Facing Economic Challenges: Your Ideas

Responses to Your Ideas: Responses to these suggestions are being compiled here. Please check back as more information is added.

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Compensation and Benefits l Cost-saving Ideas l Energy Conservation l Facilities | Revenue Generation | Strategic Sourcing l Working Conditions & Employment

Compensation and Benefits

• Provide staff with a non-recurring cash increase.
• Offer a retirement incentive. RESPONSE
• Provide medical benefits to retirees.
• Reduce the salaries of staff who earn greater than $50,000/year.
• Develop more than a two-tier benefit system.
• Encourage voluntary furloughs, flex-time and voluntary time off without pay.  Give additional vacation days in lieu of a raise.
• Increase tuition reimbursement benefits: obviously this looks like a monetary increase; however, for many faculty and staff members who are considering positions offered at other universities based on total compensation, this may increase retention and eliminate rehiring of these positions.
• Paid 2 weeks off for staff Winter Break (Christmas Holiday).  Students aren’t around at that time. This would be a benefit to staff, and would also be a financial benefit to the university, since there would be a reduction in overhead costs (heating, electricity, water, etc.)
• Implement a “Sick Leave” pool, and oversight committee.  The idea behind this would be for employees to voluntarily donate some of their sick leave (say up to 10 hours/month) to a pool to which others can apply.
• In lieu of a furlough, allow employees the option of purchasing back addtional vacation/personal days at the begining of each year.  This could be a signifcant cost savings to the university and a huge benefit to employees with infants, time intensive hobbies or periodic family needs.  Many organizations have gone to this type of optional, fractional employment (ie. 90%f.t., 80%f.t.) to reduce costs.  Benefits are guaranteed at levels above a certain percentage.   
• Cut Purdue's upper administration's salaries and perks.
• Allow staff to voluntarily take 1-2 days unpaid furlough per month; the money saved could be considered a charitable deduction to a State University, thus creating an additional tax break for the individual and reducing costs directly for PF.
• Get more affordable insurance for those that retire and offer a good insentive plan so people can afford to retire. 
• Consider a pay cut, 25,000 and under no cut, 25,000-40,000 a 5% cut, 40,000-60,000 a 8% cut, 60,000-80,000 a 11% cut, 80,000 and above a 14% cut. This would only cancel out 1 - 2 years of raises.

Cost Saving Ideas

• Reduce the number of brochures/flyers that we receive on an on-going basis from other University departments.
• Encourage departments across campus to clean out their “attics” and sell items via University Warehouse.
• Create a e-Sidewalk for staff similar to what is in place for students.
• Have one area responsible for purchasing all copiers across campus.
• Allow Printing Services to accept work from other governmental and public agencies.
• Allow Printing Services to have first right of refusal prior to submitting work to an outside vendor.
• Eliminate uniforms.
• Improve the building commissioning process to eliminate future problems.
• Stop mailing W2 forms to our home addresses.  Send via campus mail.
• Extend the turnover date when purchasing university vehicles.  If it is on a 3-year cycle, extend to a 5-year cycle. RESPONSE
• Raise the limit on in-house design projects to $250,000, to reduce the number of projects that must be bid out to contractors.
• Stop giving parking garage tickets in Northwestern parking garage during the time when access to the garage is free. RESPONSE
• Eliminate plaques/certificates for awards.
• Utilize ITaP industrial expertise at evaluating and developing a "Lean Office" mentatlity for all Physical Facilities processes, beginning with Project Management and Construction, Engineering, and the University Architect's offices.  This will not only increase efficiency and effectiveness, but will assure more consistency, improved communications, and result in happier clients for a very minimal investment.
• Reduce or eliminate Purdue's share of the cost of the Fourth of July celebration.
• Eliminate all university vehicles and require staff to use public transportation or walk on campus for meetings.
• Make the zone work order processing system paperless.
• Reward employees with a percentage of the money saved, if they come up with an idea which resulted in savings to the university.
• End the practice of allowing some AP staff to drive university vehicles home. RESPONSE
• Stop letting service vehicles warm up for 30-45 min. each morning, and driving around campus needlessly.

Energy Conservation

• Stop building buildings with wasted space.
• Stop providing energy to empty buildings. RESPONSE
• Use biodiesel in vehicles and buses.
• Consider purchasing electric vehicles.
• Allow custodians to have access to all light switches in order to turn off lights when rooms are not being used, e.g. Pharmacy RESPONSE
• Make sure that motion sensor light switches work. 
• Immediately ban the use of personal appliances such as mini-refrigerators and electric heaters.
• Immediately turn off all decorative lighting.
• Direct Coca Cola to turn off the decorative lights in their soda machines. RESPONSE
• Reduce dependency on coal and use windmills for generating electricity.
• Consider the use of Smart Power Strips. Smart Power Strips that sense the presence or absence of office workers and turn the attached equipment on and off accordingly.
• Eliminate screen savers as they continue to use the monitor at full power and do not conserve energy.
• Turn off lights automatically during the day on the top levels of parking garages. RESPONSE

Facilities

• Review the people to square footage ratio in each building to determine cost effectiveness. For example, the Ross building has thousands of unused square feet, as only a handful of people occupy it.
• Use existing telecommunications conduit for other low voltage wiring needs.
• Install hand blowers and eliminate paper towels. RESPONSE
• Reuse office supplies such as manila folders and three-ring binders.
• Eliminate desk phones for staff that have Blackberrys or other cell phones for their primary contact.
• Conserve chilled water by raising the temperature (while still protecting the equipment) in student computer labs when the labs are not in use during breaks. RESPONSE
• Eliminate wasteful dumping: I have seen many good useful items put out as "trash." Perhaps implement a penalty system.
• Schowe House remodel/upgrade  should be put on hold and utilize existing State St. Office facilities for this planned institute.
• Hold large Physical Facilities meetings such as the strategic plan sessions in locations more central to staff on the south side of campus (PRNT, MMDC, PFSB).
• Combine zone so tools funds will cost less by more people sharing tools instead of many zones getting the same tools.
• Change parking permit system to provide faculty and staff with assigned spaces and move student parking that is basically storage parking or low use parking to the outside perimeter of campus. Raise parking fees to cover all costs associated with parking basee on type of lot (gravel, paved, garage)(i.e. cover depreciation, maintenance, and operational costs) and the distance between parking spot and office (i.e. provide a discount for those who choose to walk farther to their cars). RESPONSE
• Designate an area for all used, but not broken office devices (pen holders, baskets, calculators, etc.) When an employee needs to order something like mentioned above, they should try to find the item in the "Second Glance Room." 
• Fertilize the turf on campus twice a year instead of four times.  With the right timing the difference would be negligible.  RESPONSE

Revenue Generation

• Increase student enrollment.
• Charge students the same price for parking stickers.
• Hire grant-writers for Physical Facilities, who can search for potential grant opportunities, and work with Physical Facilities groups identified as able to utilize funds/fulfill grant responsibilities and take advantage of this potential income source, such as: Sustainability, Radiation Safety, Laser Safety, Police, Fire, Wade Power Plant, etc.
• Heavily promote the warehouse use: webpage should be built up to allow more complete inventory “browsing”, with purchase prices.
• Check parking garages more for parking violations.
• Have the Grounds department sell plants they don't use to the public.
• I am not sure how we currently use the funding for parking permits, but I do know that it is taken out of our checks on a monthly or bi-weekly basis, I was wondering if there is a chance that we could utilize the funding of those by charging the full amount at the beginning of the year, investing the whole amount in a source throughout the year that would accrue interest. The NCAA does sort of the same thing with final four ticket applicants to generate funding for each year. RESPONSE

Strategic Sourcing

• Encourage departments across campus to buy the same type of products, e.g., Housing and Food Services and Physical Facilities should buy the same type of cleaning supplies.
• Negotiate lower cell phone costs.
• Allow departments to purchase all supplies direct from the distributors. Each department has the opportunity to compare cost from different suppliers to make sure your supplier is not increasing prices. The departments on campus should not have to pay a premium for products to have it delivered to their building when the supplier will deliver it direct for no additional cost.
• Do away with or expand the approved vendors list to create a more competitive bidding and pricing system. Some companies and suppliers have cornered the market so to speak because of limited competition. This will allow buyers and architects to purchase best priced goods and services! The future is now, buy online, and mass-merchandiser goods. Seek non-union and out of town labor. Also stop getting locked into long term contracts on goods and services, in this volatile and ever changing market pricing and terms are in our favor.

Working Conditions & Employment

• Implement a four 10-hour-day work schedule.
• Stagger furloughs throughout the year.
• Fill current vacancies with students.
• Implement a 12-hour shift schedule at Wade Utility Plant.
• Crew Chiefs or Zone Leaders: pick one, eliminate the other.  For many groups, it’s really two people doing the work of one.
• The Building Deputy Chain-of-Command is irregular and inefficient.  Building Deputies should fall under one individual, who then can provide supervisory oversight of these positions, and maximize the work-load effectiveness.
• Eliminate Spring Fling.
• Stop having lunch and dinner meetings at off-campus restaurants.
• We might have some departments that are no longer as busy as they used to be, and now those employees are working hard to LOOK busy.  You will not find an employee sticking their hand up and saying "hey, I have the time to help any shorthanded departments."  Since openings are not being filled, let the employeees know they will not be cut just because they have time to help.  Put them at ease, making them more willing to stand up and take on tasks that used to belong to someone that is no longer here.
• Some departments only need part time staff. Allowing employees to work 2 part time jobs at Purdue would help 2 different areas but would still enable the employee to be fulltime with their benefits. Costs would be split between the 2 departments thus a savings to them.
• Stop excessive smoke breaks.
• In order to improve company morale and to keep employees happy during cut backs, it would be nice if dressing up everyday was not required; especially for those employees who are not meeting with clients daily.  Dressing up on days that employees have meetings is important, but it's really not on days that are just spent working in the office.  It would be more comfortable and warmer.