This coming fall semester, Tufts
students will find a reinvigorated Tufts Student Resources, under the leadership
of Ali Osman. The student-run business organization will unveil new initiatives
and finish projects that will better serve the students of Tufts. Osman, a
rising senior, is a Mechanical Engineering major and a Math and Entrepreneurial
Leadership minor. He began working with entrepreneurial ventures while living in
Rabat, Morocco and is currently running We
Love Morocco, “a holding company that has been involved in different markets
in the past few years, notably real estate and luxury imports.” Osman has always
appreciated the team culture that is inherent in startups, and looked for an
opportunity at Tufts in which he could apply his knowledge while working with
peers in a more academic setting. Tufts Student Resources, known around campus
as TSR, was the perfect match.
TSR has been a staple on the
Tufts campus for 28 years; it serves as a major outlet for students’ dorm
appliances, fitness classes, celebration packages, and numerous other products
and services. The organization employs over 80 students while offering its
leaders business management and entrepreneurial experience. With Osman in place
as President of the organization, he is overseeing the many new projects that
TSR has recently taken on, with the goal that they will be completed and ready
to unveil in the fall of 2009. Of the many exciting developments within the
organization, a new marketing division has been created as a means for
advertisers both on and off campus to better connect with Tufts students. The
marketing division will help push TSR’s products, while at the same time
providing marketing services for other campus student groups.
A much anticipated TSR summer
project includes the $100,000 renovation of the Rez Coffee Shop. The
often-frequented coffee shop located in the Mayer Campus Center will be
completely remodeled this summer, with renovations that were begun during the
last week of June. TSR has also acquired the Oxfam Café, located in the rear of
Miller Hall. The café, which was originally run on a student-volunteer basis,
has never been able to take full advantage of the coffee-drinking student body
because of its inconsistent operating hours. TSR is therefore putting in the
necessary funding and effort to purchase all needed equipment and furniture,
along with overseeing the renovations to enhance both the ambiance and
accessibility of the location. Oxfam Café will continue to donate a percentage
of its profits to Oxfam America.
Apart from renovating
student-run campus eateries, TSR is launching two new programs to make Tufts
students’ lives easier. The first exciting project is
thecard. According to Osman,
thecard is “a new membership program
crafted to provide special offers, discounts and incentives for an array of
TSR’s products.” TSR has also teamed up with some of students’ favorite local
off-campus establishments to provide additional discounts and promotions for
thecard holders. TSR is also launching
Market Express in September 2009,
which will allow students to have a limited list of groceries delivered to their
dorm rooms, with no delivery charge. These new services will promote new,
different food alternatives for Tufts students, allowing them to expand their
options.
Tufts Student Resources has been
a student-run business organization that has successfully fostered an
entrepreneurial spirit on the Tufts campus since 1981. The organization
continues to develop new, innovative products to better serve the university
community, and this coming year even more so. TSR President Ali Osman, while
working from abroad this summer, is making sure the innovations are executed in
preparation for and during the school year.
For more information about TSR, visit
http://www.tuftsstudentresources.com/Home.
