Campuses target greater efficiency

Like a true businessman, UNC-system President Erskine Bowles knows how to delegate.

He has organized working groups to research methods of improving efficiency and effectiveness across the system.

The groups are expected to finish their reports by the end of September.

The academic administration working group is focusing on improving the system's libraries, said Tim Burwell, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs at Appalachian State University.

The group wants to leverage systemwide buying power to purchase single copies of electronic databases and journals that then can be accessed centrally, he said.

The group also wants to link cataloging systems to make gaining library materials from other schools easier, speeding up the process and enabling libraries to reduce the amount of material that they must buy for their own campuses.

The group is looking into remote storage facilities for libraries that are running out of space and also plans to create a system for archiving official communications on each campus, Burwell said.

N.C. State University has a virtual advising Web site that functions as a database of frequently asked questions - something the group feels would be worthwhile to expand across the system.

Librarians from each campus are providing background information that helps keep the group grounded in reality.

"We're not out in the twilight zone in terms of ideas that are practical," Burwell said.

The facilities management working group wants to reduce energy costs without compromising service, said Jim Alty, director of facilities services at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The majority of the group's recommendations involve updating tools and equipment on each campus.

The system could benefit from Bowles fighting state regulations that hinder efficiency, Alty said.

For example each campus uses complicated building controls to regulate utilities and security, and state law requires the schools to buy the lowest cost controls available.

As a result campuses are forced to use a mix of controls that are not compatible, Alty said.

It would be better to follow the private sector's example and buy the best value equipment for each campus, he said.

"Kind of like if you buy a cheap car, you get what you pay for."

The IT working group is looking to cut costs and increase collaboration, said Robyn East, associate vice chancellor for information technology at UNC-CH.

The group has identified a number of initiatives but has not narrowed down its list, East said.

There already is collaboration in areas such as software licensing and vendor contracts, but some campuses would benefit from a more systemwide approach in other aspects of technology, she said.

"There's a good model there that we think we can expand on."

The construction/leasing work group is researching ways to cut construction costs by operating in the most cost-effective manner, said Scott Buck, associate vice chancellor for administration and finance at East Carolina University.

Essentially the group is trying to re-engineer the processes that each campus employs to construct and lease facilities.

"We're trying to find a better way of doing things," Buck said.

The human resources working group is in the process of sorting through data, said Barbara Carroll, associate vice chancellor for human resources at N.C. State.

"I think there is a general sense that compensations and benefits are always a challenge," she said.

State personnel structures can present obstacles to each campus, she said, explaining that health care and retirement benefits are handled on the state level.

The group is researching how systemwide policies impact recruitment and retention of faculty and staff.

"We're not getting down to someone sitting in this chair should be sitting in that chair," Carroll said.

Examining the pay structures of each campus would take 20 years, and the group only has four weeks to complete their recommendations, Carroll said.

"We're on a very fast track with this project."

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.