2 Higher Ed Consortia Sign with Xerox for Printing and Document Management

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/18/08

The Midwestern Higher Education Compact has signed a three-year contract with four possible year renewals with Xerox Corp. for printing equipment and document management services. MHEC will also extend this agreement to its sister organization, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

Under the contract, MHEC and WICHE members can use Xerox for their office printing needs. The contract also includes production-level printing services.

"We first began working with Xerox in 2003, and our members have benefitted greatly through cost savings and improved efficiencies in their print environments," said Grant Crawford, CIO for MHEC. "As a consortium, we were able to negotiate a contract with Xerox where our members will continue to save by taking advantage of the power of cooperative purchasing."

Participants will also be able to use Xerox services, including productivity assessments and document advisories to help manage and streamline records and administrative documents.

For example, Milwaukee Area Technical College, an MHEC member, signed on with Xerox last year to overhaul the school's document management systems. The college anticipated savings of approximately $3.5 million over the length of its five-year commitment with Xerox using the MHEC agreements.

"Xerox worked with us to develop and implement a plan to upgrade our equipment, achieve overall efficiency, provide on-site technical support, and realize significant savings in capital and operating expenses," said Darnell E. Cole, president of the college.

MHEC and WICHE are statutorily created consortia with 1,700 colleges and universities located across 25 states. MHEC is charged with promoting interstate cooperation and resource sharing for these institutions, which includes negotiating group contracts tailored to higher education needs.