Tomorrow, UCSB Business Services will publish the second issue of its online newsletter that in part enables staff and students to keep tabs on campus sustainability and purchasing practices.

The newsletter, titled Gaucho Business, was available for the first time in September and will continue as a bimonthly publication, unless the department sees the need for more frequent issues. Business Services encompasses such departments as Central Stores, Contracts & Property and Workers’ Compensation.

The September/October 2006 issue of Gaucho Business focuses on several new business initiatives on the UCSB campus. These initiatives include Strategic Sourcing, FlexCard and Environmentally Preferred Purchasing – part of a broader campus program on sustainability.

Environmentally Preferred Purchasing is part of the campus’s promise to buy sustainable products and educate students about such topics as recycling, efficient energy use and waste reduction. By reading the periodical, Acting Director of Business Services Pam Lombardo said, students can gain perspective on the daily decisions that administrators must make in order to preserve the campus environmental sustainability and yet keep its finances afloat.

“We are trying to be proactive with sustainability,” Lombardo said. “More specifically, we are trying to be proactive with how sustainability relates to on-campus purchases.”

As for the other two initiatives, Strategic Sourcing optimizes the UC’s purchasing power by seeking cost effective products and services while FlexCard is an easier way for UC administrators to make grand-scale purchases. Strategic Sourcing works by creating system-wide teams work on projects to leverage buying power on the UCSB campus and to initiate contracts for certain commodities such as bottled water.

The FlexCard, however, is a bit more exclusive in its use. There are currently only 110 cardholders, and those interested – not including the casual student – must take an exam after completing a training session on their department’s buying policies. After the training session and the exam, cardholders compile a purchasing list to buy goods.

Dan Manfredonia, Gaucho Business editor, said he works to produce an informative and accessible website for the publication.

“[It] touches every administrative department on campus, and condenses all information regarding these departments into one location,” Manfredonia said. “[Business Services is] practicing sustainability by using an electronic medium instead of utilizing hard copy distribution.”

The newsletter may be found on the web at www.busserv.ucsb.edu/gb.htm.

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