At last week's Undergraduate Council of Students meeting, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper announced that the Brown First policy has generated over $1 million for the University in the last two years.
But many students still harbor dissent toward the policy, which they say is an unfair burden for student groups.
Brown First gives University auxiliary companies, such as Brown Dining Services and Graphic Services, the right of first refusal for any services sought by University departments and student organizations. This means that groups must solicit service from these companies before considering doing business with external providers.
The requirement puts an "extreme" burden on some student groups, said Undergraduate Finance Board Chair Adam Deitch '05.
Deitch said that while some student groups are unaffected by the policy, "there are a number of groups who are impacted by a difference in price."
Organizations that require significant catering, graphics or publishing services often face higher prices because of Brown First, he said.
Huidekoper said that Brown First should not increase costs for student groups. The program allows student groups to use vendors with better pricing or more appropriate equipment if the price cannot be met on campus, she said.
For example, the College Hill Independent is published off-campus because Graphic Services cannot match the competing price, said Director of Graphic Services Deborah Berlo.
Both Huidekoper and Berlo said Graphic Services and BuDS require that outside vendors meet certain criteria - they need to pay a living wage, offer benefits and maintain safe working conditions. BuDS vendors also need liability insurance and state accreditation for food safety.
Deitch said the price match program still forces a long and inefficient purchasing process on student organizations. Student groups need to solicit prices from off-campus suppliers, offer the order to University companies and return to the outside vendor if the price is better, he said.
Student organizations should spend their time and effort on events and projects instead of working to meet Brown First requirements, Deitch said.
Huidekoper reported at the UCS meeting last week that Graphic Services contributed $850,000 and BuDS provided $200,000 to academic enrichment over the last two years - profit from services that departments and student groups purchased.
That money has gone toward professorships, financial aid and facilities improvements that the University otherwise would have been unable to afford, Huidekoper said.
"On one hand, the University has a very legitimate claim that Brown First has helped save a lot of money and has been instrumental in being able to implement a lot of the changes Dr. Simmons has brought about," said UCS President Joel Payne '05. "On the other hand, maybe student activities fees should not be used for what Brown First goes to."
The student activities fee is designed explicitly to fund student activities, but if student groups must pay higher prices under Brown First, some of the money is going to fund the price difference instead of supporting the activity, Deitch said.
Deitch argued that only a small percentage of the profit the University has gained through Brown First comes from student organizations. The profit that Graphic Services and BuDS has received from student groups and passed on to the University is not significant enough to affect the financial plan, Deitch said.
Deitch pointed out that departments, which spend much more than student organizations on catering and graphics, do not need to be exempt from the program because they do not rely solely on limited student activities fees.
Payne said that UCS is introducing an ad hoc committee to examine Brown First. "I think we need to work hard to make sure we have done our homework," Payne said.
Eliminating Brown First was a part of Payne's campaign platform last spring.
Short-term ways to improve the program, Payne said, include expanding the vendor list, increasing its accessibility to students and studying similar programs at other universities.
Implemented in 2002, Brown First was conceived to fund improvements included in the Plan for Academic Enrichment - costly initiatives such as an expansion of the size of the faculty and the introduction of need-blind admission for undergraduates.
"Brown First is a way to make sure that we purchase wisely. The intent of Brown First is buying smarter, so we get the best prices," Huidekoper said.
Additionally, the centralization of all University graphics purchasing brought about better pricing from outside vendors, Berlo said. "We base our print partnerships on obtaining discounts with printers so that we are getting a better rate, so that we can share those savings with the department," she said.
Huidekoper said Graphic Services has been able to achieve discounts of 5 to 20 percent from local vendors. A portion of that discount is passed on to the department or organization, meaning that they get better prices than if they approached the off-campus vendor alone, Berlo said.
The second goal of Brown First is to "capture the profits internally whenever we can, whenever it makes sense. In those cases, we can use those resources to help support our academic priorities," Huidekoper said.
Brown First allows Graphic Services and BuDS to receive business that might otherwise have gone off-campus, increasing their profit.
Graphic Services and BuDS keep a portion of the surplus to support improvements to their equipment, but the rest of the money is reinvested in the University, Huidekoper said.
Huidekoper said if the Brown First policy were rescinded, "it would be presented to the University Resources Committee and they would say, 'We aren't going to get this revenue next year, so what area of the University are we going to cut back?'"
Payne said he looks forward to working with University officials to mold Brown First so that it is mutually beneficial to both the University and student groups. "Dr. Simmons has assured us that she is going to keep us involved and that she is going to allow us to make suggestions," Payne said.
Huidekoper said Brown First simply makes sense. "I hope people understand that this is really not meant to be punitive. It is really meant to be about being smarter with the money that we have and to generate some benefits for the University as a whole and for the programs that we offer," she said.
