Trustee: Allow others to run IU services

Even with the weekslong delay of a University report and objections by some local lawmakers, one IU trustee said the University needs to contract some of its services to counteract diminishing state funds.\nCurrently in consideration for outsourcing are both the IU Motor Pool and the IU Bookstore, which could both serve as experiments when considering contracting other University services in the future, said William Cast, an IU trustee. He said the trustees would make a final decision regarding the future of the two services at the board's next business meeting -- currently scheduled for Feb. 1. \nA report including recommendations from the office of Terry Clapacs, IU's vice president and chief administrative officer, was expected Dec. 22, but Larry MacIntyre, IU director of Media Relations said the office requested an additional few weeks so it could further review corporate bids for both the IU Motor Pool and the IU Bookstore. \nAbout four companies placed bids to operate the IU Motor Pool, while three took action to gain control of the bookstore, Cast said. \nSeveral local politicians, including Bloomington mayor Mark Kruzan and Democratic state representatives Matthew Pierce and Peggy Welch, and Senator Vi Simpson, D-Ellettsville, have voiced opposition to the \nproposed outsourcing. \nThe three state representatives sent letters to both IU President Adam Herbert as well as the University's trustees, urging them not to contract services to private corporations. They cited fears of diminishing Bloomington's wage base if these services were outsourced, Cast said. The trustee would not call the plan "outsourcing," however, saying that the proposal was not outsourcing because all of the jobs would still be based in Bloomington.\n"I don't think it will change the wage base in Bloomington one whit," Cast said. The millions of dollars saved through contracting the bookstore and the motor pool could be used to develop the life sciences at IU -- an area that he expects will attract high-paying and technologically-advanced jobs to the area, he said. \n"Indiana University is the only Big Ten school not to have contracted bookstore services," Cast said, in a written response to the lawmakers' initial letter. The same is true coast to coast. The Stanford Bookstore, the University of Chicago bookstore and the Yale (bookstore) are not operated by their universities."\nBy developing the life sciences with the money saved, something Cast said he wanted to do, the University would also contribute some more money to the humanities -- something he said they needed to do. \nContracting university services at IU -- especially the bookstore -- is in line with a nationwide trend. \nIn the past 10 years, the number of universities choosing to contract their bookstore operations has increased by about 60 percent, according to the National Association for College Stores' Web site.\nAlong with decreasing costs, Cliff Ewert, vice president of public and campus relations for the Follett Corporation -- one of the nation's largest university bookstore contractors -- said in a November interview that many universities pursued their services because they were able to specialize in a way in-house operations could not. \nAlthough the decision has not become official yet, Cast said he was pretty sure all the trustees wanted to save the University as much money \nas possible.\n"The majority view is if we have to do this to solve financial problems, then it will pass," he said.