Transportation News, Volume 19, Number 8, April 1994 Page: 6
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6
Summer Employment Program revamped
Victor Rodriguez
Staff Writer
As part of TxDOT's Continuous
Improvement concept, the Human
Resources Division (HRD) has revamped
the department's Summer Employment
Program.
The department traditionally hires
students during the summer, recruiting
temporary help from high schools, tech-
nical schools, colleges and universities.
The summer employment program
serves to introduce students to TxDOT,
providing them opportunities to gain
practical, on-the-job experience. It also
enhances the cultural diversity of the
department's workforce and assists regu-
lar employees during peak workload
periods.
Project leaders Maria Finch and Tim
Cook, from HRD's Special Projects
Office, coordinated a group of TxDOT
employees to examine and enhance poli-
cies and procedures regarding summer
employment.
"The purpose of the study was to
review the department's Summer
Employment Program," said Finch. "A
study team was selected from the depart-
ment's divisions and districts to brain-
storm and identify problems and recom-
mend solutions."
The Summer Employment StudyTeam identified nine areas of concern,
Cook said, adding that some of the alter-
native solutions to these problems could
not be implemented this year, either
because of legal or time constraints.
"But the team agreed that these issues
could be considered as enhancements to
next year's program," he said.
With the assistance of Continuous
Improvement facilitators Karen Schlueter
of HRD and Cathy Oatman of the San
Antonio District, the 26-member team
met during January and February. The
end result of their efforts has been incor-
porated into the program's policy.
The new and revised policy and pro-
cedures for the 1994 Summer Employ-
ment Program went into effect March 1.
Changes in the program will help admin-
istrators when hiring students.
Some of the changes resulting from
the summer employment study team
project were new summer employment
application forms, new performance
evaluation forms, revised wage sched-
ules and miscellaneous checklists.
The new policies contain criteria for
student employment eligibility, opening
and closing dates for job vacancies, hiring
practices and safety training.
Members of the SEST included divi-
sion employees John Gilbert, Motor Vehi-
cles; Darryl Hunt, Vehicle Titles and Reg-
istration; John Barker, TransportationPlanning and Programming; Milton
Meharg, Travel and Information; and
Jackie Hopmann, Norman Carter and
Charles Spinn of HRD.
Also on the team were Shelly Radcliff
and Faye Bomar, Civil Rights; Chris
Clark, Occupational Safety; Jim Markle,
General Services; Doris Finley, Budget
and Finance; Jose Hernandez, Construc-
tion and Maintenance, and Victor
Rodriguez, Public Information Office.
District employees participating in the
SEST were Maynard Wagner of Yoakum,
Dannie Massie of Amarillo, Shelby Peo-
ples of Lubbock, Elvin Rousseau of
Atlanta, Tna Walker of Lufkin, Joe Stock-
ert of San Antonio, Waldine Hernandez
of Austin, James Kennedy of Houston
and Jerry Moore of Fort Worth.
Helping the team as resource person-
nel were Leslie Pool, Debbie Westbrook
and Trina Towery, HRD; and Richard
Monroe, Office of General Counsel.
"The Senior Management Team and I
would like to recognize the SEST's
accomplishment in making our summer
employment program efficient and high-
ly successful," said Daffney Henry, assis-
tant executive director of Human
Resources Management. "I am very
pleased with the team's recommended
changes and efforts in continuously
improving our programs."Traffic data team makes every minute count
Cheryl Converse
Staff writer
Bobby Lester was surprised when he
saw a newspaper story about him.
He wasn't too happy that the writer
made his job sound like he was desert
nomad.
"I can come home every weekend,"
said the six-year traffic counting veteran.
"Sure, we move around a lot, but I'm
only responsible for myself and the work
I have to do. I like it just fine."
Lester, Brian Brymer and Steve
Haizlip make up the department's traffic
data collection team. Although the
department uses automated counters for
most of its traffic averages, humans often
count traffic too.
"The first step is planning. Our super-
visor makes assignments, telling us what
spot we're going to count," Lester said.
Team supervisor Jeff Reding picks the
count locations and creates a monthly
schedule. To have an official count of a
spot, Lester, Brymer and Haizlip take
8-hour turns counting and categorize
each vehicle that passes in a 24-hours
period. Although there are some guide-
lines to follow, the most important one is
to have an uninterrupted count.
"If one of us, for some reason, can'tmake our shift, then the count is thrown
out," Brymer said. "That's only hap-
pened once in the six years I've been
here."
Brymer and Lester recalled a storm
that forced them to abandon their count.
"There's not much sense in staying there
if the situation is dangerous. Our bosses
always tell us to leave if it's dangerous,
even though that makes the count null
and void," Lester said.
Another guideline is to not count vehi-
cles on holidays or Fridays because Fri-
day traffic patterns are unusual. Lester
many folks leave town on those days.
Fridays are a good day to do paperwork.
Reding said the job is a lot like an
office job-some days are fast, others
slow. Some days you see a lot of vehicles,
others a few. They don't do traffic counts
on Fridays or holidays because those are
unusual travel days.
Reding divides his time between the
office and the count locations. "I just
make sure that the guys have everything
they need to do their jobs," Reding said.
Besides a punch board to keep track of
cars, pickups and tractor-trailers by num-
ber of axles, the three men also are
responsible for some paperwork.
"It's a very independent job," Lester
said. "But our work also depends on one
another."
The three counters sometimes stay in
the same hotel, but pretty much it's up to
each person to pick his place to stay. If
they stay at the same place, they oftenshare meals. If not, they talk a bit during
shift change-but they make sure to
keep counting traffic from each direction.
"Usually, you're looking at the axles of
a vehicle, and you don't really notice
what make of vehicle it is," Lester said.
Lester and Brymer agreed that the
radio can be good company. The men
drive their own vehicles, so radio options
are a personal choice. Brymer prefers
rock 'n' roll, Lester likes country music
and Haizlit most often listens to talk
radio.
"I knew Texas was big before I started
this job," Lester said. "I didn't know it
was this big."
Lester was born and raised in West
Texas and still prefers working traffic
counts in that area. Brymer, who hails
from the Hill Country, enjoys Central
Texas most. But both agree they prefer to
work rural areas rather than urban.
"In some places you've got to have
eyes in the back of your head," said
Brymer, who most often works the mid-
night to 8 a.m. shift. "The local police
usually know where our count spot is,
and they often keep an eye open for us.
That's comforting in some of the inner-
city areas."
Lester and Brymer agree their job is
the best in the department. They said,
they enjoyed being their own as long as
the work gets done the way it is sup-
posed to be done, there's little interfer-
ence.
"It's a great job," they said.TRANSPORTATION NEWS, April 1994
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Texas. Department of Transportation. Transportation News, Volume 19, Number 8, April 1994, periodical, April 1994; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth576390/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.