This article was published in the 2009 Year in Review issue of The Daily Tar Heel.
Last year, University officials turned heads with their decision to hire Bain & Company, a global business consulting firm, to evaluate its managerial efficiency.
Now, universities nationwide are following UNC’s example by hiring consultants to help deal with administrative organization and unprecedented budget deficits.
Bain concluded its study at UNC this summer — funded through an anonymous donation — and found that the University’s decentralized organization hinders the school’s ability to conduct most tasks efficiently, including everything from purchasing and human resources to scheduling classroom space.
Bain’s recommendations could save the University up to $161 million a year, though administrators have said they likely will not implement all of the company’s recommendations.
In the wake of the report UNC created a task force, headed by chemistry professor and former Faculty Council Chairman Joe Templeton, to determine how to implement the consulting firm’s proposals.
The implementation committee has taken on the name “Carolina Counts” to focus the effort less on the report and more on the campus.
Few changes have actually been implemented in the months since the report, and administrators are still working to figure out exactly what should be done, a process that might take some time.
Bain’s work at UNC prompted Cornell University and University of California, Berkeley to also hire Bain in hopes of generating similar savings.
Berkeley faced strong opposition from faculty and students, who disagreed with the cost of the study — $3 million — in light of deep cuts and widespread layoffs.
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said the trend of universities hiring external consulting firms could change higher education.
“What we’re seeing now is great universities of America figuring out that we need to change the way we do business and not just tinker around the edges,” he said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
