The Follett Company has integrated its Follett Campus Resources, Follett College Stores and Follett Express Sales operations into a single unit, to be known as the Follett Higher Education Group. The change was effective April 1.
The major difference in the new organization is that Follett Campus Resources, the company's used textbook arm, will work more closely with the other units in the Higher Education Group. Although the management of the company is largely the same, some executives have slightly different responsibilities. George Carr, president of Follett Campus Resources, has retired and will not be replaced. Instead, Follett has created several new positions. Britt Hinton, formerly director of technology services for Campus Resources, has been appointed senior v-p of sales and operations, and Jerry Lynch, former national sales manager for the used textbook operation, has been named v-p of sales. Fred Weber, who had been v-p of marketing for Campus Resources, has been appointed senior v-p of strategic planning and communications. Jim Baumann, president of the Follett Higher Education Group, said he hopes the consolidation will create "one market-focused entity" that will allow the company to leverage its core competencies.
The company has also added two new executives. Gary Shapiro, former executive v-p and general manager of NACSCORP, has moved to Follett as senior v-p of intellectual properties and merchandise; Audrey Southard has been named senior v-p of human resources, a position she previously held at the Tribune Co.
During 1998, the Follett Higher Education Group had sales of more than $1 billion, derived from managing nearly 600 campus bookstores, distributing used college texts, providing educational materials to distant learning programs and operating Efollett.com, an online retailer of new and used college textbooks.
