Various contracts that Wright State had previously been involved in have expired, according to the Board of Trustees. The majority of contracts had expired due to a decision not to renew them, not from directly terminating them.
The contracts were put up for review by the Board in order to determine the cost, duration and services involved with each contract, and to see if the university could pursue opportunities for cost savings, according to Jeff Ulliman, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
The threshold for what was to show up on the university’s financial report in regard to contracts was $50,000.
Although this strategy was not directly built into the budget remediation plan, the intent of reviewing the contracts was to reduce costs wherever possible, said Ulliman.
“The goal is to lessen expenses overall. Anything anybody saves in spending is going to contribute, even if it is not a directly identifiable strategy towards remediation.”
Some contracts had been in place for a period of years, while others were short, one-time contracts that ended when the servicing party had completed their work for the university. Many contracts were allowed to expire because they are not considered a priority at the moment.
One contract that expired was with Williams & Jensen, a lobbyist firm in Washington D.C. The university used to pay $83,000 for this contract before it was expired. The decision to pursue the service was made by the President’s Office.
"[The firm] helped us with particular lobbying efforts that helped with higher education, or Wright State in general,” said Ulliman. It was determined to less significant and was therefore not renewed.
Additionally, a contract with Xerox, a printing service, was a topic of discussion at the board meeting. There is currently no discussion of ending that contract. However, there have been complaints about the pricing and quality of the service.
The university meets with Xerox regularly to work on ways to improve such problems, according to Ulliman.
