It's a strategy that also makes sense for cash-strapped universities. The purchasing departments at McGill and Concordia will be working much more closely together  buying in bulk and driving harder bargains with their suppliers.

"A conservative estimate is that we could save about three percent of the money the two universities spend on their purchases right now," says Alan Charade, manager of McGill's purchasing services. "That would work out to about $4.5 million a year."

"We have our own cultures and identities, but our needs are similar," Joseph Capano, director of Concordia's purchasing department, told Concordia's Thursday Report. "Savings in purchasing represent hard dollars that can be reinvested to help the University's viability."

In January, the executive committees of both schools' boards of governors identified purchasing as an area where McGill and Concordia could benefit from closer links. Charade, Capano and their respective bosses, Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) Phyllis Heaphy and Concordia Chief Financial Officer Larry English, began meeting to see how the universities could best join forces in this area.

An agreement has been reached which will, for one thing, result in a new boss for the staff in McGill's purchasing services. Capano, a McGill graduate, will become the manager of the day-to-day activities of the staff in both departments. From now on, a single buyer will negotiate on behalf of the two schools for items that both universities need.

Still to be decided is whether or not purchasing staff from the two universities will share a single office. "That won't be happening now. If it does take place, it won't happen until June," says Charade. He'll still keep tabs on the McGill side of the purchasing equation as he takes on new business operations responsibilities for the University.

One thing won't change. "The employment agreements that are in place won't be affected," says Charade. In terms of benefits and policies, McGill staff will be treated just as they are now, with the same holding true for their counterparts at Concordia.

Charade says the two universities will now concentrate their energies on devising a single overall system to cover purchasing activities. Even though McGill and Concordia will go shopping together from now on and will haggle over prices as a single entity, "we'll still be issuing separate invoices and have separate billing systems."

The two universities are currently drawing up a shopping list, and Charade encourages any McGill departments still buying for themselves to get in touch with the purchasing pros who might be able to get them better deals.

Charade says the University will continue to work with a consortium of Quebec universities that buys things like lab equipment in bulk. McGill will also work more closely with the Ontario University Purchasing Managing Association  a buying collective composed of that province's universities. "For certain things  examination booklets, for instance  we might be able to get better prices by going that route."