University Business

By John M. Reale, Jr., executive director of auxiliary services for SUNY Polytechnic Institute.

Over the past several years, SUNY Poly gathered feedback from students, faculty, and administrators. It became clear we needed to complement our brick-and-mortar campus store with an online course material platform.

That change meant we could radically redesign the campus bookstore and reimagine its purpose. Last year, we stopped selling physical course materials on campus altogether. Today, SUNY Poly students can easily find and purchase their course materials online, while the bookstore building serves as a central hub for a variety of services benefitting the campus community.

Initially, our decision to embrace this new bookstore model was driven by student affordability. According to U.S. PIRG, cost prevents 65% of students in the U.S. from buying all of their required textbooks. By shifting to an online storefront, we can provide students with a greater number of choices. They can select the format best suited for their learning—and financial—needs.

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