In an effort to save money and improve copying and mail services, the president's council has contracted a Fortune 500 company, IKON Office Solutions, to manage the Copy Center and Post Office. The most tangible effects of the contract are a 30 percent savings in all copy costs, longer Mail Room and Copy Center opening hours, and three new IKON employees on campus.

IKON is saving the students money. "Copy cards were $6.50. Now they are $4.50. That's a substantial savings," said IKON employee Chuck Nettles, who now runs the Copy Center. Single-sheet copies were also reduced by 30 percent from 6.5 cents to 4.5 cents a copy. David L. Williams, who directs Multnomah's accounting department, said that the savings go directly to the students; Multnomah does not profit from the price reduction.

In addition to cutting prices, IKON has expanded the Copy Center and Post Office hours of operation. The Copy Center is open for service from 7:45 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Post Office window is open from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and now stays open during lunch. Post Office customer service representative Glen Drake said they will continue to sell stamps and deliver mail twice daily.

IKON has expanded hours by allowing its staff to run the services. Instead of displacing two of the Multnomah employees who ran the Mail Room, Mr. Williams said, IKON hired them as staff. The company also sent Mr. Nettles to run the Copy Center, freeing the media center staff to concentrate on providing the school with media support. Mr. Williams said IKON will maintain three employees during normal operations and increase staff during high-volume periods.

Ron Bower, who is in charge of classroom media, said he was glad for the change. "IKON was able to cut costs considerably," Mr. Bower said, "and I hope it stays there." Mr. Bower also said the copy job turn-around is quicker because the media staff had to squeeze in media requests around print jobs, or close the Copy Center to service copiers. "Chuck is available more hours and has a more flexible schedule," he said.

"We are trying to hire people to do what they do best for us," Mr. Williams said. IKON initially contacted Multnomah. After preliminary surveys, IKON representatives determined they could improve copy quality and reduce copy costs. As part of the contract, IKON also offered to manage Multnomah's mail services.

The president's council agreed to a five-year contract with IKON. Previously, Multnomah was outsourcing many of its printing jobs and still paying the copy machines' running and maintenance costs. As part of the agreement, IKON bought Multnomah's copy machines and took over the school's leases, Mr. Williams said.

"Copying costs have gone down because IKON provides paper and services at a more inexpensive rate," Mr. Nettles said. "The only time the prices will vary is if there is a price fluctuation by the paper supplier. Now IKON owns the copier. If you want 10 reams of paper with every other page blue, it will not cost extra. There are no [additional] labor costs," he said.

Under IKON's management, the copying prices are broken down by the duplication or impression cost and the cost of paper, Mr. Nettles said. Color copies are sold at a slightly higher price; there is no charge for stapling, collating, and punching holes in single-colored copies.

The only other time prices may be higher is if production is backed up, and Mr. Nettles sends the material to be copied at an IKON subsidiary, such as IKON Document Services. Then the additional handling charges would be 3 to 4 cents a page.

IKON's five-year contract can be broken, Mr. Williams said, with a 30-day notification for non-performance by either party. "There have been some glitches along the way," Mr. Williams said, "such as when Mr. Nettles was overwhelmed two weeks prior to registration with class notes. But that is to be expected because it is a new system."

Besides new staff, IKON supplied Multnomah with 10 copiers for various departments. Mr. Nettles services the copiers and said they should never be down for more than three hours.

IKON Copy Solutions is a multi-billion dollar international company with its headquarters in Valley Forge, Pa. IKON has numerous offices and copy centers in Portland. The company specializes in managing offices and office equipment more efficiently, using the latest technology.