“UC Berkeley to pay consultant to find cost cuts”
San Francisco Chronicle,
Monday, October 5, 2009
The San Francisco Chronicle published an article today written by Nanette Asimov in which she reported that UC Berkeley has agreed to pay a consultant $3 million to help the university save money.
UCB is facing a $150 million budget deficit for the 2009-10 year. Through short-term measures like cutting faculty pay through unpaid furlough days, laying off employees, reducing course offerings, fund raising, and increasing fees, the campus has whittled that deficit down, but there is still a long way to go to deal with what looks like permanent budget reductions.
To fix that problem, the University has hired Bain & Co., the Massachusetts-based consultant with offices in San Francisco, to do the job. UC Berkeley Vice Chancellor Frank Yeary, who will oversee the project, said that the outside consultants will advise a core group of administrators and faculty members charged with finding long-term savings in how the university does business, such as in its purchasing practices or technology needs.
Many faculty have opposed this move to hire outside consultants when faculty are picking up part of the bill out of the their 8% pay cut. They feel that UC Berkeley should utilize the services of in-house experts at its own Haas School of Business to do the work. Chancellor Birgeneau disagreed, saying “Not only do employees not have time for such an endeavor, we recognize that ‘self-diagnosis’ is not always impartial (and) that fresh ideas from outside our campus may have a role in helping us improve.”
Some faculty approved of the plan. Law Professor Chris Kutz, the chair of the Berkeley Faculty Senate, likened the situation to a homeowner who wants to save money on the heating bill and invests in a new furnace.
Read the full article at http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/05/BAJ41A0EVD.DTL