The Campus Enterprise Division will begin its work today though details about this new division and what it will accomplish are still unclear.
Charles Leffler, vice chancellor of finance and business, said a series of transitional meetings will begin today.
“The first few weeks will be mainly getting information from people,” he said.
Leffler said the new division has a lot of sorting out to do before it will be able to make progress.
“We have to restructure the organizations to fit the new division,” he said.
Leffler also said the transition of the bookstore will be straight forward, but the transition of Talley Student Center will be complicated because there are so many sub-divisions working there.
Bob Wood, director of materials management of the purchasing department will be heading this new division and will serve as interim associate vice chancellor.
Wood said his job is to get the wheels of the new division moving so his successor won’t have to wonder who plays what role. However, Wood said he doesn’t fully know what the new division will accomplish, other than to serve as an umbrella for all revenue entities on campus.
He did say that the primary and secondary goals of the division are in place. Wood said his main goal of the project is to renovate Talley Student Center.
“I want it to be so the first time you walk into Talley, I want your jaw to drop and for you to say ‘this is what a student center should be’,” he said.
Wood said he wants to keep the Talley project moving for his successor, who will be a major player, and help it build up steam before the design team starts meeting with students and making a “wish list.”
Wood said while Talley is his main priority, consolidating the All-campus card with the Wolfcopy card will be his secondary goal. This will allow students to have one all-purpose card. However, he forsees problems with the transition.
“The stripe has to be in just the right place for the cards to work in the machines,” Wood said.
Wood’s secondary goal coincides with Student Body President-elect Jim Ceresnak’s goal, despite no communication about the topic between the two.
“I’m happy they understand this is a problem that needs to be fixed,” Ceresnak, a junior in political science, said.
However, Ceresnak said the University can’t just jump into this blindly, and the costs need to be evaluated.
Wood agreed and said with any project, it is a dance between how much money the University has and what it wants to do.
“We can’t give everything to everyone — there is not enough money,” he said.
Wood said there are many projects students don’t know about — projects buried in the system — which he wasn’t willing to provide details about.
“We don’t announce projects until they are under way and can be achieved,” he said. “We don’t want to get students’ hopes up.”
From a financial standpoint, Leffler said no decisions have been made about the division.
“There’s nothing mandating that decisions have to be made quickly,” he said.
Leffler said there will be no changes to the budget until after July 1 but said he doesn’t know how the budget will be affected in the long run.
Wood said the budget will be tough for this fiscal year and the year after.
“We don’t have a crystal ball,” he said.
Alex Miller, associate vice chancellor and director of University Scholars, said discussions on the budget topic will begin soon.
Miller also said the overarching business division is a good idea.
“It will be good to have all [the revenue-generating businesses] housed under one roof to make them all better,” he said.
However, Miller said there may be some issues with the student centers. He said his main concern will be how reservations of space are handled.
“The logistics of how we reserve the space will be an issue,” Miller said.
Regardless of the issues, Wood said he is happy to get the new division jump started, although he is doubtful he will be the permanent director because he is nearing retirement.
“I get to do some of the down and dirty business procedures required to get a business up and running,” Wood said.
