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FAQ

What is the purpose of the sticker/tag on my printer?

A: As we move to managed network printing as a cost-saving initiative, an inventory was taken of all printers on campus. As each printer was counted, it was tagged either with a red sticker (non-networked printer; personal desktop) or white (networked printer; group or community). The inventory of these printer groups will be used to ensure full printing coverage as we transition to a more efficient network printer solution at SMU.

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News

The Network Printer Effect: Procurement Initiative Projects Big Savings

16384670578_339757318d_zMeadows Dean Sam Holland doesn’t use a personal desktop printer in his office. Instead, he opts for the nearby network printer.

“I’m trying to lead by example,” Holland says of his attempt to reduce the printing volume at SMU.

As part of its OE2C initiative, SMU plans to cut support of desktop printers in offices and encourage faculty and staff to use network printers in their respective areas. Employees will still have an option to use desktop printers, but the university no longer will support their upkeep, including toner and paper.

The cost-cutting measure will save SMU a projected $150,000-$200,000 in its first year, and possibly more later, says Dawn Norris, executive director of Student Life and project manager of the Procurement Initiative for OE2C. Holland, who spearheaded a similar cost-cutting measure five years ago as the director of the Division of Music, found that sharing network printers significantly decreased printing expenses. It came down to making better use of a limited budget, he says.

“It became clear that we were spending an awful lot of money on supplies by providing printers, by providing toner, by providing paper,” Holland explains. “But we had other areas that needed that money, such as faculty travel and supporting visiting artists.”

Following Holland’s decision, the division’s printing budget dropped from about $17,000 to $4,000 in a year. “We didn’t expect it to cut it that much. It wound up exceeding our expectations.”

Initially, there was concern from faculty and staff when he pulled the plug on desktop-printer support. “That was the first response,” Holland says, but eventually “reality hit” that the division was putting its savings to better use in other areas. Everyone had access to network printers near their office, but they could purchase their own printers as long as they paid for upkeep and supplies, Holland says.

As another part of his plan to cut back printing costs, Holland encouraged faculty and staff to send digital documents via email instead of making hard-copy handouts. Soon the Music Division faculty and staff started “using digital documents more than ever,” which really helped on costs, Holland says.

Norris believes SMU’s OE2C printing initiatives could have similar positive effects for the University. Right now SMU employees use an estimated 2,400 desktop printers. The OE2C initiative will decrease that to less than 1,000 network printers, Norris estimates.

“This initiative is one of the few in which we have someone in-house (Holland) who has run a pilot of it – and one shown to be a success,” says Norris, who voluntarily returned her desktop printer and now uses the network.

Besides saving SMU money, it also becomes a positive move toward sustainability – using less energy by not powering all those desktops as well as using fewer toner cartridges, she says. Another plus, one that the Music Division saw happen, was employees coming out of their offices and interacting with one another more often while using the network printers. Some SMU employees have been anxious about the new OE2C initiatives, and some have expressed particular concerns over the switch in printer usage. “But (Holland’s) program has proven successful over a period of five years,” she says. “It works.”

Reducing expenditures of things people are accustomed to getting is almost always difficult, Holland acknowledges. But reduction in this area is definitely worth it.

“Everybody is going to feel some pain one way or another,” he says. “But I believe we’re on balance to doing the right thing for the long-term fiscal health of this institution.”

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FAQ

Does the new contract administration process apply to research contracts?

Contract Leads who receive research-related contracts and grants will continue to process them through the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (ORGS). This procedure has not changed. ORGS will process all grants and contracts for Sponsored Projects.

Research contracts are highly technical in nature and require detailed negotiations and expertise in the area of funded research. As such, the Contract Lead must support the Office of Research and Graduate Studies in the timely negotiation and processing of contracts once an agency has agreed to award a contract to SMU.

The Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI) on a research contract is responsible for providing information related to the contract. The Contract Lead will work with the PI and Associate Director for Contracts to ensure the process flow remains smooth and the contract is completed in a timely manner. This may include working directly with the PI to answer questions related to the project or working directly with the Associate Director for Contracts to disseminate information between ORGS and the PI. The Associate Director for Contracts has primary responsibility for communicating with the agency and negotiating all research contracts.


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News

Contracts Initiative Announces Process Improvements

16427218117_5abecbb0aa_zThe Contracts Administration Initiative team is pleased to announce new processes for the approval of contracts that will take effect on Wednesday, April 15.

Early in the diagnostic phase of the Operational Excellence for the Second Century (OE2C), contract administration was identified as a campus-wide pain point and our initiative team was launched last August to explore the issue. The goal of the initiative was to relieve the bottlenecks and confusion currently created by SMU’s contracting process and to reduce risk to the University.

After extensive research that included campus interviews and focus groups, calls to peer institutions and a thorough review of contract data from the past two years, the Contract Administration Initiative sent a recommendation to the Executive Committee for a new University contracts process. Our recommendation was approved in March and we are pleased to announce that we have been working diligently to prepare the following changes for implementation.

Beginning April 15, all contracts will no longer be sent to the Office of Legal Affairs, but instead go directly to a Contract Lead in your school or area who was appointed by your dean or vice president. The Contract Leads will direct the contract as needed to ensure it meets your required business needs and SMU’s legal and risk requirements. The Contract Lead for your area can be found here.

All Contract Leads are required to have training and maintain certification. In the past two weeks, Contract Leads have been through the first step in training on SMU’s new process and will be prepared to begin their new role as contract lead on April 15. They will work directly with Melanie Bailey, who has been identified as Senior Contract Administrator and is responsible for ensuring this process runs smoothly. Melanie now reports directly to Chris Regis, Vice President for Business and Finance, and will work closely with the Office of Legal Affairs to ensure continued compliance with University policy.

We will continue to use the same signature authorities on campus that were designated prior to our effort.

This summer, SMU will implement Selectica, a software package our committee identified for tracking contracts. Selectica will be utilized to assist in all aspects of the contract process and will allow any initiator to identify where their contract is in the approval process.  It will also have a library of SMU templates to assist Contract Leads in drafting contracts and agreements. Finally, it will have docu-sign capabilities, providing the ability to electronically sign contracts while eliminating paperwork and the time needed to move paperwork from office to office.

We are confident that these changes will ultimately mean a more streamlined process for contract administration at SMU. On behalf of the entire initiative team, we appreciate your help with implementation and hope that if you have questions or suggestions you will share them with us via the comment form on the OE2C website.

Sincerely,

David Chard
Dean, Simmons School of Education
& Human Development
Contracts Administration Executive Sponsors

Tom Tunks
Professor Music

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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About the Facilities Initiative

What is the goal of the Facilities Initiative’s inquiries on space utilization and energy consumption?

The goal is to create an accurate representation of spaces on campus, determine how they are being used, and consider if there are opportunities to relocate some functions to SMU’s main campus. These relocations could create rental revenues that would be reinvested back into the academic mission of the University.

What opportunities are being explored through this process?

Opportunities could be identified across a variety of different areas, such as making scheduling processes more efficient and making better use of current spaces, including the possible reconfiguration of existing spaces to improve overall efficiency, while also maximizing revenues for the University.

What is the process for arriving at recommendations?

Members from the Facilities Initiative will be collecting data from all critical stakeholders. This data will be analyzed and recommendations will be made to the Steering Committee; after they give approval, recommendations are sent to the Executive Committee, led by President Turner.

How can I provide input on this Initiative?

You are welcome to reach out to the group via the OE2C website online comment form to ask a specific question or provide any feedback or information you think would be beneficial to this process.