COD spending $121,000 on new clocks

After opening two new buildings on campus last year, College of DuPage officials learned they needed more time - literally.

The college's board of trustees approved a contract to buy and install 807 clocks throughout the campus during the next two years at a cost of $121,858.80.

A special wireless signal will keep all the clocks showing the same time anywhere on campus and are powered using the classroom's interior lighting. No one spoke against the $151-per-clock purchase at Thursday's board meeting.

The clock system became a necessity after students and faculty expressed concerns about the lack of clocks in the Glen Ellyn campus' newer buildings.

The lack of clocks was no accident because. "students had cell phones, watches and laptops that all kept time," said Joe Moore, Vice President for External Communications.

College officials looked into a variety of systems. Moore said they settled on the light-powered wireless variety because a hard-wired clock system was actually more expensive and required more upkeep. Five buildings will receive 407 new clocks this year and three other buildings will get 400 more clocks next year, according to the contract. Almost $9,000 of the price tag is for the wireless system, while the remaining cost is for the clocks. Indiana-based ABC Company received the bid for the clocks and Downers Grove-based ITR Systems won the bid for the wireless system, according to college documents.

By comparison, 807 traditional wall-mounted, 13-inch clocks with shatter-resistant and ultraviolet protective lens' are available at OfficeMax for $19.99 each. The total cost would normally be $16,131.93, but OfficeMax customer service representatives offered a 5 percent discount if the clocks were purchased in bulk, saving another $806. Those clocks require a single AA battery to operate and a box of 1,000 AA batteries is being advertised on zbattery.com for $225. That's a cost difference of $106,308.47 between the normal wall clocks and the light-powered system.

"I'm not going to say we couldn't do it cheaper," said COD board Chairwoman Kathy Wessel. "But I do think in the long run it's going to pay off going with this system."

She said campus staff will no longer have to spend two days of the year turning clocks forward or backward an hour or making runs to replace batteries. Students will all be on the same time, making sure everyone has the same amount of time to get to and from classes. Since the new clocks can't be adjusted in the classrooms, there's no chance that students will be held up "two or three minutes" between one class and another, she said.

"Those two or three minutes can make a lot of difference," she said.