Peaved by privatization at Cal State San Bernardino

SAN BERNARDINO -- When Cal State University San Bernardino officials opted to farm out management of the campus bookstore to a private company, they expected to improve services for faculty and students.

The move may still prove the right one, but not before memories fade from a backlash triggered by what happened last week.

Store managers for Follett Educational Services had arrayed low cost optional study guides with books and other course materials required by professors, until last week, when faculty members began complaining that the new store management was misleading and gauging students.

In response, The Foundation for CSUSB, which granted a 5-year contract to Follett to manage the store, directed managers to remove the "Bar Chart" study guides from the shelves where required course materials were displayed, said foundation General Manager Debbie Burns.

"A faculty member thought it was misleading and I agreed," Burns said. "So I called the bookstore, because we don't want anyone to get the wrong impression ... we don't want students to spend more money than they need to."

The situation first came to light last week, when students shopping for books for the upcoming quarter and professors became aware of the new sales shelve arrangements. A flurry of e-mails among professors ensued, with most concerned that new bookstore management was pushing the roughly $5 study guides disingenuously.

One professor said the move sparked the larger concern that the bookstore would now value profits over educational assistance.

"The book store has always been assumed to be looking out for the members of the university community," said Ted Ruml, an English professor. "Quite clearly they were not in this case. They used there position as a bookstore to press students into buying stuff they don't need."

Burns stopped short of saying there was a profit motive, but did concede that the placement was "misleading."

The Foundation, the business management arm of the public university that has overseen the bookstore, coffee shop and other on-campus services for years, contracted with Follett this year because the company offered a wider selection and cheaper prices for students, Burns said.

"They offer students a wider world of options," Burns said.

But it was important to swiftly address valid concerns, she added.

"There was nothing devious about this," Burns said. "But I told them to correct this immediately."

Follett's manager on duty Monday declined comment. A call to their public relations director was not returned.

While scrutiny and action triggered by student and faculty concerns are encouraging signs, contracting a private firm to undertake a historically public operation could cause profit motives and faculty concerns to clash in the future, said economics professor Eric Nilsson.

"This is a problem that often comes up with privatizing services, as you bring in an entity that has an incentive to provide itself," Nilsson said. "When the group being contracted has an incentive to reduce the quality of the services it provides, the group on the other end of the contract has to constantly monitor the monitor service provider. That's the lesson here."