Bookstore contract signed

DANIEL McCABE | After months of rumours and negotiations, it's official. The contract has been signed and starting March 1, the McGill Bookstore will be managed by Chapters Inc., the largest book retailer in Canada. McGill will become the first school to join Chapters' new university bookstore division.

The contract, ratified last week by the executive committee of the Board of Governors and announced at Senate last Wednesday, covers a five-year period, expiring on May 31, 2003. Under the terms of the deal, all current permanent staff and future staff of the bookstore will remain employees of McGill. The University's human resources policies and guidelines will continue to apply to them.

Chapters will retain all proceeds of sales from the bookstore, but has pledged to pay the University a certain amount every year. Confidentiality clauses now prevent the parties from confirming the specific amount. Chapters promised annual revenues of $750,000 to a workgroup set up by Heaphy last year to consider outsourcing the bookstore.

Chapters will also create a yearly scholarship, will provide $25,000 annually in charitable support to various McGill groups and will sponsor creative writing contests. McGill will provide the bookstore with heating, air conditioning, lighting, electricity, janitorial and cleaning services, while Chapters will be responsible for all repairs to the store.

McGill Bookstore operations manager Jo-Ann Sciampacone says bookstore staff have mixed feelings over the outsourcing deal.

"Some are enthusiastic and looking forward to it. Some are bitter and feel they were left out of the process. Everybody is curious. We don't know what all the changes will be yet."

Vice-Principal (Administration and Finance) Phyllis Heaphy, ancillary services director Alan Charade and human resources executive director Robert Savoie met with bookstore staff recently to tell them about the Chapters contract.

"The main message was that we're still McGill employees and we shouldn't panic," says Sciampacone. She adds that Heaphy, Charade and Savoie weren't able to answer all of the staffers' questions. "Somebody asked if job descriptions were going to change and the reply was, 'We don't know.'"

Two McGill committees will continue to play a role in overseeing the operations of the bookstore. The Senate University Bookstore Committee will continue to exist and provide guidance, particularly on the academic aspects of the bookstore's mission.

An advisory committee reporting to Heaphy will also be created. This committee will consist of four McGill representatives and one Chapters official and will be responsible for considering how the overall operation, management and administration of the bookstore is proceeding.

If disputes should arise between McGill and Chapters, the matter will be resolved by arbitration. Should either party want to break the agreement, they can with 90 days' notice and compensation.

"That's called an 'unhappy clause,'" Heaphy told Senate. "We're their first university. We both want this to succeed."

McGill can also terminate the deal if Chapters ever ceases to be a Canadian-controlled corporation.

What can people expect from a Chapters-managed bookstore? For one thing, a café will be installed on the second floor. "My feeling is that students don't use the bookstore as much as we would like them to," says Geoff Swift, director of college stores for Chapters. "I want people to spend more time in the bookstore, so we'll be adding more seating throughout the store, as well as building the café. We also want to look at extending the store's hours."

Magazines and periodicals will be added, a desk for special orders will be set up, the sales of used textbooks will be expanded and the store's selection of academic and scientific reference titles will grow. A new computer system, linked to Chapters, will also be added.

"I hope that people don't come into the store on March 1, expecting that, whammo, everything will change overnight," says Swift. "The major construction projects will have to wait for the summer months. We're tentatively planning a major re-opening of the store for September. We'll be spending a lot of our money making improvements to the store.

"Everybody knows this will be our first university bookstore. It will be a bit of a learning curve for Chapters. We're delighted that McGill will be our first store. In terms of staff and the building, McGill has one of the best university bookstores in Canada. And in terms of our own expertise, I think we have a lot to offer to McGill."

Librarian Suzy Slavin, a member of the Senate University Bookstore Committee, was initially against the idea of outsourcing the management of the bookstore to an outside firm. "That's in the past. Now we have to work with this decision. I welcome the opportunity to see what [Chapters] will do. I'm certainly looking forward to the Starbucks coffee."

Slavin says her only remaining concern involves how current bookstore employees will be treated by the new management team.

Swift knows that the process leading up to the deal has been nerve-wracking for bookstore staff. "Chapters itself was the creation of a merger, so I can sympathize with what they've been going through over the past 18 months.

"We'll be keeping all the permanent staff employed. We might change some of the responsibilities around, but we need every position that's currently filled in the store. In fact, we'll probably be adding a few more. Our intention is that we won't have any of our own staff working at McGill, although we will be sending advisors and trainers over.

"We're committed to making this store even better. I hope people give us the opportunity."