The unexpected departure of two key members of the textbook store management staff last summer left some professors worried that service might decline, but the new employees that have arrived since seem to be responding well.
With a combination of years of experience in the textbook business and a commitment to improving service, Brian Buttram, business manager of Duke Stores, and Pat Garcia, general manager of the Textbook Store, have made an effort to quell fears that books might not come in on time.
"We've been very proactive in contacting professors and finding out the situation on books," said Buttram, who came to Duke in August from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Garcia arrived in September after more than thirty years with the textbook stores at the University of California at San Diego and Vanderbilt University.
Buttram and Garcia both stressed the importance of communication as the key to succeeding.
"Just knowing what faculty and students want to buy is the key," Garcia said. "Everyone really wants to communicate and act as a team within the campus."
About two months before the beginning of this semester, their staff sent a mass e-mail to all professors asking for book orders. They then followed up with individual e-mails updating professors on their orders.
"The concern was whether all the books would be ordered and put on the shelves. It seems that that they've done a good job," said Professor of Political Science Michael Gillespie, former chair of the provost's textbook store advisory committee.
While some faculty members have had trouble getting book orders filled, the problem does not seem to be widespread.
For example, one order form from Professor of History Peter English was lost, but he eventually resolved the issue with the store.
Students seemed relatively pleased, although they also seem to be utilizing online bookstores more to fill their textbook needs, a challenge Garcia plans to meet with improved service.
"We're trying to compete with service, and by being here at Duke, with face-to-face quality service," she said.
While the store's new managers seem to have made a successful transition, they stress that their staff's contributions have been essential. "We did retain some of our most essential staff, like our people down in receiving and in accounting," Buttram said.
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