Cornell Business Services initiative garners a higher education award

Emily Gray, Campus Store general book department manager, scans the bar code on the outside of an Ingram box, automatically updating the receiving of the books into the computer system. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

Cornell has received an award from the Higher Education Awards program of the National Association of College and University Business Offices (NACUBO) for a Cornell Business Services initiative.

The awards program, sponsored by Barnes & Noble College Bookstores, recognizes initiatives submitted by colleges and universities that have improved the quality and reduced the cost of higher education programs and services. The awards also recognize unique revenue-generating initiatives during the 1998 calendar year.

The awards were presented at the 1999 NACUBO annual meeting July 19 in San Antonio, Texas. Eight monetary awards, ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, were given to six institutions. Cornell received a $2,500 award for its submission "Re-engineering the Trade Book Buying Process," developed by Richard McDaniel, director of Cornell Business Services, which operates the Cornell Campus Store. Harold Craft, vice president for facilities and campus services, accepted the award on behalf of the university.

A partnership between Cornell and Ingram Book Co. consolidated most of the university's book purchases with one distributor, who is also the university's reselling partner. While analyzing key process problems in ordering books, Cornell found that Ingram carried approximately 81 percent of the titles in the university's general book department. Since Cornell and Ingram have integrated their computer systems, book buying has become faster and easier. The partnership of book reselling has shortened delivery cycle time and increased the inventory available to the Cornell community, without the university having to add warehouse space. The books are picked and packed by Ingram every night and shipped the next morning, rather than taking the customary three to six weeks to be shipped from each publisher.

Re-engineering the trade-book process has reduced costs and increased revenues for both partners, improved productivity and enhanced customer service. The program also has benefited publishers, by making sales representative visits more efficient, reducing order processing costs and shifting the focus of communication with the Cornell Campus Store to ways to market new titles and highlight faculty authors. The result, administrators say, is stronger book selling for the campus community: the number of titles carried has increased and inventory turnover has gone up. Also co-op advertising credits have increased, returns to publishers have decreased and labor cost savings have been achieved in receiving, buying, returns processing and accounts payable.

Cornell received 17 submissions for the NACUBO competition this year from campus departments that have instituted cost saving, process improvement or management achievement programs. A Cornell review committee rewarded seven of those submissions with cash awards, ranging from $100 to $400, and three of the submissions were forwarded to the national NACUBO competition: "Central Heating Plant Coal Boiler -- New Start-up Initiative," from Facilities and Campus Services; "Document Delivery to Your Desktop -- Faster, Better, Cheaper," from Mann Library; and "Re-engineering the Trade Book Buying Process," the award-winning CBS entry.

Sixty-seven submissions were received, overall, by NACUBO from various higher education institutions.

The finalists were chosen by the Higher Education Awards Program Council.