Dr. Solomon Namala and political science professor Terrence Mullins raised their concerns at the meeting, Mullins argued that the margin in the cost for books and the margin stipulated in the Follett Bookstore contract didn’t coincide. Namala believes that an amendment allows Follett to make more money at the expense of students. Namala had notes outlining the differences in gross margin, which differed from 47 percent to 49 percent, instead of the contracted 25 percent in the Follett contract ... and there was no response.
7 replies (most recent on top)
We need to get this to the media including school newspapers.
Did it occur to you this professor is going on record because he is concerned about the student? If you, Follett or other entities affecting students have the attitude expressed in the fore mentioned post is it no wonder that those have a questionable future because maybe they didn't put the customer's priorities first?
Great Job Dr. Mullins! You're looking out for your students at Cerritos College. Too bad other institutions look at their students the same way Follett does. Professors don't know the cost of texts. They "buy" them from publishers' reps without asking about cost. They look at how much the bookstore "earns" the university and ask why isn't it more. If the bookstore contributed more, perhaps they'd get the additional grad assistants they've begged for over the past 10 years. Professors have to get research grants and they have to publish. They teach to pay the bills. Their students' concerns are below them, in many cases. That being said, the students couldn't give a shit about how we in the bookstore are treated either. Happy Holidays!
What school is this? Cerritos College. Administrators talk to each other.
COPAR and freight are not typically covered in the contracts-many are vague intentionally. Follett has been in hot water with this since the beginning of 2000. Ever wonder how COPAR and freight pass through are calculated by the home office? They go up, but never go down even when the inputs change.
Follett has never looked at the best interest of the customer. Always looking for ways to LOCK THEM IN, and CHARGE THE MAXIMUM retail.
COPAR & Freight- Pass through? That's normal and it's typically covered in the contract.
certainly not. Then again, when an answer does come, bet it's signed off by either Edelman or it comes from Legal. These are not the sort of accusations you can answer with "you're right! we're sorry!" nope. Hubris wont permit that. Litigation or smear campaigns are the only way forward! And meanwhile price changes across the board slowly increase margin one title at a time. 48%, 49%, 60%? Seen them all. If you're curious, take a cross section of 400 level technical text and look at the average margin. 20-25% would be a blessing.