ACUP to Become Non-profit Organization
For 45 years, the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) has held an annual conference, often attracting more than 100 higher-ed in-plant managers. Yet strange as it sounds, there has never been an actual “organization”—no dues, no bylaws, no Web site. To become a “member” you just had to attend.
Each of ACUP’s 45 conferences since 1964 has been organized entirely by a university in-plant manager (or a team of them). The host became the president of ACUP.
That long tradition is about to end. Last month, past ACUP President Tom Tozier announced that ACUP would officially incorporate as a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization in the state of Colorado. Tozier, who formerly managed in-plants at the University of Colorado and the University of California-Santa Cruz, will be named executive director. Joining him as administrative director with the oversight of the ACUP board, will be 2008 ACUP host Jennifer Bowers, formerly of Florida State University. Tozier expected incorporation to be final by September 30.
The decision to incorporate came about after a recent poll of higher-education in-plant managers reflected a desire for ACUP to become a formal organization. Most respondents rejected the idea of holding a joint conference with the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) in 2011—an option the ACUP board of directors had earlier decided to explore. After the poll, the board (comprising the past five presidents) voted unanimously to move forward with the official incorporation.
“We feel we have specific needs in the higher-education market that need to be addressed,” says Tozier, explaining why turning ACUP into a dues-paying non-profit group was a better option than merging with IPMA. Going forward, he says, ACUP will provide more than just an annual conference.
“We’re going to develop tools for the in-plant directors and managers to use for justification purposes, marketing [and] sustainability,” he notes. Tozier is also setting up ACUP’s first Web site.
- People:
- Jennifer Bowers
- Tom Tozier
- Places:
- ACUP
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited nearly 170 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
