As we manage through declining revenues and federal funding restrictions, we continue to look for ways to cut expenses while preserving the quality of education we provide to our students. Toward that end, we have identified the cost cuts below, which will take effect immediately.
•**We will no longer provide toner cartridges for individual office printers. As part of our contract with Ricoh, toner is free, so we are asking everyone to use Ricoh shared printers/copiers. Also, when printing multi-page documents, please print on both sides of the paper. This not only saves money, it also helps us protect the environment. These measures alone save nearly $1 million annually.
•**Allowable travel expenses have been adjusted. The cap on hotel room expense is $200 per night, the per diem is $65, and round-trip airfare should not exceed $500—and we encourage all employees to always take the least-expensive option, even if it is not a direct flight, as long it doesn’t disrupt meetings.
•**Mileage reimbursement will be reduced from $0.55 per mile to $0.35 per mile.
•**We are eliminating most food expenditures, and P-cards can no longer be used to pay for food. We will continue to supply coffee and water in the break rooms.
•** The Purchasing Department must now review every order made through our e-procurement system (Ariba), which covers office, janitorial, and classroom supply purchases, and more. This new layer of review may add a day or two to the purchase approval process.
We are trimming other expenses as well. For example, we recently negotiated additional cost savings with our textbook publishers, laptop vendors, campus bookstores, vending machine operators, and security providers.
Combined, all of the actions described above will save approximately $10 million annually.
These are tough times for our company, and your understanding and cooperation are greatly appreciated—as is your ongoing commitment to our company’s mission of changing student lives.
Thank you.