Two initiatives to streamline Cornell's purchasing and financial transactions should save at least $31.8 million annually by 2015.

While the procurement initiative will mean fewer choices for the goods and services the university buys, it will also help decrease Cornell's budget deficit and save jobs, said Joanne DeStefano, vice president for finance and chief financial officer, at an open forum Nov. 5 in Phillips Hall. About 130 people attended.

"The only way we can save another $20 million to $30 million is to limit the number of vendors and to be more restrictive on the types of things we buy so we can negotiate better prices. … The more we can save in procurement, the less staffing adjustments have to be made," she said. Every $100,000 saved equals almost two staff positions, she added.

DeStefano described the procurement and finance initiatives at the third in a series of open forums on the Administrative Streamlining Program's (ASP) ten initiatives.

The finance initiative will standardize and simplify the ways in which specific financial transactions are processed. It will also convert the university's 34 business service centers into seven financial transaction centers by Dec. 31. The centers will support all administrative and academic units, although the exact configuration is still being determined, DeStefano said.

Currently 647 staff work on financial transactions in some capacity. However, most also do other types of work, and the equivalent of only 234 staff concentrate full-time on financial transactions. "What we're attempting to do is consolidate the number of people who process financial transactions and have them be better experts," DeStefano said. The finance initiative should save $1.8 million annually once the Kuali Financial System is implemented in fiscal year 2012.

Upcoming forum on IT streamlining

The Administrative Streamlining Program will host an open forum on its information technology initiative, 12:15-1:15 p.m., Nov. 10, in 125 Riley-Robb Hall, with Steve Schuster, interim executive director of Cornell Information Technologies. For more information, visit http://asp.dpb.cornell.edu.

The procurement initiative should save much more -- $30 million to $40 million annually by 2015. Phase I, to be completed by June 2011, should save between $7.5 million and $10 million by negotiating contracts with vendors from whom the university now buys goods and services, and by increasing the percentage of purchases made through e-SHOP, the university's online purchasing software, DeStefano said.

During the question period that followed, several questions centered on whether or not people would lose their jobs due to the initiatives. In response, two faculty members talked about the benefits of using e-SHOP -- including the jobs it will save. "I think that shows how ready this campus is to support the procurement initiative rather than reducing staff to meet the budget targets," DeStefano said later. Job losses due to the finance initiative will be minimal, thanks to the long implementation period and the potential to move staff across organizational boundaries to similar positions, she added.

How will procurement limits affect research-related purchases? "Everything is on the table," DeStefano said. "If we can provide that equipment with better pricing, we'll take a look at it."

What about a special or unusual purchase? "How do I avoid spending $500 of my time to order a $30 item?" an audience member asked. Staff in the financial centers will have the expertise to handle those transactions, and procurement staff can provide help, too, DeStefano said.

The university established the ASP (formerly known as the Initiatives Coordination Office) in December 2009 within the Division of Planning and Budget as part of a strategy to "reimagine Cornell" as a leaner, more academically excellent university. The ASP is expected to save Cornell up to $85 million annually by fiscal year 2015.

For videos of ASP forums, visit CornellCast at http://www.cornell.edu/video/.