From the Editor Hardships in Higher Ed

For loyal ACUP attendees, this year's Association of College and University Printers conference couldn't come soon enough. Most of the educational community has faced a very tough year.

Budget deficits in nearly every state have lowered appropriations to schools, forcing them to cut budgets. Even private schools have watched revenue drop due to decreasing enrollment. As a result, university departments have less money to spend on printing. When they do spend it, they're being careful to shop around for the best deal. And with commercial printers slashing prices, that deal is not always at the in-plant. So volumes have dropped, while in-plant overhead costs have not.

To boost the stress level another notch, university customers, burdened with additional work and less staff, have gotten more demanding. They want jobs turned around even faster. The trouble is, their files have more problems because they have less time to spend on them, and their proofs are not being returned promptly to the in-plants.

Add to that the hiring and wage freezes that have hit many college and university in-plants and you get a drop in staff morale. Employees are worrying about their future—and rightly so.

These issues were strong on the minds of managers at ACUP. For them the conference provided not only a brief respite from the stress, but an opportunity to discuss their difficulties with other managers who understand their problems—because they share them.

Sadly, several ACUP regulars were missing this year. Either their schools trimmed travel and training expenses (ironic, isn't it?) or the managers decided it just didn't look good to travel while cutbacks were making life difficult at home.

Those who did make it to ACUP learned about innovations in offset and digital printing, and picked up a few tips on in-plant survival. But more importantly they talked with one another. Informal discussions popped up frequently on topics such as digital file submission, digital color printing and the merging of mail and printing. And by talking to other managers with experience in these areas, they got the real scoop—minus the spin.

So as I prepare to depart for Salt Lake City to attend the International Publishing Management Association's annual conference and vendor fair, I sincerely hope the lure of discussing your concerns with sympathetic fellow managers and gaining new ideas to strengthen your in-plant will coax many of you to join me.