IU contemplates outsourcing services

Administrators are considering hiring private contractors to handle some University operations.\nThe first service that could be outsourced is the IU Motor Pool, which provides about 600 vehicles for University use.\nVice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs presented the idea to the board of trustees at their scheduled a meeting last week.\nIU is expected to issue a request for bids from private contractors within the next three weeks.\n"Outsourcing might not be the right word," trustee Tom Reilly said. "It's more like we're searching for the most effective way of doing things." \nA secretary for Clapacs said he was out of town and could not be reached for further comment Thursday.\nThe motor pool has an annual budget of about $3 million. Bids will be taken from private contractors, as well as the motor pool itself, Reilly said.\n"They're trying to cut the administrative cost of running the University," IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre said. "The trustees have made that one of their goals. Privatization and competition is one way they're looking at doing that."\nIU's administrative costs are already lower than comparable universities, MacIntyre said.\nThe University is also considering taking bids from private contractors for its system of bookstores. In addition, Clapacs said there were "nine or 10" other operations that could possibly be outsourced.\nMacIntyre said he did not know if any decisions on outsourcing would have to be approved by the trustees or IU President Adam Herbert.\n"He'll carry out whatever the trustees want," MacIntyre said.