OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The bookstore at UW Oshkosh is one of three in the Universities of Wisconsin system that aren’t outsourced to a third party.
However, that may soon change, based on a recent report from a task force assigned to analyze the risks and benefits of the bookstore. The report weighed the pros and cons of both keeping the bookstore internal or outsourcing to an outside vendor.
UWO Chancellor Andrew Leavitt told FOX 11 the report sent them looking for proposals from third-party vendors.
“To see if we can, in fact, have an outside group come in and run the bookstore more profitably, or with a greater financial stability than what we are currently doing,” he said.
Students at the university don’t agree. Some have created an online petition to keep operations internal, which — as of Dec. 3 — had amassed more than 600 signatures.
Many students that FOX 11 spoke to said they were not aware that the bookstore could potentially be outsourced. One of the co-creators of the petition, Abby Laundrie, says that she is trying to change that.
“We just thought, you know, without the Chancellor really giving a public announcement, we thought we should at least say something to let other students know,” she said.
Some students, like Brooke Verboort, are concerned by how the change could impact them financially.
“I think the books will go up in price, the clothing will go up in price, and I don’t know, I’d rather make it affordable for people in our school than have to make them struggle even more,” she said.
The report interviewed other UW System universities that had outsourced their bookstores. Many said the third-party vendors were underperforming.
All three of the UW school bookstore colleagues we spoke with indicated that, due to the combination of decreased service quality and financial underperformance they have experienced with third parties, they would ideally prefer to return to a self-operated model in the future.
UW-Green Bay outsourced its bookstore to a third-party vendor in 2018. FOX 11 reached out to the university to see what, if any, impacts the move had on students. We did not hear back by the time this story was published.
Leavitt clarified a final decision has not been made. “What we’re doing is we’re going out and looking to see what might be available on the outside, if it’s better than what we can do,” he explained. “If we find out that it’s not better, then we need to do some reforms here with the bookstore and continue on that self-run mode.”
Last year, UW Oshkosh outsourced its child-care program to the Oshkosh YMCA. It also floated the idea of outsourcing custodial and grounds crews — an idea which was ultimately shut down.
Leavitt said the university will continue to look for contract bids through next spring.
Comments