CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
Through a technique that stresses savings and budget-watching, the university has enabled itself to fund the Plan for the Class of 2000 while minimizing costs.
When the plan was passed, the university committed to saving $1 million in administrative costs to help pay for it. "We had a commitment to realize these savings. We did not cut funding from other areas. We did not cut programs, and we did not cut faculty," said Paul Escott , dean of the college.
Most of these savings have been realized through carefully controlling facilities maintenance spending. "Energy is a very large area of cost. If one is very adept, you can save a lot of money through careful energy management," Escott said.
The decision to create a change in facilities management was done in concert with Bill Sides, the director of Facilities Management.
Facilities Management was asked to reduce its budget by $500,000 over three years, starting in the 1995-96 fiscal year.
Additionally, $150,000 has been saved in academic administration, and $50,000 was transferred within the administrative budget to fund the Year of the Arts, according to Provost David Brown.
"At the time we comitted (to) $1 million of overall savings, no one knew exactly where the savings would be found," Brown said.
The main focus in Facilities Management was to improve operations while improving cost effectiveness.
"We have been able to get control of the facilities management budget, which had been steadily increasing over the past years. We have been able to level it off," Sides said.
Achieving these savings goals started with reducing costs in the maintenance area. While there used to be individual "shops," and technicians were divided into specialized areas, such as carpentry, mechanical and electrical divisions, the new system divided the campus into zones.
"We created a zone system, which puts a team of five to eight technicians in each area, and then
cross-trained our people. This is a trend in industry everywhere, where people learn to do more jobs and thus become more valuable to the corporation," Sides said.
Cross-training saves money because technicians are able to perform more than one specialized function. For example, an electrician called to fix a wiring problem in a residence hall can also fix the broken door lock. It is easier than having another person come by at later date.
"We are not just looking at costs, but also at services. We set up a single customer service number (the HALL line), and it has reduced the time it takes for service to be completed. What last year would have taken two weeks now takes two days. We know we're getting better as well as more efficient," Sides said.
The number of employees has also been reduced, but not by eliminating personnel. "We did not reduce manpower by firing workers, but instead by not replacing those who retired or quit. We have reached an attrition level of eight people, and it looks like we may reach ten by the end of the 1997 fiscal year, a year before the end of the three year goal," Sides said.
Facilities management has already saved $400,000 in actual funds, and considering that the steadily increasing budget was halted, the savings are even greater. "If you look at it from the way the budget was increasing, it is more like a savings of $2.5 million," Sides said.
In the future, Facilities Management plans to extend savings plans to grounds maintenance and the custodial divisions.
The administration plans future savings beyond that which has already been realized, according to John Anderson, the vice president of finance and administration.
While much of the thrust of the program benefits the Class of 2000, the added expenses do not profit only this class. "All students benefit from components of the plan such as the added staff, the wiring of the entire campus and the computer staff," Escott said.
According to Escott, approximately $14 to $15 million in funding was required for the plan, divided equally among additional faculty, increased financial aid and the computer program. The actual impact of this excess funding will be minimized in the future. "Soon we will have all of the classes paying the additional tuition that the freshman paid this year," Escott said.
The Plan for the Class of 2000 was part of a commitment to progressive planning. "The planning committee asked itself, `How can we do a better job of educating our students?' Our ideas led to the plan for the Class of 2000, which constitutes a remarkable and bold set of programs," Escott said.
The number of applicants to the university has continued to increase, as has the quality. "There has also been no decline in applications due to the increased cost," Escott said.
"It is catching the eyes of other universities. People are envious of what we are able to offer our students. The plan delivers tremendous benefits -- the computer program, the study abroad programs and our faculty," Escott concluded.