IU opens motor pool bidding to private companies

Current staffers of two University services could be jobless or under new management as early as the 2007-2008 academic year.\nLast Friday, University administrators issued a request for proposals about the management of the IU motor pool, IU Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs said. The request invites companies to make a bid to run the service. Many IU employees still oppose the idea of outsourcing.\nUniversity officials anticipate receiving about 20 offers in November. Interested parties include fleet management services and popular car rental agencies, including Hertz and National.\nThe official request is the latest step in IU's ongoing quest to reduce operational costs by contracting select services to outside firms. The University is also developing a request for bids on the bookstores at all IU campuses, scheduled to be released in November, Clapacs said.\nThe trustees want "to determine if there is a more efficient and a more productive way of doing this work," though not necessarily by trimming jobs, trustee Tom Reilly said.\n"The long-term financial plan of the University indicates that, unless the state provides the University with a substantial increase in funds, then there is going to be a shortfall to meet our needs," Reilly said.\nReducing the University's costs is one way to counteract a fiscal dilemma, and the board of trustees is using it to supplement continual consideration of private donations and tuition raises.\nDallas Murphy, an IU employee of 27 years and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 832, said the threat of additional outsourcing is clearly growing.\n"Our rank and file are very concerned," Murphy said.\nThe University intends to reduce its operational costs, but officials said a careful evaluation of competitive proposals could lead to better business without sacrificing staff.\nPrivate firms are often able to generate additional revenue by providing a better service with the same number or an additional amount of employees, Clapacs said.\n"I believe that the trustees should review the fact that you're dealing with second- and third-generation employees, whose loyalty to the University is virtually unshakable," said Randy Pardue, an IU employee for 25 years and a Local 832 executive board member.\nAdministrators are interested in having current employees work under new firms, but the transfer of salaries and benefits has not yet been negotiated. Clapacs expects the student employment opportunities at bookstores to remain the same, but he said officials would be sure to look for that designation in any bids.\n"We would want our employees to continue working for any new organization that took over the management of any business that was outsourced," Clapacs said. "We have a strong concern for our employees and what happens to them."\nOfficials expect management to retain at least some current IU employees who have experience and understanding, but details will be unknown until the administration is able to analyze proposals with financial consulting firm Crowe, Chizek and Co., LLP, which IU hired for the project.\n"It's a combination of financial opportunity as well as service. We can't sacrifice the service we receive," Clapacs said.\nMurphy said outsourcing often leads to inferior work and little accountability.\n"The students out here pay a lot of money, and they deserve quality service, not substandard service," he said.\nAdministrators will work with consultants to assess the service quality of various bidders before deciding which firm, if any, to contract.\nUniversity Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said he thinks contracting is sometimes practical, but Bloomington is unique among Big Ten campuses because its size makes IU a place where multiple family members, often through successive generations, work.\n"(Workers) feel a real commitment to the academic mission," he said. "When they rent a car to a faculty member to go to a conference, they're not renting a car, they're helping that faculty member enhance the reputation of the University by enabling the person to go safely to a conference and give a paper."\nThough Gros Louis said he thinks IU employees will continue to work for services such as the bookstore, he said any vendor would probably bring in more of its own employees.\nOfficials said they are not aiming for precise dollar amounts and will not jump at the highest bid, but the board of trustees is already considering possible allocations for saved money or gained revenue.\nStephen Ferguson, the board's president, said the money could be spent renovating Ballantine Hall and improving humanities programs.\nGros Louis estimated IU could receive a "one-time pot of money" between $800,000 and $1,000,000 from a private bookseller but stressed that the incoming vendor would not give that sum each year.\nClapacs said IU's core mission is education, whereas other businesses exist to perform various specialized functions.\n"We don't know yet the potential savings, and that's what we're exploring," he said. "Are there folks in the private sector that can do this better than we can do it for ourselves?"\nClapacs and other officials declined to mention additional services by name and said employee matters will first be addressed by discussing plans with directors before making news public. The University plans to consider outsourcing additional non-academic services.