Administrators say that the University Bookstore will remain under the management of the University, disposing talks that the Student Center location soon could be leased to a private company.

Gregory Tatham, Student Center director, said the bookstore is in good standing, and that he does not see the store being leased anytime in the near future.

We’re still remaining profitable and we’re staying competitive in the market, Tatham said. We’re still remaining at our normal level if not increasing our market share.

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Reports that the University Bookstore could be privatized surfaced last spring. The bookstore experienced some financial woes last year when revenues declined slightly.

Jim Skiersch, director of the University Bookstore, said that the decline has turned around, and that sales were up in the first semester because of a new policy that allows the store to pre-order books for students. He said an advertising campaign where the store matches competitors’ prices also helped the store.

[The University Bookstore] is pretty stable right now, he said.

He said that although many private companies have expressed interest in leasing the bookstore, no offers have been taken from private companies.

The University is not sure if they are wanting to lease it out just yet, he said.

Skiersch said that leasing the store likely would result in a decrease in permanent positions and mean more students would be hired to work only during peak periods.

The net number of student jobs would go down, Skiersch said. The nature of student jobs through leasing can cause more jobs to become temporary positions.

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Most employers would only hire students at the beginning of the semester and at the end.

Skiersch said that the selection of merchandise also would decrease and that it would be hard to tell if students would see an increase in merchandise prices.

It’s hard to say if prices of books would increase, he said. That would depend on the new operators.

Tatham said that although there are no plans to lease the bookstore now it always remains an alternative.

We always look at all of the options to offer the best service to the University, Tatham said. Whether we decide to take that option or not, it will always be an option.