Bookstore Advisory Council

March 31, 20163:00 p.m.

Business Services Conference Room (Bldg. 8, Room 1106)

Members Present: Erin Campbell (Chair), Dana Baker (SG), Kayleigh Harrison (SG), Marielle Veve (Library) , Clark Ryan-Gonzalez (Dean of Student Office), Denise Durden (Controller Office), Troy Bottom (SG)

Others Present:Tully Burnett (Business Services), Matthew Davidson (Bookstore Manager), Aroline Neal (Bookstore-Textbook), Shane Borden (Business Services), Robb Waltner

The meeting was called to order at 3:00p.m.byErin Campbell (Chair)

  1. Approval to Audio Record Meeting

Erin Campbell informed the attendees that the meeting would be recorded to assist with minutes. No objections.

  1. Approval of minutes from October 27, 2015 Meeting

Motion to approve minutes as written by Erin Campbell and seconded by present committee members; Motion passed.

  1. Operational Report – Matthew Davidson mentioned there was a sales decrease because enrollment was down slightly from last year and the biggest decrease was financial aid usage. Matthew Davidson mentioned the only category of sales that has increased was the clothing. The overall decline in sales is 10% for the year across the board. Davidson mentioned that textbook rental was a challenge this year. He wants to find a way to capture more rental sales. He mentioned that spring semester Follett rolled out “Price Match” for Chegg and Amazon. Follett gave total of $50K in gift cards back to students under the program. He wants to improve the promotion of the price matching program. . Kayleigh Harrison mentioned that Follettshould work with Campus Life to help promote “Price Match”. Matthew Davidson mentioned upcoming promotions targeting the female audience. He also mentioned promoting more beach items. He discussed online sales with Advanced Online which is geared to athletics items. He stated Advanced Online hasbeen operational for about a month and Follett has seen over $2K sales from the program. Tully Burnett mentioned that the online store will eventually go beyond athletics and will allowfaculty and staff to receive discounts and departments may be able to purchase promotional products. He mentioned that UNF provided approved logos for the company to use. The program uses approved logos for about 1200 products. Matt Davidson mentioned the Follett Store and Advance Online store are two separate stores.
  1. Textbook Adoptions – Aroline mentioned Follett is gearing up for two different terms. Summer adoptionsare at 80.6% with approximately 148 classes missing but some classes have opted not to use books for the summer. Almost $200k of used books will be sold at the bookstore and $38K in buy backs will be given to studentsfor the summer semester. This amount is more than Follett did last year. Fall adoptions due date is April 15 and Follett is currently at 4.1%. Matthew mentioned that Follett did a wine down event and will do it again this year to coincide with the adoption due date for fall to push for adoption submissions. Tully Burnett mentioned the deadline of April 15th is the bookstore deadline, however the UNF deadline is 45 days before class’s starts. The 45 day deadlinedoes not provide enough time to get fall books in stock. Tully mentioned that the bookstore does send out weekly missing adoptions to deans and chairs and ascriticaldate’s approach the list is sent to the provost. Tully mentioned the rental program. If faculty agree to use a text book for 3 to 4 terms Follett can add it to the rental program and offer up to 80% off retail for rental of the textbook.
  1. Textbook Affordability Project Ideas- Marielle and Rob brought an idea regarding the USF Textbook Affordability Project. They mentioned USF is purchasing textbooks and providing them in the Library. Tully and Follett want to do research and let the Library know if this project can work for UNF.
  1. Upcoming Contract (ITN)–Tully mentioned the current contract with Follettexpires October 15,2016. He mentioned that Ron Duvall is the consultant assisting with the ITN and that he is in the final stages in developing the draft of the ITN. Tully mentioned his intent is to have the ITN awardedby the end of May or early June. Tully mentioned the consultant visited the bookstore and he stated the store is in the top 2% of the stores he has seen and was impressed with the improvement of text book adoptions. Tully mentioned we may have to extend current contract until end of fiscal year if a store change is needed. Tully mention the consultant will help analyze the proposals and help negotiate the contract. Tully mentioned the committee will consist of 5 people and that every area of the university will be represented. Tully stated he has a question out to UNF’s government relations staff about the repeal of the sale tax exemption on course materials. Tully will inform the committee as soon as he gets clarification.
  1. Future Meeting(s)

The next meeting will beheld in October 2016.