In an effort to save money the ESU administration has announced it will officially close the university Printing Services this June. Chris Franklin/ The Bulletin

In June, the university Printing Services, which has been in operation since 1908, will officially close its doors for the final time. In an effort to save money, the administration made the decision to dismantle the print shop last semester.

“It wasn’t ever going to be as big an operation as it had been when more stuff was printed,” said Ray Hauke, vice president of administration and fiscal affairs. “For that reason, it was best to phase it out.”

Bill Noblitt, director of marketing and media relations, said maintaining the print shop on campus had become expensive and that ESU was actually one of the last public universities in Kansas to maintain on-campus printing services.

Noblitt also said that most of the equipment in Printing Services is outdated and would cost “a lot of money” to upgrade since technology is constantly changing.

“At some point you have to make a decision,” said Gwen Larson, assistant director of marketing and media relations. “Do we invest in the technology so we can pull all the jobs back on campus or do we go ahead and say it’s time to get out of the printing business and give the best product that we can, but not from campus?”

Hauke said some projects were already being outsourced to other printing companies before the decision was made to eliminate Printing Service.

“I think it took long enough that anybody who had a thought on the matter had an opportunity to speak,” Hauke said when asked if decision to close the print shop was ever up for debate among different departments.

Larson said in comparison to the university’s print shop, newer presses in outside companies expand the possibilities in what can be done to create a publication. For instance, some presses can provide more color than Printing Services.

“The quality’s going to be better, and that reflects on the quality of the institution,” Noblitt said.

In June, Noblitt said Printing Services will essentially consolidate with the current copy center in Visser Hall to handle basic printing needs like posters and flyers.

“Some of the existing equipment will become surplus, be sold and then we’ll run a copy center,” Hauke said.

There are currently two full-time employees, one temporary full-time employee and two student employees working in the print shop. Noblitt said the full-time employees have been placed in different departments on campus.

The student positions have not yet been sorted out, but Noblitt said there may be an opportunity for the students to work at the copy center in Visser Hall.

“They are going to need a lot more students because they are going to be taking over copying for the entire university, so those students (working in Printing Services) can certainly apply and they do have experience,” Noblitt said.

The Bulletin asked Tony Hall, director of Printing Services, and a student employee for comment on Tuesday afternoon, but both declined.

Noblitt said the university already has a stationery contract with Chester Press, 2 S. Commercial St., to handle letterheads, envelopes and business cards.

“Like any transition, it could be painful,” Larson said. “We’re changing how people do things and we’re changing the timelines in which they do them… in short term, there’s probably going to be some stress.”

Unless the university gets “an influx of a lot of money,” Noblitt said Printing Services would probably never reopen.

Kenzie Templeton

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COURTESY PHOTO A billboard designed by John Decker, graphic artist in ESU's marketing and media relations department, is one of several erected around the state as part of the new Empowered by E campaign.

Earlier this month, Emporia State President Michael Lane announced the university’s launch of a new marketing campaign. The campaign, which came as a result of ESU having the lowest enrollment figures of the Regents universities, among other factors, aims to link all university communication together with the message “Empowered by E.”

Bill Noblitt, the newly-hired director of marketing and media relations, said that when he interviewed for the position, Lane told him that there had been no overall marketing campaign, so the new strategy seeks to tie everything together in a consistent way.

According to an Open Records request by The Bulletin, the fiscal year 2010-2011 annual operating budget for all organizations associated with ESU marketing and media relations is $2,429,704, a $103,550 increase from last year’s $2,326,154.

Although the budget was already set before Noblitt was hired in August 2010, he said the increase is significant, but that “the university is serious about marketing and it’s willing to put its money where its mouth is.”

The Open Records request also showed that student wages for organizations associated with marketing and media relations decreased $28,980 from $62,419 for the 2009-2010 fiscal year to $33,439 for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Despite the loss, Noblitt said that the opportunity for student employment is going to increase before it decreases.

“We can’t operate this office without students, and it’s our obligation to give them real world experience,” Noblitt said.

So far, a launch video that was unveiled at the spring General Assembly has been created and there are billboards located in Wichita, Topeka and Johnson County. Noblitt said that the campaign in “the baby stages,” but the university is planning on airing TV commercials soon as well as advertising on Facebook.

The university also had aerial photos footage taken on October 2010, which cost $2,135, according to the Open Records request, but Noblitt said that these were not specifically taken for ‘Empowered by E.’

“In many ways, it’s taking what ESU has always done but making sure people understand it… but getting that message out, reminding either people that know ESU but didn’t realize all that was happening here or the prospective students, their parents, the people that are looking at ESU and telling them the things they didn’t know,” said Gwen Larson, assistant director of marketing and media relations.

In addition, individual departments on campus that want to make changes to their own marketing efforts must now be approved through the marketing and media relations office.

“By coordinating it down here (the marketing and media relations office) we can make sure the message is consistent…so by having all of us in one office, when someone brings a project to us, Bill and I can help write the copy… we can do a little tweaking to it to add some ‘Empowerment’ message to it, (the graphic artist) can design the product for them (and) get the ‘Empowered by E logo’ in (there) in the correct way… so when it leaves this campus, it says what the university is wanting to say,” Larson said.

Kenzie Templeton

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For Bill Noblitt, director of marketing and media, closing printing services in Cremer Hall offers an opportunity to save money for the university and to aid outside printing companies.

“We’re going to be closing the print shop at the end of the fiscal year… then we’re going to have a university copy center in Visser Hall available to faculty and students,” Noblitt said.

The print shop has been losing money over the years, and Noblitt said that updating the shop would require a large investment that would not pay out. The press will remain open through June 12 so students will have the rest of the semester to continue to use the press.

“One of the things that ends up in the budget for printing services is the materials, and those are going to be supplies that we won’t have to be ordering anymore… inventory control is so difficult sometimes that that becomes money spent,” said Gwen Larson, assistant director of media relations.

The new copy center aims to save money but the saving will not be certain until it is in effect. Noblitt said he hopes that moving from the University Press to having more outside printing done will result in savings passed on to the faculty and students because the outside shops are more up-to-date and can do tasks in a more cost efficient manner.

The students that currently work in the University Press may move over to the new copy center once the needs for the area are finalized, but currently they only employed through the semester.

The administration is attempting to make this change over as easy as possible and in a manner that will not disrupt the copying needs of the students and faculty, according to an e-mail from President Michael Lane.

Students felt that the closing may hurt student organizations’ ability to print because the University Press has knowledge of those organizations and the people in them that an outside business would not.

“Since I’m part of several student organizations we make posters and things (through the press) it is nice having that on campus, having something that knows the organizations and having them on campus is very convenient,” said Lynn Pratt, senior English major.

The current director of the University Press, Tony Hall, declined comment on the closing of the office and the opening of the new center.

Charlie Heptas

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Noblitt

Bill Noblitt, new director of Marketing and Media Relations, started working at Emporia State last Monday.

“People here are friendly. I think that is ‘Kansas friendliness,’”Noblitt said.

Noblitt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in Education from the University of Alabama.

Withjournalism experience in teaching at the university level and working in the media for more than 30 years, Noblitt is professional member of CASA (Council for Advancement and Support of Education), UCDA (University and College Designers association) and former Editor for“Designer Magazine,” a quarterly for UCDA.

“Bill is an excellent designer and writer,” said Gayle Walden, a retired university editor in the Office of University Relations at Auburn University Montgomery. “He is also a precise and strategic thinker with an instinct for what is effective.”

Noblitt has taught in Alabama, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, Wisconsin and Ohio and was Chair of the Editors Seminar at the University of Notre Dame in 1991, and also the Chair of the CASE Summer Institute in Communications in 1989 and 1990.

Waldensaid she has known Noblitt for about eight years and felt that ESU is very fortunate to have him. Walden said Noblitt explores the distinctive character of an institution and communicates it in ways that attract students, create pride in faculty and staff, and draw support from the community.

“My first impression of Bill was that he is a very congenial, generous person. His manner is engaging, and he has a great sense of humor,” Walden said.

Chris Wooton, Noblitt’s former student and student assistant at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, said inspiration for the themes of Noblitt’s publications and articles are from his personal life experiences.

“He doesn’t just want to observe life, he wants to live it and learn from it,” said Wooton.

Noblitt said he chose to come to ESU to become a faculty member because the university is serious about marketing and it believes that marketing is important to leadership.

“My goal is to work with the Emporia State family,” Noblitt said. “To create effective marketing plans which are communicating effectively.”

Wooton said that Noblitt is a “hoarder of inspiration.” According to Wooton, if you go to Noblitt’s office right now and look in his computer bag, you will find his laptop, a couple of magazines and his personal journal.

“He always searches for that perfect image, that perfect piece of text, that missing element that makes the big picture beautiful,” Wooton said.

Lauren Lau

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