By Greg Horner, Promotions Manager.
It was a change of scenery Tuesday, Sept. 6 when Delta College faculty and administration met for the monthly meeting of the Board of Trustees. The gathering was held at Delta’s Midland Center; the board has made it a tradition to hold at least one meeting a year at each of Delta’s satellite campuses.
A major part of the night’s agenda, a vote to go into closed session, was originally planned for the end of the meeting. Board member Robert Emrich immediately proposed that the board move the vote to the beginning of the schedule. The board approved the motion and unanimously voted to go into closed session.
After the closed session ended, the meeting resumed and the board voted to approve Delta’s “Five-Year Capital Outlay Master Plan,” as proposed by Facilities Manager Larry Ramseyer. The plan is required by state law in order for the college to receive any funding for future capital outlay requests. A “capital project request” is the process that is required to secure state approval for a project and ultimately receive 50 percent matching funds from the state.
The board then heard from Barb Webb, director of business services, about Delta’s new five-year preferred vendor agreement with office supply retailer Staples. In the past, the college has used OfficeMax (which was subsumed by Office Depot in a 2013 merger) as the primary vendor for the school’s office supplies. Delta decided to pursue Staples after cost analysis showed that the company would be able to offer the most frequently ordered and highest cost items at a lower price.
The agreement is a five-year contract with the possibility of five one-year renewals and carries an estimated annual cost of $190,000. Board member Robert Emrich asked Webb why the agreement had to be for five years; board chair Mike Rowley followed up by asking if it gave the school a bigger discount.
“It does not necessarily give us a bigger discount,” said Webb. “The office supply vendor world has radically shifted over the last three or four years and we’re really down to about two major players.”
Webb is referring to news announced earlier this year that Staples is planning to purchase its largest rival Office Depot. If the deal is approved by the Federal Trade Commission Staples would be the only major office supply vendor left.
“We really don’t have any regional, second-tier, office supply vendors in this area,” said Webb. “There is some discussion that Amazon will slowly build a business model to serve the needs of education, but they’re not there yet.”
Webb assured the board that a five-year agreement is typical in the office supply world, and the board approved the measure.
- The board voted to postpone action on the president’s emergency succession plan until November. Trustee Earl Selby requested more time to submit revisions; this is the second time the issue has been delayed.
- Deb Lutz gave the regular treasurer’s report. Lutz said that the school’s finances are sound and that there was nothing of consequence to report.
- Delta student Ali Kahil gave a presentation about his experiences with the University of Michigan’s Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program.
- Psychology assistant professor Maureen Donegan spoke about her student Lyndsay Smokovitz. Smokovitz won first place in the American Psychological Association’s student presentation contest, which requires community college students from across the country to write a four to five page research brief. Smokovitz paper was titled “Thanks for the Memories!” which studied how humans construct and recall memories.
- Katie Marchbanks gave a presentation about her time leading Delta’s alternative spring break. Marchbanks led students on a trip to Chicago, where they learned about urban agriculture, volunteered and experienced the city.
