Though they started out as a convenient way to grab a drink or snack anywhere, vending machines now offer everything from books and DVDs to iPods and cell phones.The Student Relations Committee of the Student Government Association hopes that TCU will soon reap this convenience with school supply vending machines on campus, Student Relations Chair Justin Brown said.
As part of a long-term, multifaceted resolution, SGA is looking into getting at least two of these vending machines on campus by next fall, President Jace Thompson said. The idea came from responses to the most recent student interest survey conducted by the Student Relations Committee.
The committee is researching methods of getting the vending machines. David Yee, TCU Bookstore assistant manager, said the bookstore will probably not be involved in supplying the vending machines.
“This has been discussed before,” Yee said, “but no action was taken.”
Yee said the bookstore is discussing other methods of making school supplies more accessible for students, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Brown said he hasn’t excluded using outside vendors, considering the bookstore’s limited resources. The bookstore is housed in temporary trailers on the site of the previous building. Construction on the new 34,000 square-foot bookstore is scheduled to begin in late April.
“Especially with our bookstore in the transitional state that it’s in, it’s really important to have another way to get supplies,” Brown said.
The machines, which will likely be placed in the library and Reed Hall, will vend items such as bluebooks, Scantrons, pens and pencils. Similar school-supply vending machines are used on other campuses, including the local Tarrant County College District and Duke University. A machine in the Collin County Community College District even dispenses NoDoz pills.
Brown said he would like the machines to utilize send-home, similar to other vending machines on campus.
“These things will be like your own, minibookstore in the same building that you have class,” Brown said.
