Last fall, the Office of Operational Excellence created the Repurposed Property Initiative to respond to valuable cost-saving ideas from the campus community.
This group, led by Project Manager Karie Conklin (OIT), set out to improve and clarify the process by which University-owned furniture and supplies can be designated for use by other departments on campus. The Initiative Team’s recommendations to the Operational Excellence Executive Committee were accepted this spring and the group’s first two ideas will be implemented in FY18.
Beginning in the summer of 2017, the Repurposed Property Initiative will launch an office supply swap email listserv. SMU faculty and staff will be able to sign up for the listserv on a voluntary basis and email the group with any excess or surplus office supplies that are new or in good condition they would like off of their desks. Other listserv participants who wish to have the items being offered for use on campus may claim them on a first-come, first-serve basis for no charge. The office supply swap list is designed to match up SMU employees on campus with supply needs with those who have extra and save departments on purchases. An email invitation will be sent to all SMU faculty and staff inviting them to participate when the listserv is launched.
On a larger scale, the Initiative Team is in the process of creating a website that will allow employees in all SMU departments to post larger unwanted items, especially gently-used furniture, to be claimed by others on campus. Claims for posted items will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and will require the claimer to give an SMU org number. Though the furniture exchange will be free, claims on offered pieces will generate a work order to move the large property and the org number listed will be charged for the nominal moving fee.
Watch for the launch of these cost-saving and waste-reducing tools this summer and if you have additional suggestions for the Repurposed Property Team, please share them here.
