Inside Teachers College’s E-Procurement Transformation

Founded almost a century-and-a-half ago in 1887, Teachers College (TC) is one of the oldest schools of education in the world and the largest in the US. 

While the College is affiliated and works closely with Columbia University, it has its own president and trustees, as well as an independent procurement department overseen by Driton Tony Shala. 

Tony has spent two-and-a-half decades in procurement, working initially as Head of Administration and Procurement at OSCE, the largest security organisation in Europe. 

From there, he took up a similar role with BNP Paribas, one of the region’s biggest banks.

But having spent 18 years in corporate procurement, Tony decided it was time to truly test himself and head in a different direction. In 2015, he became Procurement Manager at Teachers College (TC), Columbia University in New York City, the first and largest graduate school of education in the US. 

“When I left BNP Paribas, I was working with the government here in the US and was introduced for the first time to cybersecurity, forensics and crime scene skills,” explains Tony. “But actually, after that, I decided to continue in procurement and wanted to try something new.

“I’d worked for 18 years in procurement but only in the corporate world; I wanted to try procurement in higher education, which involves taking a completely different approach. I said to myself, ‘I’d love to see how I can contribute’ and that’s what brought me to TC as a Procurement Manager.”

Transforming procurement at Teachers College

The sheer size and far-reaching influence of Teachers College certainly should not be underestimated. 

Sitting on an open campus in New York City, the institution employs close to 2,000 people and welcomes no fewer than 5,000 graduate students per year. Teaching hopefuls, not to mention those pursuing a whole host of other careers, come from all over the world to learn here.

All of the above means that, inevitably, procurement operations at Teachers College are far from straightforward. 

Tony’s role at TC includes anything and everything relating to procurement: approvals, requisition, sourcing, contract negotiation and beyond.

His small team of two procurement clerks are in charge of connecting vendors into TC’s e-procurement system and ensuring they fulfil necessary requirements. 

When Tony first arrived, all procurement activities were carried out manually. In the ensuing years his primary focus has been the transition from manual to electronic, while building out the capacity of the institution when it comes to procurement procedures. 

“That’s one of my strengths: to help institutions build their e-procurement platforms and start using them,” Tony continues.

“In higher education and other not-for-profit institutions, it can be challenging because faculty and staff are focused on obtaining the goods or services they’re trying to purchase, whereas our goal is to get the best value for money.

“My role is to bring balance between the two – purchasing goods and services that academics are looking for while taking into account pricing and other factors.”

The e-procurement revolution

With an annual budget exceeding US$100m, the procurement function at TC bears responsibility for all purchased goods and services, aside from staffing costs. 

From Tony’s perspective, procurement is all about teamwork which, in practice, means working hand-in-hand with other departments at the school. 

As mentioned, Tony has overseen a dramatic transition from manual to e-procurement since arriving at TC almost a decade ago and the process has certainly not been without its challenges. 

“People think that, when you start making changes, you are interfering with their day-to-day business,” he says. “That’s often because they don’t understand the system as it’s a brand new thing for them. 

“The first task for me when I came to TC was to bring everyone round the table as a team so that, when you start the process, everyone is on board. 

“Throughout my career of 20 years in procurement, I’ve learned the only way you can be successful is by making people feel part of your project.”

Summarising his approach to transformation, Tony refers to a famous quote coined by the French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupéry: “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

Once thought of as a spending department, procurement is now seen as a strategic partner because of the way it impacts the wider organisation – especially since COVID-19.

In launching the e-procurement transition, Tony was dead set on demonstrating to stakeholders how a singular electronic platform would actually speed up the purchasing process, help them better manage funds and result in enhanced transparency.

He explains that, in addition to the aforementioned academics, the key people to bring on board were the accounts payable (AP) team, the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), the Department of Finance and the Office of Facilities. 

“We had our plans but we wanted to attack things gradually and not as a ‘wall’,” says Tony. “So we started with a small group of departments and grew things from there.

“Now, after 10 years of being here at TC, we have everything going through e-procurement, including vendor management, which means 98% of our transactions go through the platform.”

Enhancing operations

Deciding to transition from manual to e-procurement is one thing; choosing the right e-procurement for your organisation is another matter altogether. 

“There are tons of options out there, but we wanted to make sure our chosen platform was going to fit our culture because the corporate world and education world are two different animals,” Tony emphasises. 

“Of course, one of the main things we wanted was a simple solution. We don’t want something complicated that’s going to present obstacles for people who don’t have the necessary skills to overcome them – especially on the academic side because they don’t have the time to spend hours placing orders.”

The three key questions asked by Tony were:

• Which platform requires the least clicks to complete tasks?
• Which platform already has most of TC’s existing vendors already integrated?
• Which platform offers the best long-term support for higher-education institutions? 

The answer to these questions turned out to be Unimarket, one of the largest e-procurement specialists in the high-ed domain. Despite being based in New Zealand, its main activities are in the US and Teachers College is one of more than 40 educational institutions based across the States using the platform.

“Ariba, Jaggaer and Oracle are huge platforms that maybe have more tools to offer, but they are designed more for the corporate world,” Tony outlines. 

“The good thing about procurement these days is that it’s about teamwork, especially now we are working on e-procurement platforms. We attend lots of conferences bringing the best schools together, so we can piggyback on their best practices and exchange information. You meet with peers and you end up doing the same things as other schools. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it’s already available.

“That’s how we ended up on Unimarket. Their team is very supportive and it’s growing every year, with more and more universities coming to the platform due to its specialism in high-ed.”

Cross-department collaboration 

One of the biggest changes Tony has observed over the course of his 20 years in procurement is the increasing importance of cross-department collaboration. 

He points to the relationship between the procurement department at Teachers College and the OGC, which supports the school’s mission by providing legal advice and counsel.

“When you think contract, you generally think legal,” Tony says. “But that’s not always true, especially when it comes to procurement and you’re talking about a purchasing or service contract, when 80% of the terms relate to procurement and only 20% relate to legal. 

“That’s why it’s so important to integrate these two departments and work hand in hand. The only way to achieve that is to be in constant discussion and have joint meetings so we are all on the same page.”

Elsewhere, amid the ongoing transition from manual to e-procurement, the convergence of technology and procurement has resulted in the creation of a relatively new domain: IT procurement. 

In fact, the lack of training provision in this area is something Tony is keen to address in his role as President of CIPS for North America. 

“Traditionally, all procurement where computers are concerned was done through IT people, but guess what? They’re experts on IT equipment but not on procurement matters.

“Unfortunately, there’s no institution which actually prepares people to sit between these two departments.”

Making sustainability strides

Teachers College, with Tony at the helm of the procurement function, is making concerted efforts to move towards a sustainable future. 

“For now, sustainability is largely still something that is recommended, but in the coming years it’s going to be mandatory so we have to focus on the sustainability of our procurement,” says Tony.

Tony is approaching this in a number of different ways, starting with careful selection of vendors. 

“To fulfil sustainability requirements, we have to select companies which are actually going to help us,” Tony continues. “Again, it’s about teamwork.”

He also highlights energy procurement, describing it as a complex process with numerous puzzle pieces that must be put together to see the full picture. 

“We were able to work with our consultant companies and start the process,” Tony adds. “It's a long journey and not something we’re going to be able to achieve in a year or two, but we are working on it and we are getting there.

“The same applies to everything else in procurement. Whatever we are trying to purchase or whatever contract we’re dealing with, we are trying to integrate sustainability elements so we can move forward.”

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