A TIGHT BUDGET SOLUTION

At Midwest Tech, as at most mid-size engineering schools, budgets always seemed to be very tight—so tight, in fact, that the faculty never seemed to have the resources to attend all the technical conferences they felt were necessary to keep up with what their colleagues were doing. This was seen by the administration to be a detriment to the teaching and research mission, but more recently was recognized as a specific handicap in the recruitment of new faculty. It was well known that the administration was receptive to innovative ideas to help solve this problem.

This morning, when Joe Fleming, Midwest’s supply manager, opened his mail, he found a letter from the Condor Corporation announcing a new incentive program for buying firms. Condor, a supplier of a broad line of vibration transducers and analyzers, which are widely used in doing seismic studies on older buildings, was offering “frequent buyer points” to all those buying its products over the next 12 months. At the end of that period, Condor offered to redeem points for hotel stays of one to three nights, and various registration and dinner packages in connection with next year’s Structural Engineering Society meeting in Honolulu.

Believing that this might help solve the faculty’s conference travel problem, Joe asked his secretary to get him on the academic vice president’s calendar so he could help give this offer wide visibility.

1. Does Condor’s incentive plan constitute an offer of a gratuity which the institution should avoid?

2. Are there better ways that Condor might help faculty conference travel? 3. If the same Condor notice has also been received by the Midwest faculty, does that

change anything? 4. If any institutional response should be made to Condor, what should it be?

Copyrighted by the National Association of Educational Buyers. Reprinted by permission. Richard L. Mooney, C.P.M., prepared this case.