Phil Geoffroy
Student Trustee
The September 23rd edition of the Connector featured an article that discredited the new campus bookstore and dubbed it a “flop.” The article unfairly presented the implication that style was placed before student convenience in the construction of the new, state-of-the-art shop.
I do not believe that the bookstore deserves to be exempt from all criticism, but I do believe that it deserves to be reported on in an accurate manner. As a consistently satisfied customer of the bookstore, I am compelled to write in its defense.
Follet took over management of our bookstores in July 2011, and they have been on the side of students ever since. In the fall of 2011, Follet’s first semester of operation on our campus, more than 25% of courses had no orders for course materials placed with the bookstore by the start of the semester, a huge obstacle for acquiring textbooks and a tremendous academic detriment to students. The bookstore’s management team quickly identified this as an issue that impacted students and began engaging in measures to alleviate it.
Their efforts were thorough and multi-faceted, and as a member of the University’s bookstore advisory committee, I saw firsthand the commitment they demonstrated toward addressing this problem and better serving students. They attended multiple meetings of the faculty senate in order to generate awareness of the importance of submitting book orders on time. Further, they formed new partnerships with University administrators including the Vice Provost Charlotte Mandel who worked with deans to contact faculty members who had not submitted book orders, and eventually contacted those faculty members directly. A full scale awareness campaign was waged for the purpose of ensuring the students could receive their books in a timely manner.
The result? A year later 100% of courses had orders for course materials placed before the start of the semester, and that rate has remained fairly consistent in subsequent semesters. This semester, 97% of courses had orders submitted by the beginning of class. Also, importantly, a higher percentage of faculty members have been submitting orders well in advance of the semester’s start which allows the bookstore to acquire more used and rental options – another testament to the bookstore’s commitment to serving students.
I am not denying that there may remain students on campus who encounter difficulty in acquiring their text books, but I would suggest that there are factors involved other than the bookstore, and that the bookstore cannot be held solely to blame.
There are no statistics to reflect the experience of shopping at the new River Hawk Shop, but I believe I speak for a lot of students in saying that the staff is extremely helpful and that it is indeed more convenient to have all textbooks available in a well-organized central location.
The new bookstore is aesthetically stunning, a focal point for University pride, and is managed by a team that genuinely cares about students and that works tirelessly to make purchasing textbooks as simple as possible.
