Adam Hustwitt is academic chair of the School of Business at Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON, Canada, and will remain the primary contact for Conestoga College with NACS. The institutional, community-college store has eight FTE employees with a budget of $7 million and has eight campuses.

He earned a bachelor of business administration with honours from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, and an executive master of business administration and innovation from the University of Fredericton, Fredericton, NB, Canada. Hustwitt has been with Conestoga College since 2011, first as manager of the bookstore, then moving to manager of campus services, followed by a promotion to director of ancillary services, where he was responsible for bookstore operations and course material services (including an e-text program), vending, food services, the print shop, and public transportation term sales (6,500 of these in the fall), other third-party contracts, and the ONE Card office (combined assets: 33 full-time employees and $14.5 million in revenues) plus an IELTS test center with $6 million in revenues, 36 venues across Canada, and more than 300 staff. He’s been in his current position for about a year. He is also a part-time Conestoga faculty member, teaching courses in human resources and leadership development.

Prior to joining Conestoga, Hustwitt spent a number of years working in other types of retail. He was a store manager with Starbucks, a general manager with Cineplex Entertainment, and an assistant manager with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

For the past year, he has served as president-elect on the NACS Board and previously served as trustee-at-large. He has been active with Campus Stores Canada, serving as president, past president, treasurer, and director. He also was a planning partner and volunteer with the 2017 Textbook Affordability Conference.

“My vision for the future is that our campus stores are able to fully deliver on academic course materials to support student success and the academic missions of the institutions our members belong to,” he said. “This is accomplished through advocacy and education on how to engage with faculty, staff, and students on the evolution of course materials and how the campus store can effectively deliver on these changes.”

Andy Dunn is director of campus retail and licensing, Lope Shops, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ, a private four-year and graduate school. His institutional store has a $3.5 million budget (general merchandise only, no textbooks, as GCU creates its own digital course materials included in class fees).

Dunn has a bachelor’s degree and master of business administration from George Fox University, Newberg, OR, where he started his career as a student worker at the bookstore. In his 24 years in the industry, he has worked in both institutional and leased stores. At George Fox, he became textbook coordinator, then bookstore manager, and later director of bookstores. In 2010, the school decided to contract with Nebraska Book Co., which asked Dunn to remain as manager. The next year, the university hired him as director of purchasing and administrative services. In April 2015, he came on board with the Lope Shops to lead the store’s transition from contract management to self-operation.

As an industry volunteer, he has served on the NACS Benchmarking Committee (chair 2006-07, member 2005-06) and assisted with NACS research projects. He also was a member of the Northwest College Bookstore Association’s Education Committee (2002-04) and Connect2One Advisory Council (2004-07), as well as chair of the Northwest Independent College Business Officers Association annual meeting. He has been a trustee-at-large on the NACS Board since 2018.

“One of the things I feel strongly about is how important it is for a college or university to own and operate its retail operations. When you have a team in place that has the responsibility and freedom to bring in product relevant to their customers, then morale is high and sales tend to be strong,” he said. In his view, “college stores have an important part to play when it comes to course materials, but I don’t think it has to do with only carrying physical books on shelves. I think college stores that solely focus on selling physical textbooks are going to struggle to stay relevant over the next several years. Stores need to work with campus administrators to help create and deliver inclusive access programs and materials.”



Gilberto Garcia is operations supervisor for the Bay Tree Bookstore, University of California, Santa Cruz. The institutional store employs 15 FTE workers with a budget of $7 million.

Garcia earned a bachelor of arts from UCSC and got his start in the college store industry as a student employee for the Bay Tree Bookstore, eventually becoming the shipping and receiving lead. He joined the professional staff as a buyer in 2015 and was promoted to operations supervisor in 2019. In that time he’s performed buying functions for all departments except textbooks.

He received the Star Award for contributions and leadership in remote learning programs during COVID-19, and serves as a liaison between the bookstore and university leadership to drive the institutional business through the store.



“The pandemic has demonstrated that no business is safe from catastrophe. College bookstores have been forced forward five years in just four months, having to transform/reinvent their operations to better support their customers,” Garcia said. “Creating a set of standards that revolve around e-commerce has proven an immense priority during these times. How do stores deliver goods quickly, efficiently, and safely? What kind of risks does the college bookstore industry have to take to compete with big box retailers such as Amazon and Walmart?”

Carrie Rose, CCR, is manager of the Grove City College Bookstore, Grove City, PA. The institutional store has five full-time employees and a budget of $1.2 million.

Rose has managed the bookstore since 2009, and previously was a human resources assistant for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Greenville. Earlier in her career, she was a manager, assistant manager, and assistant buyer for several general retailers in Pennsylvania, including Liz Claiborne Outlet, Off Fifth (Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet), All-Pack Inc., and Liz Claiborne Woman Outlet, and received Liz Claiborne’s Dream Team award, given to only 5% of their managers. She also spent several years as a freelance writer, editor, and graphic designer for local publications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.

She was a member of the NACS Leadership Institute’s class of 2012, and has volunteered many times at CAMEX. Rose has also been active with the Middle Atlantic College Stores, serving as secretary, president-elect, president, and currently immediate past president. She also chaired the MACS Membership Committee for two years and was a member of the Planning Committee.

“I feel that the biggest challenge for NACS is to remain relevant to its members and to help state and regional associations do the same,” Rose said. She noted that many stores are struggling with tight budgets right now and would benefit from the education and networking that an association provides.

“NACS’ priority should be building trust with its members and promoting all of the benefits that come along with membership,” she said.