To the University Community,
In January of this year, members of the UConn Co-op Board of Directors approached the university to begin conversations about the state of the Co-op and its future. The conversations focused on the financial difficulties the Co-op has faced recently, its operating challenges, and their concerns about its long-term sustainability.
The Co-op is a separate non-profit entity that serves as UConn’s bookstore through a contractual agreement with the university. The Co-op is governed by an independently elected Board of Directors, and its employees work for the Co-op, rather than the university. The Co-op leases space on the Storrs campus, as well as in other locations.
Discussions between the Co-op and the university have continued over the course of this year. As a result of these discussions, to ensure the best service to our community, the university determined that it would be appropriate to explore the national market for college and university bookstore operators and gain an understanding of the range of options that may available to UConn, with the goal of selecting a bookstore operator based on a competitive process.
To that end, the university has published a request for proposals from entities interested in operating our campus bookstore, including current Co-op locations in Storrs and elsewhere around the state. Any company or other organization, including the Co-op, that may wish to serve as UConn’s bookstore operator will have a specific time frame in which to submit their proposal for review and consideration by the university. For those proposals that the university believes may best serve the needs of our students, faculty, staff and community, additional information would be sought and prospective operators would be interviewed before a decision is made.
The committee reviewing the submissions will include UConn staff, faculty, students and alumni.
The most important factor that will be considered as we examine prospective operators is their ability to provide high-quality, efficient, and easy-to-use service to our students, faculty, staff, visitors, fans, alumni and others regarding the ordering and buying of textbooks, trade books and Husky gear – both in-person and online.
The cost of textbooks is equally important to the university. Prospective operators will be asked to discuss strategies to reduce the cost of textbooks, provide options for our students to buy new and used textbooks, rent books and maximize the value of used-books buy-backs. We are also interested in how those who respond will offer other course materials for our students at the lowest possible costs.
The Co-op will continue to operate normally while this process is taking place. The Co-op is also invited to submit a proposal and participate in the competitive process should it choose to do so.
The process is likely to take several months, with the goal of selecting an operator in the spring.
We will continue to update our UConn community as this process moves forward and wish you a happy holiday season and a productive end of the semester.
Sincerely,
Scott Jordan, Executive Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer
For more information, contact: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Scott Jordan at evpacfo@uconn.edu