To: The Board of Education

I ask for your support to prevent the permanent closure of Lane Community College's Printing and Graphics Department on June 30, 2026, upon the Board of Education's approval at the March 31 meeting, with a proposed closure on June 30, 2026.

This is not a minor change. It removes a core campus service that supports instruction, student success, and daily operations.

Printing & Graphics offers comprehensive printing, duplicating, and graphic design services to college departments, students, and community partners. From concept to final production, it delivers high-quality, timely, and cost-effective results. Its work appears across campus, including instructional materials, signage, banners, and branded communications that define the college’s image.

More importantly, P&G is integral to the academic mission. It supports students in graphic design and media arts—programs targeted for growth. Each term, students rely on the department for essential projects like large-format prints and professional presentations. This support is essential to their learning and career readiness.

Closing this department would not remove the need for these services but shift the burden elsewhere at higher cost and lower effectiveness.

Relying on off-campus vendors would cause:
• Delays disrupting instruction and deadlines
• Additional costs for courier services, delivery, and staffing
• Loss of immediate on-campus support and problem-solving
• Higher outsourcing expenses for design services
• Reduced quality control and brand consistency

Significant institutional risks must be considered. Outsourcing may seem cost-effective initially but often leads to higher long-term expenses, less flexibility, and lower service quality. Vendor pricing can fluctuate, turnaround times fall outside the college’s control, and urgent academic needs become harder and costlier to meet. Once internal capacity is lost, rebuilding it is costly and complex, reducing options and increasing reliance on external providers.

Given these risks, has a comprehensive due diligence process been completed?

• Has a full cost comparison been conducted, including hidden and long-term expenses?
• Have academic impacts and student access barriers been formally assessed?
• Have vendors provided written guarantees for service levels and turnaround times?
• Has the risk of reduced program quality, especially in growth areas like graphic design, been assessed?

As the college prioritizes growth in design programs, removing a key hands-on production resource sends a contradictory message and weakens that investment.

Printing & Graphics has made good-faith efforts to generate revenue and operate efficiently. However, expecting it to be fully self-sustaining overlooks its broader institutional value. Like libraries, IT, and advising, it is an essential infrastructure supporting multiple college areas.

To maintain high-quality instruction, operational efficiency, and a strong institutional identity, preserving Printing & Graphics is strategic, not optional.

A responsible path forward is adopting a hybrid funding model that treats Printing & Graphics as a shared institutional resource while encouraging revenue generation. This balances fiscal responsibility with the college’s mission and long-term goals.

Decisions of this scale require full transparency, rigorous analysis, and clear evidence that all impacts—not just immediate cost savings—have been considered.

We urge the Board of Education to reject the proposed closure and pursue a sustainable funding model that preserves this essential service.