TO
Brown Community
FROM
Beppie Huidekoper
Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration
Bookstore Review Committee Chair
DATE
March 2006
RE
Bookstore Review Committee Report
At the request of the president’s Cabinet, a Bookstore Review Committee consisting of faculty, students, and staff was formed a year ago to explore potential opportunities to improve the Brown Bookstore. It had been more than 10 years since the store was refurbished, and it was felt that the store and the community could benefit from a thorough study of its operations, layout, merchandising, and services. Further, over the last decade changes in the buying and selling of textbooks, trade books, merchandise, and computers – including online vendors and integrated operating systems – have significantly affected how university bookstores operate.
The Committee began its work by familiarizing itself with the Brown Bookstore. It then sought input from faculty, students, and staff, as well as members of the Bookstore staff, on what works well and where there might be improvements. Using this input, the Committee attempted to clarify and prioritize the University’s objectives for the Bookstore. Finally, the Committee explored a range of operating models that the University might consider to ensure that those objectives were achieved.
The attached report [also available in pdf format] is a summary of the findings and recommendations of the Committee. Our intention is to discuss these findings and recommendations with the community in various venues over the next month(s). We are scheduling times to meet with the Faculty Executive Committee (FEC), Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS), Graduate Student Council (GSC), Medical Student Senate (MSS), Bookstore staff, the Staff Advisory Committee (SAC), and the Brown University Community Council (BUCC), among others. The administration will consider all of the feedback and additional information before a final decision is made.
The committee and the Cabinet understand the value of the Bookstore to Brown students, faculty, staff, alumni, and others. Both groups strongly believe in the importance of having a period of time for reactions, comments, questions, and discussion. All of us want to assure that the options are fully understood and that the best decision is made for the University. Please read the report and let us know what actions you think will best serve Brown. The committee will be conducting meetings with campus groups over the month of March and will also host several open forums.