OE2C April News and Highlights
April was a busy and productive month for OE2C as tangible benefits of the initiatives began to take root. Here are the highlights:
OE2C savings fund new “University-wide Fellowships” Initiative
The new University-wide Fellowship program fund is expected to grow over time, starting with $150,000 for the program’s first year. The inaugural selected Fellows will receive up to $10,000 in addition to teaching or research assistantships offered by their department.
Contracts Initiative improvement aims to speed contract process
Contracts now go directly to a Contract Lead in schools and areas rather than to the Office of Legal Affairs. The Contract Leads will quickly direct the contract as needed to ensure it meets required business needs and SMU’s legal and risk requirements. In the first ten days of the new process, 46 contracts were submitted. Of those, 35% were able to utilize a purchase order or standard contract, and only 22% required additional review from Legal Affairs or Risk Management. (See attached for an overview of the new contracts process)
Procurement Initiative identifies significant office supplies savings
SMU was spending too much on office supplies because of purchases being made from non-preferred vendors whose products were sold at retail prices. The University is now saving dollars by purchasing these items at discounted, contract prices through Staples Advantage and with authorized users in each department and unit.
Procurement Initiative projects big savings with networked printers
The cost-cutting measure will save SMU as much as $200,000 in its first year and possibly more later. SMU adopted a plan begun in the Meadows Division of Music five years ago when printing costs were getting out of hand.There they saw costs decrease from $17,000 per year to $4,000. Across campus today, SMU employees currently use about 2,400 desktop printers. The OE2C initiative will decrease that to fewer than 1,000 network printers.
Travel and Procurement get ready to launch new improved tool
Starting June 20th (moved from June 1 to align with current procurement card billing cycle), Concur will be our new tool for travel authorization, booking, and expense reimbursement. This will replace the old paper-based process with a cloud-based, mobile-ready solution. Concur will also be used for monthly p-card reconciliation and for business expense reimbursements. You will no longer need to tape receipts since Concur has functionality that lets you snap a picture or scan your receipt. (See attached for an overview of the new tool and process)
The new tool will decrease costs, be easier and faster to use, all of which will save both time and money to invest in our core academic mission at SMU.
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