DRITON TONY SHALA
TEACHERS COLLEGE | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
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-forprofit institutions , it can be challenging because faculty and staff are focused on obtaining the goods or services they ’ re
DRITON TONY SHALA
TITLE : PROCUREMENT MANAGER
Driton Tony Shala 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 . He later assumed a similar role with BNP Paribas , one of the region ’ s biggest banks . 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 .
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 .
82 January 2025