Miami University

This Makes Cents

In October 2008, Miami launched a campaign to solicit cost-saving and process-improvement ideas from members of the Miami community. As of October 8, 2009, faculty, staff, and students as well as parents and alumni have submitted 512 ideas—with examples ranging from enhanced recycling to changes in purchasing procedures. Most submissions fall into one of several broad categories, with the majority directed toward energy and paper conservation. Common suggestions include turning down the heat, turning off lights and computers when not in use, and reducing paper usage with an eye toward a paperless environment. Since our July 15 update, 23 suggestions have been submitted.

Submissions are directed to one of 15 areas (see "Area for Improvement" field on the suggestion form), with staff from those areas designated to review and respond to every suggestion.

For a summary of suggestions to date as well as the University's response, see Submitted Suggestions.

Cost-Saving News

November 13, 2009
Sustainability committee: Update to ThisMakesCents

July 21, 2009
Resource Stewardship: Update to ThisMakesCents

November 26, 2008
"Sense" saves $$ for rec sports, marketing communications

November 20, 2008
Stoddard Hall wins Unplugged competition
Various suggestions make "cents"

November 4, 2008
Miami community says, "This makes cents"

Tips for Home

In addition to cost-saving measures at work, following the recommendations below can help you save costs off campus while protecting the environment. After one year, you can save hundreds of pounds of CO2; if these recommendations were practiced by everyone in the U.S. for one year, the impact would equal millions of cars taken off the road.

• Switch Five Lightbulbs to Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs
  A 25-watt compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL) provides the same amount of light as a 75-watt incandescent bulb. CFLs use a third of the energy and last 10 times longer. Switching five bulbs could save about $400 over the CFLs' lifetime.
  Savings after one year: You save 500 pounds of CO2; U.S. saves equivalent of 4,751,350 cars taken off the road
  
  
• Modify the Temperature on Your Thermostat
  There's no reason to keep the house perfectly heated or cooled when you're not there to appreciate it. Modifying the temperature just four degrees with a programmable thermostat will save energy—and about $130 a year.
  Savings after one year: You save 1,300 pounds of CO2; U.S. saves equivalent of 12,353,510 cars taken off the road
  
  
• Use Power Strips
  Is your TV turned off? Think again. A percentage of your home's electricity goes to devices that are not in use but are plugged in. To kill the current and lower your bill, plug them into a power strip, and after you've turned the equipment off, flip the power strip switch.
  Savings after one year: You save 1,608 pounds of CO2; U.S. saves equivalent of 15,280,342 cars taken off the road
  
  

Submitted Suggestions

Since our July 15 update, 23 suggestions have been made—3 of which pertain to Energy, 2 to Paper, 8 to Personnel, 1 to Transportation, and 9 to Miscellaneous. For university responses, see categories to the left.

Energy

Nov. 1, 2009—Several suggestions addressed excessive heat in buildings, including King Library. Someone suggested that we save heat and light energy by closing for an extra day at Thanksgiving or during the winter holiday.

July 15, 2009—The majority of recent suggestions deal with "excessive" lighting of buildings, including La Mia Cucina, the new business school, and other academic buildings. Campus vehicles sitting idle for long periods of time while the engine is kept running and air-conditioning that is set too high were identified as targets for improved efficiency. Other suggestions for conserving energy included banning the use of electric heaters, unplugging cooled drinking fountains, and reducing energy used by the fountain behind Shriver Center.

March 1, 2009—By far, the largest number of suggestions relate to saving energy. Sixty-seven suggestions have been submitted in this area, with ideas ranging from turning off computers overnight in labs across campus to installing motion sensing lighting in building interiors to air-drying clothes as often as possible.

Paper

Nov. 1, 2009—One person suggested that money could be saved by ensuring that employees who are also alumni receive only one copy of the Miamian, and another suggested that the Offices and Services Directory be published online.

July 15, 2009—Ideas for saving paper included reducing the use of paper flyers for campus communication, and implementing eSignatures to reduce the need for paper research consent forms. One person suggested that class news be excluded from the print version of the Miamian. Another suggested keeping students' email accounts active after graduation to facilitate more electronic communication to alumni.

March 1, 2009—The second largest number of suggestions to the site, 41, relate to reducing or eliminating paper, for example, eliminating flyers, brochures, table tents, and other printed materials. A big step in this direction is Miami's e-Report, sent electronically on weekdays to all faculty and staff, and myMiami announcements, directed to students. A printed Miami Report newspaper was eliminated in May 2008.

Personnel

Nov. 1, 2009—Suggestions here included removing spouses from Miami's health insurance roles, expanding closed university days during the holidays, and creating a shared typing pool.

July 15, 2009—Most suggestions involved a reduction in salary, work hours, or the conservation of time and labor through more efficient processes. Ideas ranged from raising adjunct faculty teaching hours and allowing voluntary leave to establishing a mandatory retirement year and an optional 32-hour work week during the summer for food service assistants. A few revenue-generating ideas included an insurance premium differentiation for smokers and a replacement fee for lost faculty and staff IDs.

March 1, 2009—The majority of suggestions in this category involve a buyout for employees close to retirement or modifications to the 40-hour work week. Allowing employees to work four 10-hour days (instead of five 8-hour days) and allowing employees to reduce their work week to 32 or 36 hours were popular options. Reducing the number of days that classes meet (from five to four) was also suggested.

Transportation

Nov. 1, 2009—The only Transportation suggestion was to put motor-pool cars on a miles-based schedule for oil changes instead of a calendar-based schedule.

July 15, 2009—No new suggestions were received in this area.

March 1, 2009—Suggestions relating to transportation range from reducing metro routes to replacing buses with smaller vehicles during hours of lower ridership to considering alternative fuels. A spring 2008 campus transportation study showed that 70 percent of trips to, from, and around campus by students, faculty, and staff, is taken in a vehicle. The study was conducted as an initiative of the Presidential Task Force on Environmental Sustainability.

Miscellaneous

Nov. 1, 2009—One person suggested Miami collect revenue and improve street safety by placing university personnel and/or Miami police at various traffic intersections and major roads to ticket for jaywalking. Other suggestions included a return to departments bidding on auctioned items (with the possible addition of a year-round storehouse) and improved processes for accounts payable and credit card receivables.

July 15, 2009—Two staff members suggested discontinuing the planting of annuals in flowerbeds and raising funds by selling unneeded perennials. It was also suggested that money could be raised by bringing recyclables from home for collection on campus. Other recommendations included improving supervision on construction projects, reducing the watering of plants to early or late hours (or not at all), adding stickers to existing parking hang tags instead of buying new tags, and holding one commencement per year instead of three.

Energy

Nov. 1, 2009—Several suggestions addressed excessive heat in buildings, including King Library. Someone suggested that we save heat and light energy by closing for an extra day at Thanksgiving or during the winter holiday.

July 15, 2009—The majority of recent suggestions deal with "excessive" lighting of buildings, including La Mia Cucina, the new business school, and other academic buildings. Campus vehicles sitting idle for long periods of time while the engine is kept running and air-conditioning that is set too high were identified as targets for improved efficiency. Other suggestions for conserving energy included banning the use of electric heaters, unplugging cooled drinking fountains, and reducing energy used by the fountain behind Shriver Center.

March 1, 2009—By far, the largest number of suggestions relate to saving energy. Sixty-seven suggestions have been submitted in this area, with ideas ranging from turning off computers overnight in labs across campus to installing motion sensing lighting in building interiors to air-drying clothes as often as possible.

University Response

• Cody Powell, director of building maintenance, replied that a mechanical/design problem was found in the kitchen area of King Café this fall, and he placed a work order to address the problem.
• While the La Mia Cucina restaurant appears well-lighted, all lights are either low-voltage or fluorescent, and all the sources are energy-efficient.
• The new business school, where contractors were leaving on lights at night, is now complete, using "green" fluorescent bulbs and motion-sensing lights. Additionally, natural light is maximized inside with the ability to dim the artificial lights.
• Stronger guidelines for idling vehicles may be introduced as a result of suggestions to Physical Facilities.
• Other suggestions for regulating the use of electric heaters and unplugging cooled drinking fountains are under consideration.
• The pumps for the fountain behind Shriver Center cannot be efficiently replaced, but the pumps for the reflecting pool are now operating fewer hours per day.
• New construction at Miami takes advantage of motion sensor technology. The School of Engineering complex features motion sensor lighting in all public spaces including classrooms, offices and corridors. According to Jack Williams, senior project architect and manager, further sensors in classrooms reduce ventilation if no one is there.
• Approximately 7,000 desk lamps in residence halls were replaced with compact fluorescent bulbs in March 2008.
• Rec sports has initiated a "lights off" policy as well as a daytime light level reduction. Tom Fister, director of recreational physical facilities, estimates this will save about $7,900 annually.
• Rec sports also is retro fitting and re-lamping light fixtures to use fluorescent lights or "pulse start" metal halide lamps. The conversion will save an estimated $20,000 annually on the recreational sports center's electric usage bill.

What You Can Do

• Turn off lights in restrooms, break rooms, and offices when not occupied.
• Purchase dimmers, motion sensors, or occupancy sensors to automatically turn on or off lighting as needed and prevent energy waste.
• Turn off office equipment (copiers, fax machines, printers, etc.) when not used at night and on the weekends. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of office equipment is left on at night and on weekends.
• To conserve energy and reduce internal heat gain, turn off computer monitors, printers and copiers during non-business hours.
• Turn off computer monitors when not in use for more than 10 minutes. When counted together, computer monitors use more energy than any other piece of office equipment.
• To save energy during periods of inactivity, ensure that the built-in power management system for your office equipment is active. (Setting power management for Windows XP)
• Use a laptop computer instead of a desk-top system can save 80-90 percent in electrical cost.
• Unplug power adapters or battery chargers when equipment is fully charged or disconnected from the charger.
• Using a power strip that can be switched off when electronics and appliances are not in use.
• Look for the Energy Star label when purchasing products. For more energy tips, see http://www.energystar.gov.

Paper

Nov. 1, 2009—One person suggested that money could be saved by ensuring that employees who are also alumni receive only one copy of the Miamian, and another suggested that the Offices and Services Directory be published online.

July 15, 2009—Ideas for saving paper included reducing the use of paper flyers for campus communication and implementing eSignatures to reduce the need for paper research consent forms. One person suggested that class news be excluded from the print version of the Miamian. Another suggested keeping students' email accounts active after graduation to facilitate more electronic communication to alumni.

March 1, 2009—The second largest number of suggestions to the site, 41, relate to reducing or eliminating paper, for example, eliminating flyers, brochures, table tents, and other printed materials. A big step in this direction is Miami's e-Report, sent electronically on weekdays to all faculty and staff, and myMiami announcements, directed to students. A printed Miami Report newspaper was eliminated in May 2008.

University Response

• Miamian editor Donna Boen says, "Years ago, we changed it so that Miami grads who worked at Miami would receive only one alumni magazine—the one at work—allowing us to also save on postage. However, sometimes an alum's activity causes a change in the database." Note: If you're an alumnus and an employee receiving two copies of the Miamian, please notify us via email.
• The online version of the Offices and Services Directory has been available for several years.
• The Employee Heath and Well-Being program has made great strides in cutting back on printed materials, reducing last year's printing costs by over $14,300. EHWB continues to evaluate the effectiveness of its promotional materials. Other departments also provide more information electronically.
• The number of printed class news pages has been significantly reduced in recent years by abbreviating entries that are presented in full in the online Miamian.
• IT Services has just launched a project to provide life-long email accounts for Miami students. Incoming Fall 2010 students will be the first to join the new system.
• On February 16, 2009, payroll services announced plans to go electronic with direct deposit advices for employees who are paid monthly, beginning with the March 31, 2009, payroll. The information will be displayed on BannerWeb and no longer distributed on paper. Classified staff pay advices began distribution in electronic format July 1, 2009.
• For the 2008 tax year, W-2 forms became available online, giving employees the option to download and print the forms as needed rather than requiring Payroll Services to print and mail the forms to all employees.
• The printed Miami Directory has been significantly reduced. In 2004-05, the directory was 260 pages and cost $10,093 to print 6,000 copies. In 2005-06, an online directory was implemented and individual listings removed from the print directory. Production costs for 6,000 copies went down to $4,921. Costs have continued to drop slightly according to Arlene Werts, director of marketing communications. This year's cost: $3,675.
• In November, human resources, with academic personnel services and payroll services, announced a BannerWeb enhancement. Employees can now update mailing addresses and campus work addresses and phone numbers through BannerWeb. Previously, changes were submitted through an update form sent to all employees. The electronic capability eliminates the paper forms plus allows employees to make changes throughout the year as needed.
• Academic personnel services initiated a paperless contracts system for part-time faculty. The system was tested last fall and later opened up to all departments. Now, approximately 700 contracts are handled electronically, signed through eSignature.

What You Can Do

• Check your payroll information through BannerWeb, where you can also access your W-2 form for printing.
• Send electronic files, voicemail and e-mail instead of creating paper memos.
• Reduce fax traffic by using computer modems instead of the office fax machine. You can save paper on one or both ends.
• Always use the second side of paper, either by printing on both sides or using the blank side as scrap paper.
• Use scrap paper to take notes instead of using notebooks, company pads, or message pads.
• Use scrap paper instead of stickies.

Personnel

Nov. 1, 2009—Suggestions here included removing spouses from Miami's health insurance roles, creating a shared typing pool, and expanding closed university days during the holidays. Someone also suggested that Miami prohibit employees from carrying over vacation days from year to year in order to save on payout for accrued time.

July 15, 2009—Most suggestions involved a reduction in salary, work hours, or the conservation of time and labor through more efficient processes. Ideas ranged from raising adjunct faculty teaching hours and allowing voluntary leave to establishing a mandatory retirement year and an optional 32-hour work week during the summer for food service assistants. A few revenue-generating ideas included an insurance premium differentiation for smokers and a replacement fee for lost faculty and staff IDs.

March 1, 2009—The majority of suggestions in this category involve a buyout for employees close to retirement or modifications to the 40-hour work week. Allowing employees to work four 10-hour days (instead of five 8-hour days) and allowing employees to reduce their work week to 32 or 36 hours were popular options. Reducing the number of days that classes meet (from five to four) was also suggested.

University Response

• While eligible staff can use vacation days when the university closes for the week of Christmas, declaring a furlough to extend the break would prohibit people from getting paid for those days since neither vacation nor comp time can be used during furloughs. President Hodge and his executive council are weighing the pros and cons of using furlough as one way to address our financial situation; however, no decisions have been made to exercise the option at this time.
• According to Ohio civil service law, the amount of vacation classified staff members can accrue is three times their annual accrual rate, which can be as high as 75 days. Miami allows unclassified employees to accrue up to 40 days of vacation. Reducing this is possible, but a review of other colleges and universities shows we're already in the bottom half with regard to vacation carry-over, and reducing it could make employment at Miami less attractive to job seekers.
• The University is carefully weighing all strategies with regard to staffing that make good business sense, and at the same time, do not cause existing staff undue hardships. The University has also begun developing a set of norms and expectations regarding faculty workload.
• In most cases, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act makes it illegal to require retirement after a certain number of years.
• The University Benefits Committee has considered medical insurance premium differentiation in the past but decided to offer the same premium for all employees. Through the Employee Health and Well-Being program, the University continues to encourage healthy lifestyles.
• At one time, faculty and staff were charged for replacement IDs, but after some dissention, the practice was discontinued. Due to the present financial circumstances, that decision may be revisited.
• The University, through the Miami University Retirement Incentive Program, is again offering a payment of $10,000 to classified and unclassified administrative staff who are eligible for retirement and who agree to retire on or before January 1, 2010. Applications will be accepted through September 14, 2009. Participation is limited to 100 employees. (A buyout/purchase of service credits was not found to be a cost-effective option.) This program is similar to the one offered last winter, in which 70 employees participated.
• A work week consisting of four 10-hour days is not feasible for scheduling many employees. The University must maintain regular business hours (8 to 5) Monday through Friday and some areas of the university are open 24/7. Furthermore, the option of four 10-hour days saves the university virtually nothing in operational or personnel costs since the week's total hours remains at 40.
• Reducing the number of days that classes meet is not an option. Class size, classroom resources, faculty schedules, and class availability are just a few of the complex issues affecting class schedules.

What You Can Do

• If you are eligible for the retirement incentive, you should have been notified through campus mail. If you think you might be eligible but have not received a letter, please contact the Department of Human Resources or Academic Personnel Services.
• If you feel your hours can be reduced and have considered how a reduction might affect university benefits offered to you, talk with your supervisor. You may want to discuss options relevant to an 11-month contract or other contract less than 12 months. You can also call the Department of Human Resources at 513-529-3131 for assistance in individual cases.

Transportation

Nov. 1, 2009—The only Transportation suggestion was to put motor-pool cars on a miles-based schedule for oil changes instead of a calendar-based schedule.

July 15, 2009—No new suggestions were received in this area.

March 1, 2009—Suggestions relating to transportation range from reducing metro routes to replacing buses with smaller vehicles during hours of lower ridership to considering alternative fuels. A spring 2008 campus transportation study showed that 70 percent of trips to, from, and around campus by students, faculty, and staff, is taken in a vehicle. The study was conducted as an initiative of the Presidential Task Force on Environmental Sustainability.

University Response

• Vehicles are serviced on both a mileage and calendar schedule. The service schedules are based on accepted standards to protect the capital investments of the university.
• In December 2008, Miami University and AlterNetRides teamed up to provide a transportation alternative for faculty and staff. AlterNetRides matches drivers and riders willing to share a commute to campus. A ride board in Shriver Center offers carpooling options for students.
• Metro ridership is carefully and continuously reviewed, including assessment of the effectiveness of specific routes. Metro provides an alternative to personal vehicles for transportation on and off campus. A parking and transportation advisory committee being formed in University Senate is also reviewing Metro operations.
• Last summer, Miami's motor pool purchased its first hybrid car, a 2008 Honda Civic. The motor pool rents vehicles to the university community for official business.

What You Can Do

• When possible, ride the Metro (at no charge). For more information, including routes and scheduled hours of operation, see Miami Metro.
• Register for the Ride Pool with AlterNetRides. Participation is free and signing up is easy.
• Warm up your vehicle by driving it. No more than 30 seconds of idling on winter days is needed; anything more simply wastes fuel and increases emissions.
• Clear out your car. Extra weight decreases mileage by 1–2 percent for every 100 pounds.
• Check out more "Energy Savers" on driving and car maintenance provided by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Setting Power Management Options in Windows XP

Note: To reactivate monitor/system once it has turned off, move the mouse or hit any key. If you are unsure about losing your network connection, set only the monitor turn-off time.

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Miscellaneous

Nov. 1, 2009—One person suggested Miami collect revenue and improve street safety by placing university personnel and/or Miami police at various traffic intersections and major roads to ticket for jaywalking. Other suggestions included a return to departments bidding on auctioned items (with the possible addition of a yeararound storehouse) and improved processes for accounts payable and credit card receivables.

July 15, 2009—Two staff members suggested discontinuing the planting of annuals in flowerbeds and raising funds by selling unneeded perennials. It was also suggested that money could be raised by bringing recyclables from home for collection on campus. Other recommendations included improving supervision on construction projects, reducing the watering of plants to early or late hours (or not at all), adding stickers to existing parking hang tags instead of buying new tags, and holding one commencement per year instead of three.

University Response

• The univerity found that the MUPD can write citations for jaywalking under state statute or under city code, but neither course would allow Miami to recover the fines.
• Furniture was the most common surplus property bought from department preview the day before an auction. To offer more assistance than once-a-year auctions, the purchasing office has cancelled the department previews and now directs departments to contact Linda Fry in Physical Facilities at anytime to discuss the availability of "recycled" furniture. Linda can better assist and recommend available solutions from all known furniture inventories. Pickup and delivery with truck crews is also more efficient. The idea of a surplus property storage facility has been raised; however, the current budget does not allow for such a facility at this time.
• While the availability of some technology-related surplus may not have been properly communicated prior to auction, some equipment is shared via the Technical Support Representative (TSR) LISTSERV, and it is expected that TSRs can make continued use of it to recycle technology-related supplies.
• Miami is working with a new vendor, JP Morgan Chase, to provide a better procurement card program. We are finishing a revised process that will automate the reconciliation steps involved with monthly statements and replace the hand-processed packets with an online system that includes scanning receipts. We hope to introduce these new processes this fall. As a public institution, it is a challenge to achieve compliance with sound business and accounting standards that document our expenses without making the process burdensome.
• Grounds managers will plant far fewer bulbs next spring and plant more perennials. They are watering lawns and flowerbeds only to prevent losing landscape efforts.
• Greatly increasing the quantity of recyclables from outside sources would necessitate extra drop-off sites on campus and extra staff time to collect items, but Miamians are welcome to bring recyclables to the existing recycling containers in the Ditmer parking lot.
• Administrators are reviewing the format and schedule of commencements.
• Parking and transportation services is looking into the feasibility of stickers for hang tags.

What You Can Do

• Make sure you throw only recyclable materials in the marked bins in the Ditmer parking lot.
• Continue to use the indoor recycling bins.
• Be aware of resources you use and consider how you might reduce your consumption.