Bo Cleveland, executive chef at Middlebury College, was concerned about the rising price of granola from a local supplier three years ago. His response: Get students to make the granola instead.
The college already had students working in the bakery, and a group of them were enthusiastic about the idea. Now the “Granola Gang,” as it’s called, works four days a week, hand-mixing and baking oats with other ingredients.
As a result, Middlebury saves $27,000 annually. And that helps it purchase other local products. “You have a finite food budget,” Mr. Cleveland says. “Any savings you can make in one area kind of allows you to branch out into another.”
Middlebury isn’t the only college to come up with creative money-saving measures as budgets tighten. At Marquette University, an office-supply swap saved an estimated $10,000 last year. In the swap, departments and other offices donate and shop for unused office supplies. The swap is intended to support sustainability as well as to save money. Jenny Alexander, director of purchasing, says departments can post pictures and descriptions of unused furniture and equipment for exchange on Marquette’s Web site.
“All employees should look at ways to utilize campus resources to their fullest,” she says. “It’s a natural activity for the purchasing department to try to find the most value for their constituents.”
Other colleges are coming up with creative cost-cutting. Frank Mezzanini, vice president for business affairs at Saint Leo University, in Florida, says it came up with $250,000 worth of savings this year through an annual review of expenses.
Among the changes: eliminating water coolers throughout the campus ($24,000 in savings), doing away with personal printers ($107,000), and conforming text-messaging plans to actual usage ($9,000).
Two years ago, Miami University, in Ohio, formed a program called Leveraging Efficiencies and Aligning Needs, which convenes focus groups to discuss potential cuts in spending.
Ideas that have been adopted include asking students to cut off their steam heaters over winter break ($66,000 in savings), and no longer offering bottled water in campus hotel rooms ($16,000), says Marijo J. Nootz, a director of the student center.
“When things really did get tight, we were already in the midst of this,” she says, “which was a good thing.”
