By Mackenzie Gregory
The Scene staff
The four print shops of St. Louis Community College have been merged into one main print center on the Meramec campus.
That means that Forest Park faculty and staff will no longer be able to make copies, business cards, posters, name badges and fliers on campus. They will order through a website, interoffice mail or bookstore dropoffs.
“It’s hard to tell (how it will affect employees) since it hasn’t happened yet,” said Radiologic Technology Program Coordinator Rebecca Northern, whose department uses print-shop services often.
The work is being outsourced to SumnerOne, a St. Louis printing and data services company. No STLCC employees will lose their jobs.
Originally, print shops operated on each of the three main STLCC campuses and at the Cosand Center downtown.
The STLCC Board of Trustees made the decision to merge in May of last year to increase efficiency and alleviate budget problems. The plan went into effect March 2.
“Each location had one manager, one full-time employee and part-time employees working across all shops,” said Justin Rudick, senior manager of Auxiliary Services.
“Equipment-wise, we had two large printers at each shop, more than two times the amount of equipment and employees we needed to run.”
STLCC officials maintain that the new system is just as efficient as the old one. Orders will be fulfilled in 24 to 48 hours, according to an email announcement from the marketing and communications department.
The print center also will accommodate employees who need copies and other printed materials on an emergency basis, Rudick said.
“We will be able to deliver prints within 24 hours. We have contingencies. If it is an emergency, we can deliver same day.”
The Forest Park print shop was in the basement of D Tower. When it closed March 2, it had only one employee, Roger Mayden, a supervisor in Auxiliary Services. He has been working nearly 20 years for the college.
Mayden has transferred to the Meramec campus and is working for SumnerOne. He declined to comment for this story.
“It’s sad to see Roger and the print shop go,” Northern said. “His service is fantastic. Never a mistake.”
Campus Life is another department that regularly uses print-shop services.
“I was really sad when I found out (about the move),” said employee Jasmine Armstrong. “We order our small fliers from Roger. He was so helpful.”
STLCC spent time searching for a company to take over its print services and required SumnerOne to hire all its full-time print-shop employees, Rudick said.
Employees will receive more technical training and opportunities for professional growth by working with SumnerOne, according to the announcement.
“Employees have matched pay and days off,” Rudick said. “Two employees took retirements from STLCC and still get pay from SumnerOne.”
The new print center is at the physical plant at Meramec. Officials chose that location because of the campus’ proximity to highways and the size and condition of its existing print shop.
Forest Park employees have three ways to order copies and other printed materials from the print shop. They can send hard copies through interoffice mail or drop them off at the bookstore or order online at stlcc-print-center.stlcc.local.
Employees received these instructions, but many still don’t know whether the new system will be better or worse or how it will affect their jobs.
“Since it is freshly new, we’ll have to find out how to go about it,” Armstrong said.
Questions about the new system can be emailed to stlccprintcenter@stlcc.edu.