Believe it or not, it is possible to cut spending without harming quality. Universities across the country are cutting their budgets in creative ways that don’t affect student learning.
Some of the cost savings that universities in other states have implemented:
– The University of Washington got rid of landlines, saving more than $1,000 a month. – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled their traditional bus tour of the state for new faculty members because “in a recession, people don’t want to see 100 faculty members traveling around and staying in hotels.” – Oberlin College in Ohio reduced window washing and saved $22,300. – Whittier College in California cut one day of its new-student orientation, saving $50,000. – Cafeterias, too, are saving money, cutting food waste and reducing hot-water and detergent costs by eliminating trays. Whittier College saved almost $30,000 a semester after going fully “trayless.” – Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, estimates that it saved $40,000 by not replacing old voicemail equipment. – Rhodes College in Memphis hired students for 25 professional staff positions, saving $725,000 a year…and giving those students valuable work experience. – Other schools have pruned their expenses by reducing paper usage by posting materials online, cutting back on power washing, switching trash pickup from daily to weekly, increasing teacher course loads, switching from bottled to tap water, relying more on videoconferences than travel, and rebuilding computers instead of buying new ones, etc.
Revenue-strapped universities in Texas should consider these opportunities, if they have not done so already. With tuition increasing dramatically in the past several years, and universities making announcements that further tuition increases are coming, they owe it to the students and taxpayers to streamline their operating expenses first.
– Elizabeth Young