Digital First communications and new print purchasing procedures

Resources for communicators

Dartmouth’s Digital First Communications Guidelines [PDF 279kb]
Step-by-step guide to purchasing print services
Procurement’s Procure-to-Pay portal
Print services purchasing flow charts [PDF 94kb]
Common spec sheet for requesting bids from printers (This form is intended as a helpful, non-mandatory tool for requesting print estimates and ordering print jobs.) [PDF 160kb]
Exceptions form for using a non-preferred print vendor [Word doc 53kb]
Questions? Contact: procurement.services@dartmouth.edu or (603) 646-2811

Dartmouth’s Print-to-Digital project

• Overview of the Print-to-Digital project [PDF 844kb]

As part of the Strategic Budget Reduction and Investment initiative (2009 to 2011), a group of Dartmouth communicators undertook the Print-to-Digital (P2D) project to accelerate the adoption of digital media and improve the College’s print services procurement procedures.

• A Print Review Group examined the College’s print expenditures, identified potential and planned print reductions, and developed a set of communications guidelines to assist communications managers in their efforts to shift to digital media.

• A Print Customer Procurement Team, with input from communicators across campus, reviewed the more than 60 print vendors used by Dartmouth employees, identified a group of the most highly sought-after vendors, and developed a set of procedures to enable communicators to get the best possible price and service from these preferred vendors.

• With the work of these two groups now complete, the College now has a framework for encouraging staff to take a “Digital First” approach to communications and to enable those who do purchase print to work with the College’s strongest vendors on the most favorable terms.