Russian Delegation Visits Four U.S. In-plants

Although U.S. institutes of higher education might feel they are the only ones facing revenue shortfalls in this sour economic climate, these challenges are world wide. To better understand how U.S. colleges and universities are seeking alternative sources of revenue, a delegation of Russian university senior administrators recently toured four campuses in the northeast, accompanied by Ed Danielczyk, president/owner of business eXcellence consulting, who organized the visit.

The Russian delegation visited the University of Rochester, Ithaca College, Yale University and MIT, where they met with leaders from alumni relations, foundation development, enrollment management and the schools’ printing/mailing operations. What became very apparent—and somewhat surprising to the Russian administrators—was the valuable role that on-campus printing and mailing organizations played in helping their institutions achieve strategic business objectives.

This value was emphasized when Wayne French, director of Ithaca College Printing and Publishing, and Jeff Gworek, director of Yale Printing & Publishing, demonstrated why they are equal partners among the core university organizations whose mission is to sustain and grow the well-being of their universities. Rather than just promoting their in-plants’ attributes (e.g., convenience, high quality, fast turnaround time, etc.), their emphasis was on how their services help their institutions achieve critical objectives, such as alumni relation growth, foundation development and increased enrollment/retention.

This focus on helping parent organizations achieve their goals is one that all in-plants should replicate. When an on-campus service provider can tie its service offerings to the university’s strategic planks, rarely does a conversation pertaining to outsourcing gain any traction.

The delegation headed home with an appreciation of the collaborative approach these colleges/universities have embraced to achieve long-term success for their institutions. The best practices they gleaned will be shared with a larger audience of Russian universities during a higher-education event scheduled in Moscow.