Davenport to announce outsourcing decision soon Ciara Hostettler Staff Writer
FILE - Chancellor Davenport welcomes everyone to the Join the Journey launch on September 22, 2017 in Strong Hall. Harley DiMarco, File / The Daily Beacon
Volume 134 Issue 13
Chancellor Beverly Davenport said she will announce her decision in the next few weeks about outsourcing UT facility employees. More than two years ago, Gov. Bill Haslam proposed a plan to outsource management of state facilities to the private sector. The five-year contract was given to Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL), a multinational, Chicago-based, real estate firm that has experience managing some Tennessee properties. But while the contract allows universities to outsource services under JLL, the plan also includes that the company must retain all current state facilities employees, with certain conditions that they pass a background check and drug test. The statewide effort originally included state parks, but that has now been removed from the deal, leaving public universities and colleges to make the decision of opting in or out of the plan. And when it comes to UT - Knoxville, Davenport will have the final say on whether or not the university will outsource union and local jobs to the private sector. The plan to outsource state university employees would likely lower the budget for Tennessee in the coming years. Haslam and has consistently argued that outsourcing would save the state millions of dollars, and some state officials have also agreed. But, the plan has also been faced with criticism and dissatisfaction from Tennessee lawmakers and the public. So far, student body presidents from UT Knoxville, UT Chattanooga and UT Martin, as well as more than 300 UT faculty and 75 out of 132 Tennessee legislators have expressed opposition to the outsourcing initiative. Many of those legislators requested that more time and research be done on the topic before further decision-making. There have been a variety of protests and letters written against outsourcing. At UT, concerns have warred since 2015, with the most recent protest against outsourcing at UT occurring at the Torchbearer statue on Aug. 28. In a letter to Chancellor Davenport,
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22 local Knoxville vendors asked her to optout of the plan. “We applaud efforts to save taxpayer money ... We provide quality goods and services to the University, and we do it as Tennesseans,” the local vendors wrote. “The loss of revenue we would suffer would be for many of us dramatic, and would mean potential layoffs or even closure.” The executive board of the Campus Events Board (CEB) also tweeted a statement against outsourcing on Sept. 14. The board urged Davenport to opt-out of the plan, stating that the jobs of campus workers should be protected and that their services be “rewarded with security, praise and a commitment to their well-being.” The board’s letter also said that many of the events meant to serve students wouldn’t be possible without the work of UT staff, and by losing the staff, there would be a decline in student engagement on campus. “As the governing body of the largest programming board at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, we are intimately aware of the hard work and incredible dedication of the campus workers,” the CEB executive board wrote. “Our jobs would not be possible, and our service to the students not available, without the tireless work of countless groundskeepers, janitorial workers, building managers and general staff.” In 2012, after the university decided to end its agreements with outside cleaning contractors and hire custodial services locally, associate vice chancellor of facilities services Dave Irvin spoke on the decision. Irvin said that while it is more expensive to move from outsourcing custodians to “insourcing” them, the benefits were greater. “There is an extra cost, but it’s more than offset by increased service, better cleaning and more responsiveness to the needs of the university,” Irvin said, as reported by Tennessee Today in 2012. “Bringing these employees onto the UT payroll also provides them with better wages, benefits and continuing education opportunities. As we move toward our goal of being a Top 25 university, one of our commitments is to help improve employee compensation wherever we can, and this helps us do that.” See OUTSOURCING on Page 2
Monday, October 9, 2017