Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.18
Liaison Cora Kenfield
Submission Date July 27, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Vassar College
PAE-25: Trademark Licensing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00 Jeff Walker
College Sustainability Coordinator
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Is the institution a member of the Worker Rights Consortium?:
No

Is the institution a member of the Fair Labor Association? :
Yes

Has the institution expressed intention to participate in the Designated Suppliers Program? :
No

The website URL where information about the institution’s participation in the WRC, FLA, and/or DSP is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Barnes and Noble College Booksellers runs the Vassar College bookstore and is therefore responsible for ensuring that Vassar apparel is produced under fair conditions. Barnes and Noble College Booksellers is a member of the Fair Labor Association.

With regard to the Designated Suppliers Program, Neil LeBeau, Barnes and Noble College Booksellers Regional Manager, writes:

“There are numerous concerns as to this programs practicability and whether it would pass Federal Anti Trust guidelines. Currently, there are 10 schools in committee working on this initiative. There are very mixed opinions on whether this initiative will come to a workable and adopted end result. One of the many concerns of the DSP as it stands now is the thought that it could lead to retail prices increasing 20% to 30%. Scott Nova, the Executive Director of the Workers’ Rights Consortium works with our Vice President of General Merchandising, Joel Friedman, on these and other issues related to all types of Fair Labor Practices.
By having over 35 of our licensed client accounts as members of the FLA, another 40 with Workers Rights Consortium membership, and by being a member ourselves, we receive information of production infractions through these relationships. This allows us to stay engaged with proper protection for your logo products.”


Barnes and Noble College Booksellers runs the Vassar College bookstore and is therefore responsible for ensuring that Vassar apparel is produced under fair conditions. Barnes and Noble College Booksellers is a member of the Fair Labor Association.

With regard to the Designated Suppliers Program, Neil LeBeau, Barnes and Noble College Booksellers Regional Manager, writes:

“There are numerous concerns as to this programs practicability and whether it would pass Federal Anti Trust guidelines. Currently, there are 10 schools in committee working on this initiative. There are very mixed opinions on whether this initiative will come to a workable and adopted end result. One of the many concerns of the DSP as it stands now is the thought that it could lead to retail prices increasing 20% to 30%. Scott Nova, the Executive Director of the Workers’ Rights Consortium works with our Vice President of General Merchandising, Joel Friedman, on these and other issues related to all types of Fair Labor Practices.
By having over 35 of our licensed client accounts as members of the FLA, another 40 with Workers Rights Consortium membership, and by being a member ourselves, we receive information of production infractions through these relationships. This allows us to stay engaged with proper protection for your logo products.”

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.