CSU's budget cutting is claiming another victim: the university's print shop.
Colorado State University is proposing to eliminate eight full-time positions in the Communications and Creative Services division. By state law, the university must publicly announce plans to eliminate certain jobs before it makes the cuts, proposed to take effect Dec. 31.
In its announcement, administrators noted that increased use of e-mail and electronic publications has dramatically dropped the amount of work done at the print shop. They said the "radical" shift to other options means the print shop needs a $1 million equipment upgrade to keep up.
Further, administrators said other university departments facing their own budget shortfalls have cut back on printing purchases. The print shop is supposed to cover its costs by charging other departments. Instead, the print shop has seen a 23 percent revenue drop during the past three years, and is predicted to lose about $256,000 this year alone.
"Digital printing technologies are rapidly replacing traditional offset (printing) for many forms of print marketing," administrators said in their justification. "There are fewer dollars out there, and buyers are carefully choosing where to spend."
Cutting the eight jobs and dropping two others to part time will save the university $280,000 annually, administrators said.
Administrators said print jobs will be handled by other staff using copiers and other digital equipment at the FastPrint and CopyRite centers. CCS falls under the supervision of Mark Minor, vice president of public affairs.
Tom Gorell, CSU's senior vice president for administrative services, said university departments are all trying to be "more thoughtful" about how and where they spend money. Gorell oversees the university's purchasing, facilities and human resource departments.
"The budget is tight, and it's going to get tighter," he said.
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