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Bookstore Collaborative Services�Insourcing The Power of Ourselves

October 25, 2021

Bookstore Collaborative Services

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Impetus for Collaboration

    • Need for dedicated and skilled talent
    • Financial stability and sustainability
      • Board policy that we all are FULLY self supporting-No GEN fund support for personnel or operating costs
    • Industry changes
    • Need to aggressively address course material affordability
    • Need for improved and consistent customer service
    • Identify and implement best practices

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Consultant Initiative

    • Industry consultants contracted in 2012
    • Methodology-National comparisons
    • Recommended organizational changes
    • Leveraging our existing talent base
    • Leveraging our collective power
    • Personnel and operational expense reductions
      • Benchmarks identified and set for personnel as a percentage of sales

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Goals

    • Single platform POS and e-commerce
    • Course material and general merchandise sourcing by the best talent
    • Policy and procedure alignment
    • Financial aid integration and alignment
    • Virtual sales and distribution
    • Financial sustainability
    • University of MN partnership-knowledge sharing

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Goals-Student Benefit

    • Course material affordability
    • Efficiency of sales and distribution
    • Multiple course material options
      • Rentals
      • E-text
      • Inclusive Access
      • Coursepacks
      • Used text
      • OER
    • Multiple store buyback
    • Expanded general merchandise
    • Student experience the same no matter what college

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Goals-Faculty Benefit

    • The experts all live here
    • One stop for adoptions
    • Resources for alternative formats and content
    • Course material cost awareness
    • Used text model with multiple term adoptions
    • Push to digital….Inclusive Access
    • Embrace and promote OER

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“I Am Not Afraid of Storms For I Am Learning How to Sail My Ship”� ~ Louisa May Alcott

Insourcing Shared Services

    • Course material buyers for multiple campuses
      • Costs are shared
      • Targets at .3-.5 FTE per college
    • E-commerce
      • Course materials go virtual for multiple campuses from a central facility
      • Minnesota Textbook Center
      • Services invoiced based on sales

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Case Study-Proof of Concept�Northland Community and Technical College

    • Began March 2017 for summer and fall terms
    • Need to reduce operational costs due to bookstore losses in previous two fiscal years
    • Course material sourcing for three campuses
    • Virtual sales and distribution for all course material
    • Website management
    • Intra Agency agreements for services provided
    • Returned to profitable position after first year

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The Expansion and Growth of Shared Services�Insourcing With the Power of Ourselves

    • Identifying the talent that exists within our colleges
    • Creating new opportunities for existing staff and reallocating without eliminating existing personnel
    • Attracting and retaining new talent
    • Focused training and professional development
    • Real savings that financially support the ability to aggressively attack course material affordability
    • Operational agility
      • New ideas driven by subject matter experts
    • We control our own destiny…we sail our own ship

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The Numbers-Real Personnel Savings

Bookstore Collaboration Financials

FY18 Bookstore Collaboration Shared Services

Course Materials Sourcing

Virtual Sales/Distro

Total Annual Personnel Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Minneapolis

$ 77,147.00

$ 29,963.00

$ 47,184.00

$ 47,184.00

Inver Hills

$ 77,147.00

$ 26,213.00

$ 50,934.00

$ 50,934.00

Dakota

$ 77,147.00

$ 18,724.00

$ 58,423.00

$ 58,423.00

Northland

$ 54,191.00

$ 31,000.00

$ 23,191.00

$ 54,191.00

$ 30,000.00

$ 24,191.00

$ 47,382.00

$ 285,632.00

$ 105,900.00

$ 179,732.00

$ 54,191.00

$ 30,000.00

$ 24,191.00

$ 203,923.00

FY19 Bookstore Collaboration Shared Services

Course Materials Sourcing

Virtual Sales/Distro

Total Annual Personnel Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Minneapolis

$ 80,233.00

$ 29,963.00

$ 50,270.00

$ 50,270.00

Inver Hills

$ 80,233.00

$ 31,073.00

$ 49,160.00

$ 49,160.00

Dakota

$ 80,233.00

$ 22,195.00

$ 58,038.00

$ 58,038.00

Northland

$ 54,191.00

$ 34,659.00

$ 19,532.00

$ 140,000.00

$ 92,937.00

$ 47,063.00

$ 66,595.00

Riverland (2/15-6/30)

$ 25,361.00

$ 14,167.00

$ 11,194.00

$ 11,194.00

Saint Paul (9/1-6/30)

$ 53,844.00

$ 20,928.00

$ 32,916.00

$ 15,000.00

$ 6,036.00

$ 8,964.00

$ 41,880.00

$ 374,095.00

$ 152,985.00

$ 221,110.00

$ 155,000.00

$ 98,973.00

$ 56,027.00

$ 277,137.00

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The Numbers-Real Personnel Savings

FY20 Bookstore Collaboration Shared Services

Course Materials Sourcing

Virtual Sales/Distro

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Total Annual Personnel Savings

Minneapolis

$ 84,245.00

$ 24,768.00

$ 59,477.00

$ 65,650.00

$ 47,925.00

$ 17,725.00

$ 77,202.00

Inver Hills

$ 84,245.00

$ 34,695.00

$ 49,550.00

$ 49,550.00

Dakota

$ 84,245.00

$ 24,782.00

$ 59,463.00

$ 59,463.00

Northland

$ 56,901.00

$ 36,000.00

$ 20,901.00

$ 145,000.00

$ 103,026.00

$ 41,974.00

$ 62,875.00

Saint Paul

$ 56,901.00

$ 36,000.00

$ 20,901.00

$ 120,000.00

$ 86,029.00

$ 33,971.00

$ 54,872.00

Riverland (7/1-9/30)

$ 14,226.00

$ 8,500.00

$ 5,726.00

$ 5,726.00

$ 380,763.00

$ 164,745.00

$ 216,018.00

$ 330,650.00

$ 236,980.00

$ 93,670.00

$ 309,688.00

FY21 Bookstore Collaboration Shared Services

Course Materials Sourcing

Virtual Sales/Distro

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Total Annual Personnel Savings

Minneapolis

$ 88,457.00

$ 21,457.00

$ 67,000.00

$ 45,616.00

$ 33,300.00

$ 12,316.00

$ 79,316.00

Inver Hills

$ 88,457.00

$ 40,000.00

$ 48,457.00

$ 48,457.00

Dakota

$ 88,457.00

$ 27,000.00

$ 61,457.00

$ 61,457.00

Northland

$ 59,746.00

$ 38,000.00

$ 21,746.00

$ 140,000.00

$ 95,277.00

$ 44,723.00

$ 66,469.00

Saint Paul

$ 59,746.00

$ 38,000.00

$ 21,746.00

$ 140,000.00

$ 101,757.75

$ 38,242.25

$ 59,988.25

$ 384,863.00

$ 164,457.00

$ 220,406.00

$ 325,616.00

$ 230,334.75

$ 95,281.25

$ 315,687.25

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The Numbers-Real Personnel Savings

FY22 Bookstore Collaboration Shared Services

Course Materials Sourcing (Actual)

Virtual Sales/Distro (Estimated)

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Full Cost

Actual (Billed)

Savings

Total Annual Personnel Savings

Minneapolis

$ 91,511.00

$ 21,161.00

$ 70,350.00

$ 70,000.00

$ 51,100.00

$ 18,900.00

$ 89,250.00

Inver Hills

$ 91,511.00

$ 42,000.00

$ 49,511.00

$ 49,511.00

Dakota

$ 91,511.00

$ 28,350.00

$ 63,161.00

$ 63,161.00

Northland

$ 62,732.00

$ 39,900.00

$ 22,832.00

$ 145,000.00

$ 100,000.00

$ 45,000.00

$ 67,832.00

Saint Paul

$ 69,880.00

$ 39,900.00

$ 29,980.00

$ 140,000.00

$ 100,000.00

$ 40,000.00

$ 69,980.00

Hennepin Tech

$ 69,880.00

$ 33,250.00

$ 36,630.00

$ 36,630.00

$ 477,025.00

$ 204,561.00

$ 272,464.00

$ 355,000.00

$ 251,100.00

$ 103,900.00

$ 376,364.00

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Course Material Sourcing�Insourcing by the Experts

    • Consistency 
      • Same faculty experience regardless of what college they teach at
    • ‘Clout’ with publishers and vendors
      • Leads to a higher level of responsiveness and service
    • Collaboration within the team of buyers
      • Working out processes/problems/new initiatives
      • Ability to brainstorm solutions to common or uncommon issues and problems
      • Knowledgeable backup and support
    • Insights into best practices and new delivery methods
    • Services provided at a fraction of the cost that would be required of the colleges that we serve
    • The OneStop Shop for all issues related to course material
      • Available eight hours of every day
    • Course material buyers with years of experience that live happily in this world

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Virtual Sales and Distribution�Real Positive Student Impact-Real Efficiency

    • Multiple colleges-One central facility
    • Better negotiated shipping rates-Embedded in our e-commerce software
    • Students can have orders shipped to home or back to their home college for pickup
    • Kiosks available for students to order course material and gain assistance
    • Better inventory processes and controls
      • Returns
      • Eliminate shipping to multiple sites
      • Receiving and stocking of product in central facility
    • Data driven staffing
      • We know when orders will come from historical data
      • We staff with temp workers
      • Extremely cost effective
    • Colleges served are invoiced as a percentage of actual sales

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Virtual Sales and Distribution�Real Positive Student Impact-Real Efficiency

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Course Material Affordability�The End Goal Highlights

    • Inclusive Access
      • Student savings across five stores
        • FY18-FY21=$6,037,879
    • Student Spend

DCTC INVER HILLS CC Minneapolis St Paul College Northland C/T College

FY16: $211.93 FY16: $296.66 FY16: $240.59 FY16: $239.29 FY18: $193.69

FY21: $217.54 FY21: $190.41 FY21: $119.30 FY21: $174.22 FY21: $184.79

      • Average reduction of 25%
    • Cost per credit at Minneapolis College
      • FY14-$34.82 per credit
      • FY21-$18.65 per credit
      • A 46% Reduction

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Contacts for Additional Information

Gary Westerland-Director of Bookstore Collaborative Services

Gary.Westerland@minneapolis.edu

612-659-6854

Anthony Ross-Course Materials Coordinator

Anthony.Ross@minneapolis.edu

612-659-6856

Becky Kostka-Bookstore and e-commerce Supervisor

Becky.Kostka@minneapolis.edu

612-659-6849

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30 East 7th Street, Suite 350

St. Paul, MN 55101-7804

651-201-1800

888-667-2848

MinnState.edu

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