Firm completes plan to improve UNC

Story reprinted from July 16 issue of The Daily Tar Heel.

After hundreds of interviews and months of campuswide research and analysis, financial consulting firm Bain & Company has boiled down its findings into a 15-page PowerPoint presentation.

This presentation, specially prepared for the Board of Trustees’ meeting later this month, is the first look at Bain’s final report.

The report presents 10 different options for improvement. All together, they represent an estimated $89 million to $161 million in annual savings, in addition to increased effectiveness and more room for students.

But actual changes won’t reach those estimated savings. Chancellor Holden Thorp will lead in picking and choosing which suggestions he wants to pursue. And the report notes that reaching the full extent of the savings options is rare.

While organizations Bain has worked with in the past have achieved roughly 60 to 80 percent of the savings, the University is more likely to reach 40 to 60 percent, because of “regulatory constraints.”

Each option also requires at least a year of estimated implementation time, and some as many as seven years.

University officials said they could give no additional information about the report at this time.

The University is currently preparing for budget cuts equivalent to $60 million.

The findings repeat previous analysis of management efficiency at the University, citing too many levels and too much complexity.

It says administrative expenses per student have grown faster than academic expenses.

Other recommendations encompass more general ideas, concerning increased effectiveness and satisfied employees.

The services of Bain & Company were purchased with a private donation to the University which required the money to be put towards that specific firm.

The global business-consulting firm had little experience working with universities before being hired.

The final report will be presented to Thorp and the Board of Trustees on July 23. 

Bain will return to campus in two or three years, pro bono, in order to help examine the effectiveness and progress of the changes.