Tennessee’s technical and community college will not outsource（外包）management of their facilities to a private company, a decision one leader said was bolstered by an analysis of spending at each campus.
In an email sent Monday to college presidents in the Tennessee Board of Regents system, outgoing Chancellor John Morgan said an internal analysis showed that each campus’ spending on facilities management fell well below the industry standards identified by the state. Morgan said those findings—which included data from the system’s 13 community colleges, 27 technical colleges and six universities—were part of the decision not to move forward with Governor Bill Haslam’s proposal to privatize management of state buildings in an effort to save money.
“While these numbers are still being validated by the state, we feel any adjustments they might suggest will be immaterial,” Morgan wrote to the presidents. “System institutions are operating very efficiently based on this analysis, raising the question of the value of pursing a broad scale outsourcing initiative.”
Workers’ advocates have criticized Haslam’s plan, saying it would mean some campus workers would lose their jobs or benefits. Haslam has said colleges would be free to opt in or out of the outsourcing plan, which has not been finalized.
Morgan notified that Haslam administration of his decision to opt out in a letter sent last week. That letter, which includes several concerns Morgan has with the plan, was originally obtained by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.
In an email statement from the state’s Office of Customer Focused Government, which is examining the possibility of outsourcing, spokeswoman Michelle R. Martin said officials were still working to analyze the data from the Board of Regents. Data on management expenses at the college system and in other state departments will be part of a “business justification” the state will use as officials deliberate the specifics of an outsourcing plan.
“The state’s facilities management project team is still in the process of developing its business justification and expects to have that completed and available to the public at the end of February,” Martin said. “At this time there is nothing to take action on since the analysis has yet to be completed.”
Morgan’s comments on outsourcing mark the second time this month that he has come out against one of Haslam’s plans for higher education in Tennessee. Morgan said last week that he would retire at the end of January because of the governor’s proposal to split off six universities of the Board of Regents system and create separate governing boards for each of them. In his resignation letter, Morgan called the reorganization “unworkable”.
