could've been advisor-napped this morning.
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