Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

When You're Not A Fan (of Outsourcing)

  • 05/01/17

While many college and university administrators have good experiences with outsourcing (explaining why they keep doing it and increasing the number of outsourced services), not everyone is a fan. There are two ways of measuring success: by satisfaction and business outcomes.

“Understanding that this is subjective,” says Nick Owen, expert in digital and IT transformation and member of New York-based PA Consulting Group’s management team. “I’d say the satisfaction statistic is probably 50-50, meaning 50 percent of clients believe they have had their objectives fulfilled, and 50 percent have not. And I’d say that, regarding business outcomes, probably 70 percent of clients are satisfied and 30 percent have had unintended outcomes.”

For those of you who are not outsourcing fans, check out Faculty Forward Network (FFN, facultyforwardnetwork.org). According to the website, “The FFN is an activist faculty organization that improves faculty working conditions, supports increased public investment in instruction and research, and is fighting the corporatization of higher education.”

The organization has a toolkit to help you learn more and raise awareness regarding subcontracting or outsourcing practices on your campus. The “toolkit includes:

  1. Tools for researching if your college of university is subcontracting or outsourcing services.
  2. A sample Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting copies of agreements with subcontractors.
  3. An action plan for concerned community activists to prevent or call into question any negative outsourcing or subcontracting agreements.
  4. A sample letter to the board of trustees you can use to request they do not agree to subcontracting or outsourcing agreements, or rescind existing agreements.”

Find the toolkit at: facultyforwardnetwork.org.

Another resource to check out is a white paper titled “Issues and Concerns in the Privatization and Outsourcing of Campus Services in Higher Education,” which can be found at ncspe.tc.columbia.edu/working-papers/OP10.pdf.

The paper is published by National Center for the Study of Privatization of Education (ncspe.tc.columbia.edu), which “provides nonpartisan documentation and analysis of privatization in education. We conduct research, host conferences, and post working papers. Our topics range from preschool to tertiary education, both at home and abroad.”

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • University of Oklahoma Announces New Campus Master Plan

    The University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., recently announced that it will soon launch a new, comprehensive Campus Master Plan to guide the campus’ physical development during the next decade, according to a news release.

  • Hawaii Elementary School Breaks Ground on New Classroom Building

    Kealakehe Elementary School in Kailua, Hawaii, recently began construction on a new, $16-million classroom building for its campus, according to a news release. The 13,000-square-foot building will stand two stories and connect the existing upper and lower campuses.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.

  • Indiana Wesleyan University Schedules Grand Opening for New Welcome Center

    Indiana Wesleyan University recently announced that it will soon open a new Welcome Center on its campus in Marion, Ind., according to a news release. The facility will serve as the home base for prospective students and their families to learn more about the university and student life there. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for February 19.