ACUP to Become Non-profit Organization
For 45 years, the Association of College and University Printers' annual conference has been organized entirely by volunteers. That long tradition is about to end. This week, past ACUP President Tom Tozier announced that ACUP will officially incorporate as a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization in the state of Colorado. Not only that, Tozier said the "new" organization has already picked a date and location for its 2011 conference.
Tozier, who formerly managed in-plants at the University of Colorado and the University of California-Santa Cruz, will be named ACUP's executive director. Joining him as administrative director with the oversight of the ACUP board, will be 2008 ACUP host Jennifer Bowers, formerly of the 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.
ACUP members have discussed incorporation in the past, but because the all-volunteer method had worked so well, the idea never got much traction—until 2009, when the recession halted nearly all university travel and forced ACUP’s cancellation. This was nearly a financial tragedy for the host, who, without a formal organization to back him, faced the creditors alone. The newly incorporated ACUP will carry liability insurance, Tozier says, so hosts and participating universities won't bear such a burden.
Tozier told IPG that ACUP has set a date for a 2011 conference. It will start on April 17 and take place near the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas. Attendees can expect to tour UNT’s world-class, award-winning in-plant.
Watch for the full ACUP story in the October issue of In-Plant Graphics.
- People:
- Jennifer Bowers
- Tom Tozier
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.
