Tulsa World: Expenses pinching colleges

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Expenses pinching colleges

Gary Cheeseman, facilities technician at the Broken Arrow campus of Northeastern State University, uses one of the NSU physical plant’s golf carts to deliver signs on campus. The university uses the carts instead of gasoline-powered vehicles to save money. STEPHEN HOLMAN/Tulsa World

By APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer
Published: 7/7/2008 2:07 AM
Last Modified: 7/7/2008 2:23 AM

Colleges are doing their part to save money as utility bills go up, but leaders said cost increases still caused them to raise tuition and fees for the fall.

"The costs of doing business have gone up so much," said Northeastern State University Vice President for Administration Kim Cherry.

Colleges received less money from the state in 2002-03 and 2003-04 than in previous years, so "there's not any excess fat in the budgets anymore," she said.

State colleges estimated they will have cost increases of $43 million in the coming year, but they received about the same amount of money from the state as last year. The increases include higher payments for the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System and health insurance.

Colleges statewide are feeling the crunch of adding new buildings at a time when energy costs are rising. The 2005 higher education bond issue provided $475 million for capital projects at every state college.

Jeff Stewart, the Oklahoma State University physical plant director of engineering and utilities, pointed out that colleges can't hire contractors and then tell them to go home until energy costs go down.

"The only thing you can do, really, is try not to consume as much," he said.

OSU, Rogers State University and other colleges have hired outside experts in recent years to design plans to help them use less energy.

The fuel portion of OSU's electric bill has been about $680,000 for the first half of 2008, Stewart estimated, and he expects that subcharge to increase about 75 percent this month. The university's gas bill increased from about $5.2 million for July 2006-May 2007 to $5.6 million for July 2007-May 2008. Stewart thinks the gas bill would have been even higher without the energy conservation program, which OSU reported in April had saved about $1.4 million in five months.

"What you're seeing at home with your gas bill . . . we see similar things here," he said.

Several years ago, RSU dug about 200 wells on its campus and installed a loop of pipe to create a geothermal system that heats and cools six of the largest buildings on campus, said Leonard Szopinski, physical plant director. In time, most buildings on the Claremore campus will join the energy-efficient system.

The system is monitored by computers, which saves on manpower, he said.

NSU's Broken Arrow campus has a similar system, and Cherry said that from the time the campus opened, "our utilities were half what they were projected to be for a building that size."

Like several other colleges, RSU has installed light sensors to detect when people aren't in rooms and to turn off the lights, Szopinski and other officials said. RSU uses only one type of light bulb and one type of toilet flush valve campuswide so it can order in bulk and save money.

Expected energy cost increases make up less than 7 percent of RSU's estimated $900,000 in cost increases but are still 13 percent higher than last year's energy budget, said Tom Volturo, executive vice president for administration and finance.

RSU now requires university vice presidents to review all out-of-state travel, and the university is encouraging employees to carpool and go to fewer meetings, Volturo said.

The University of Oklahoma only buys vehicles capable of using alternative fuel, unless a specialty vehicle is needed that doesn't have that capability, Vice President for Public Affairs Catherine Bishop wrote in an e-mail. The university also requires that new buildings be constructed with energy efficiency, among many other energy-saving measures, including water-free urinals.

The University of Tulsa has started buying more locally produced food to reduce its shipping costs, said David Hamby, director of university relations. It is also designing buildings to take advantage of natural light.

Tulsa Community College has sequenced automatic doors on the West Campus to reduce the cooled air it was losing, Mina Lotti, administrative director of physical facilities, wrote in an e-mail. A "green roof" on the Metro Campus' forthcoming Center for Creativity will reduce stormwater runoff and help cool the building. The college also has resealed leaky windows.

For the past few years, TCC has shopped around for gas and locked in a price for a full year, usually saving money, said Chief Financial Officer Gary Crooms.

TCC increased its utilities budget about 10 percent for the coming year, but several years ago, consultants visited the college, examined its energy use and told executives "they didn't see additional ways for us to save — we were utilizing a lot of the mechanisms to keep our gas and energy costs low."

April Marciszewski 581-8475
april.marciszewski@tulsaworld.com By APRIL MARCISZEWSKI World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Hijinx, (7/7/2008 6:35:29 AM) "What you're seeing at home with your gas bill . . . we see similar things here," Yea, but I didnt get 100 million from T boone...
	Report Comment Travis, Tahlequah (7/7/2008 10:10:07 AM) I wonder just how much all the sports teams cost the schools, sorry, I mean the taxpayers.
	Report Comment Ben, (7/7/2008 10:47:31 AM) T-Boone has a right to tell the school where to spend the money he gave them. If he wanted it to go to making up the budget shortfall it would be gone in two years, and the school would have to raise tuition at that time. It will do more good where it's at. Quit complaining. OSU is still one of the most affordable schools in the country.
	Report Comment Travis, Tahlequah (7/7/2008 11:09:10 AM) Just a hint. An article in Chronicle of Higher Education shows that from 2006 - 2006 only 17 out of 330 Division 1 athletic departments operated at a profit. The universities made up the shortfall.
	Report Comment Travis, Tahlequah (7/7/2008 11:10:59 AM) Sorry, it should read 2004 - 2006.
	Report Comment GregG., (7/7/2008 7:14:36 PM) One of the reasons for less money available: "Colleges received less money from the state in 2002-03 and 2003-04 than in previous years . . ." The main reason there is less money for state necessities: Tax-cuts over the past couple of years by the OK legislature. Wait a couple more years when those tax cuts have full effect . . . less money for every state service, education, roads, bridges, etc. When you elect a conservative (R or D) - you get a lower standard of living as a result of asnine economic and social policies.
	Report Comment ThunderPigeon, (7/8/2008 12:17:09 AM) When you elect a Liberal (R or D) - you get less of your paycheck and more social programs that only make poor people more dependent on Governmental (our) money. Government is not the most efficient way to help people. At my alma mater in Colorado, state funds were wasted on all sorts of social organizations. When the president of the university wanted to cut spending on them, the students cried foul. His plan was to cut spending on the periphery and spend money in the classroom. The Liberals like our buddy GregG complained, because the clubs recognized on campus actually had to raise their own money, and the various cultural centers were going to share a building. The problem isn't a cut in state budgets, the problem is Universities that defy the laws of Finance. They spend regardless of what money is available. Cut programs that don't work, and spend the money on what's important. There is a lot in academia that can be cut that would have little real impact on the education of the students. When did our national motto become "Gimme!"

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