UA, LCCC awarded grants of up to $320,000 from the Lumina Foundation to improve operational efficiencies

The University of Akron and Lorain County Community College, through their groundbreaking Innovation Alliance partnership, will receive up to $320,000 from the Lumina Foundation for Education to expand and intensify efforts to improve operational efficiency in higher education through its Shared Services Program. Once proven, the shared services concept could be replicated throughout Ohio and the nation.

The UA/LCCC initiative is among the Ohio projects that will be funded from a Lumina Foundation grant of $950,000 that it will award over four years to Ohio for initiatives that focus on promoting low cost education opportunities in Ohio, student success and consolidating administrative operations across campuses. The grant, one of seven awarded nationally as part of Lumina’s Making Opportunity Affordable (MOA) initiative, is part of the foundation’s effort to increase productivity nationwide by promoting significant changes in how states fund and deliver higher education. (You can read more about Lumina's multi-year initiative in Ohio on the Ohio Board of Regents Web site.)

Innovative approach

“The UA/LCCC model of shared services defines how administrative services will be delivered in the future,” said UA President Luis M. Proenza. “Our institutions of higher education must work closely together to attain academic and operational successes that align with the goals of excellence, effectiveness and efficiency identified in the University System of Ohio’s 10-year Strategic Plan. The shared services initiative is an innovative approach that will help to meet those goals.”

“LCCC and The University of Akron have a rich history of partnering together to leverage resources to provide quality, cost-effective educational options,” said LCCC President Roy A. Church. “Our shared services agreement with UA will allow both institutions to generate operational savings that can be reinvested toward helping more students reach their educational goals.”

According to James L. Sage, UA’s vice president for information technology services and chief information officer, UA and LCCC initiated a shared service model which is proceeding in three phases: adoption of a common enterprise resource planning (ERP) program, conducting a pilot for at least three administrative services (i.e., human resources, purchasing, IT, etc.) that support both campuses, and creation of an independent shared services center that provides many of the administrative services required by colleges and universities.

Benefits include:

• Improved breadth and quality of services resulting from pooled resources.
• A cost reduction in the 25 percent to 40 percent range of administrative budgets. If institutions consolidate and share only technology, it is expected that technology budgets would be reduced by 8 to 10 percent. Technology budgets are only a portion of the total administrative budgets.
• A foundation for creating a regional or statewide service center where jobs can be retained rather than outsourced out-of-state; acts as a model for other regional centers within the state of Ohio.

 “This center will provide technology and administrative services for our regional colleges and universities,” Sage said. “Providing these required services centrally will eliminate the need for each institution to operate many of their own administrative services units, and improve the breadth and quality of services while significantly reducing administrative costs. Money saved on administrative services can be redirected to our core mission, which is teaching. This centralized shared services approach is used extensively in private industry and is being adopted by the federal government.”

The Lumina Foundation announced these major, multiyear investments in the seven states’ efforts to deliver higher education in new ways and at lower expense to students and taxpayers. Over the next four years, Lumina will provide up to $9 million to Ohio, Arizona, Indiana, Maryland, Montana, Tennessee and Texas – states which, during a year-long trial period, “demonstrated their commitment to educating many more students within existing resources.” The states’ receipt of their full awards will be contingent upon their progress, the foundation said. The grants are part of Lumina’s effort to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025 to meet economic demand.

About Lumina Foundation for Education

Lumina Foundation for Education is committed to enrolling and graduating more students from college — especially low-income students, students of color, first-generation students and adult learners. Our goal is to increase the percentage of Americans who hold high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Lumina pursues this goal in three ways: by identifying and supporting effective practice, through public policy advocacy, and by using our communications and convening power to build public will for change. For additional information about Productivity, visit Lumina's Web site.

About the Innovation Alliance

The Innovation Alliance was established by The University of Akron and Lorain County Community College in March 2007. This collaboration is designed to align strengths and resources, and accelerate educational efficiency, knowledge creation and economic development within an area between the campus, the Innovation Corridor. For additional information, visit the Innovation Alliance.

Media Contacts: Laura Massie, UA, 330-972-6476 or massie1@uakron.edu; or Steve Sefchik, LCCC, 440-366-7601, or ssefchik@lorainccc.edu.