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The University of Maine System prescribes itself as the solution to our budget problems, proclaiming centralization will save our universities. But a quick look at the system office’s budget shows plenty of waste. Before the system tries to tell UMaine how to save money, maybe it needs to look at how it can save money itself.
According to budget calculations, the system office spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on services that could easily be slimmed. Expenses such as $166,000 on travel, mileage and other related costs are surely absurd, as is $52,000 on cell phones and phone reimbursements. Is it true administrators making over $100,000 a year can’t be bothered to pay for their own calls? How about $22,000 on catering, or $45,000 for electricity?
Simple consolidation and conservation at the system office could save it a lot of money. Start driving a hard bargain on reimbursements for mileage and phone calls. Make employees use free services like Skype, and using e-mail will cut down on printing costs. Otherwise, they can pay their own expensive phone bills. Force departments to share copiers and printers – $63,000 for printing and copying, including $34,600 for copier rentals, is certainly not necessary, especially when PDFs and e-mail are greener, less expensive alternatives.
The system office does provide some cost-saving services, such as paying to audit all seven campuses and buying software licenses for all campuses to get the best rate. But the system office is plagued with high salaries and unnecessary costs. While it may seem trivial to nitpick such seemingly small charges, in this economic climate, any savings can help.
Bangor Daily News