The benefits of a Brown ID have become even greater with the arrival this fall of the Bear Bargains program, a new system of discounts and special offers available to University students, staff and faculty.
The program comprises three different elements: specific discounts that apply to local vendors, a Working Advantage program that gives discounts to more than 5,500 organizations in the country and several general services - such as athletic programs and religious services - offered to those affiliated with the University.
"This is a sort of centralized way to communicate all of the discounts that are offered to individuals with a Brown ID, whether they be students, faculty or staff," said Angel Hilliard, the University's manager of employee programs and director of the Bear Bargains program.
Plans for the Bear Bargains program began in 2005 and originally sought to promote Thayer Street businesses and benefit members of the Brown community who frequent those locations. The program was a response from Brown's human resources department to an increasing number of requests made by local vendors who wanted to offer discounts but had no way of doing so.
"There was no formal mechanism for all of these businesses to provide these sorts of deals," Hilliard said.
The program continued to develop over the next two years through committee work with numerous organizations, including the President's Staff Advisory Committee, the Human Resources Advisory Board and the Office of the General Counsel. Participating vendors were approached by Hilliard, who said interested businesses can join the Bears Bargain program at any time.
The only requirement for a business to participate is that its discount be available to all Brown faculty, staff and students. That mandate initially caused some difficulty, as certain vendors only wanted to provide discounts for Brown staff members, "but we envisioned a program for all individuals, as otherwise it goes against the all-inclusive Brown community sentiment that this is all about," Hilliard said.
Not all vendors are easily incorporated into the program. Hilliard said there have been efforts to involve Thayer Street chain stores like Urban Outfitters and Cold Stone Creamery, but due to corporate constraints, it is far more difficult to secure their participation than that of individual vendors.
Bear Bargains components
Local businesses participating in the Bear Bargains program include Thayer Street restaurants, beauty and health stores and even the East Side Marketplace grocery store, which offers a five percent discount to faculty and staff on Thursdays and to students on Wednesdays.
Some discounts consist of a blanket 10-or 15-percent price reduction on all purchases, while others are subject to more specific limitations. Geoff's, on Thayer Street, offers a discount after 3 p.m. on any day but Tuesday, when sandwiches are two for the price of one. The accessories shop Details, also on Thayer Street, offers a 15 percent discount on Tuesdays for only certain items.
A few of the Bear Bargains discounts existed previously and now are being incorporated into the larger structure of the program. Thayer Street locales such as Meeting Street Cafe and City Sports have offered discounts in the past.
Perhaps because their discounts have been offered for a longer period of time, those businesses are more direct about their offers, which are advertised by signs displayed outside both stores. But not all vendors are actively promoting the new discount program.
"Some (vendors) have said that they don't want to put a sign in the window because it puts them in a position where they have to answer to those who are upset about not being eligible for the discount," Hilliard said.
One employee at the Thayer Street bead store Beadworks said she has encountered complaints from Rhode Island School of Design students, who are not eligible for the Bear Bargains program.
"If they're not Brown students, they tend to get upset that they aren't receiving the discount," the employee said.
A complete listing of community vendors that offer discounts is available through the Bear Bargains index page on the Human Resources Web site.
Working Advantage, the second component of the program, is a nationwide set of offers that extends to various hotels, movie theaters, ski resorts and Broadway shows. To make use of these benefits, members of the Brown community must first create an account at the Working Advantage Web site.
The final tier of the program is a general compilation of all of special services available to Brown students, faculty and staff. These services include athletic programs through the Department of Physical Education and Campus Recreation, free rides on the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority and the farmer's market that is held Wednesday afternoons on Wriston Quadrangle.
Student awareness grows
When asked if they were aware of the Bear Bargains program, few students expressed knowledge of the community vendor discounts being offered, and most responded with surprise to news of the program.
"I feel like I know about (a student discount) if I go there often - for example the Meeting Street Cafe's 10-percent discount - but otherwise I would only know if someone had told me," said Anya Rothstein '09.
Some students expressed disappointment that they hadn't known about the program's details.
"I feel like anywhere I go on campus may have a discount, so I really should just ask at each place, as I wouldn't really know otherwise," said Jennifer Coletta '09.
"I just knew about the East Side Marketplace deal on Wednesdays, which is when I go and buy my rice. I feel (kind of) outraged that students aren't aware of (the discount program)," added Michael Lin '11.
Another first-year, Janet Zong '11, said she was unsure about whether the program was being advertised effectively.
"I doubt people read the signs in the windows, especially if they're not particularly obvious, because most people, in not being aware of the offer, aren't looking for a sign that would indicate a discount," Zong said.
Some students said they were aware of the program, but even those who expressed knowledge of its existence had limited awareness of the specific details regarding the locations offering discounts.
"I read about it (in Morning Mail), and it was on the Brown home page Web site at one point, but I still didn't really look into it," said Jenny Frary '11.
Confusion about the program might also stem from it being listed on the Human Resources Web site under "Employee Programs." Hilliard indicated that efforts would be made to better publicize the program.
"What I'm hoping to do is periodically update the Web site, sending occasional Morning Mails to let people know about additional vendor discounts that have been added to the index page. That's my plan for keeping people in the loop," Hilliard said.
The future of Bear Bargains
The Bear Bargains program has continued to grow since it officially began this fall, attracting more and more local vendors. "It's exciting because now I don't have to go up and down Thayer Street giving people my card and telling them about the program. Rather, now they're calling me because they have an interest in joining as well," Hilliard said.
The program is expected to eventually include more businesses off College Hill, in part a reflection of the increasing number of University departments and facilities that are not located immediately on campus. Hilliard expressed particular interest in involving Jewelry District businesses.
"As the Brown campus expands, I'm hoping to incorporate more participants both on College Hill and off," Hilliard said. "It's a win-win situation both for those offering the discounts as well as those receiving."
