University Business - January 2012 - (Page 46)

Boosting the Bottom Line Increasing Existing Assets’ Productivity Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, generates approximately 70 percent of the annual Conference Services revenue during the eight weeks of summer, from June 1 to July 31, says conference services manager Flo Hill. During that time, the residence halls are vacant and university buildings are lacking activity. So Hill’s department works to fill them up, generating incremental revenue and providing staff and student jobs. But the summer youth camps do more than generate revenue. They also help make TCU top of mind among high school students who spend time on campus. In 2011, conference services managed 125 events in June and July. Activities held on campus during the summer range from high school dances to charity benefits, as well as sports camps, educational camps, music camps, and continuing education programs for teachers. While most are held in the three-yearold Brown-Lupton University Union, organizations can also have use of sports fields and the recreation center, for example, or breakout rooms within the union, as needed. The only requirement is that the events must be educational or open to the community, explains Hill. Corporate retreats or private meetings are not permitted, although events such as high school graduations, for example, are welcome. TCU hosted a total of 11 high school graduations during the last two weeks in May, even before its busy season heated up. According to Hill, the net revenue generated from conference services’ business is approximately $500,000, before Texas Christian University residence halls generate incremental revenue and provide staff and student jobs when rented out for summer activities. university overhead expenses are deducted. But Hill is not content with that figure. One ongoing tactic is studying larger universities as role models and applying what they’ve done at TCU. As Hill notes, “We’re always coming up with new ways to generate revenue.” Marcia Layton Turner is a Rochester, NY-based freelance writer. The Other Side of the Budget Equation While most auxiliary service departments look for opportunities to bring in more money as a means of funding their operations, examining ways to reduce expenses can work just as well. That’s what Bradley Markley, director of facility services at Messiah College in Grantham, Penn., has been doing for the last four years, with impressive results. The catalyst for some massive infrastructure changes at Messiah was the January 2010 notice from Pennsylvania Power and Lighting (PPL) that the college’s electric rate would be increasing from $.03-per-kilowatt hour (KWH) to $.115-per-KWH—a near 360 percent increase, points out Markley. For decades, the college had purchased electricity during off-peak rates, using it to heat hot water overnight, which was then stored in two 3,100-gallon underground storage tanks for use throughout the day, when utility rates were much higher. Although the loss of that much-lower electric rate put pressure on Markley and his team to find a way to offset those added costs, they had already been researching potential solutions long before 2010. The answer they discovered was a solar thermal system, which would effectively reverse the process Messiah had been using, by gathering solar power during the day to heat hot water, and then store it in the same tanks underground until needed. The solar thermal system was installed on the roof of a 113,000-square foot threebuilding residence hall called the north complex, and is composed of 112 panels made of 3,360 solar thermal tubes. In 2010, the college spent $142,618 just to heat and provide hot water for this complex, says Markley. Construction work began in March 2011 and was completed at the end of September 2011, at a cost of $1.3 million, well under the $2 million budget. Based on the college’s new rates, Markley expects a six or seven-year payback from the system, which provides the equivalent of power to heat water for nearly 2,000 family homes. An added bonus is its reduction of greenhouse gases. The solar thermal system will reduce the college’s output of carbon emissions by 788 tons, or the equivalent of taking 130 cars off the street per year, or planting 3,600 trees per year. Next, with money remaining in its budget from the solar thermal system, facility services looked at reducing the college’s lighting expenses. Messiah’s main dining hall previously had 122 quartz lighting fixtures, which had been installed in 1972 when the building was built. Spending $64,000, facility services replaced all of the quartz fixtures with high efficiency compact fluorescent lighting and reduced its electric usage immediately from 121,684 KWH to 35,301 KWH—a 71 percent reduction. The projected savings from the switch is $9,600 per year. Then, the department replaced 72 metal halide fixtures in the large gymnasium with T5 and T8 fluorescent fixtures, providing a projected $4,300-per-year savings in utility costs. Markley says, “Since utility costs will continue to increase, the only way to offset those increases is through projects that reduce utility usage.” Generating additional revenue is another option for keeping up with rising costs, although a combination of the two approaches will yield optimal results. 46 | January 2012 universitybusiness.com  http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - January 2012

University Business - January 2012
Contents
Editor's Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Human Resources
Campus CFo
Getting Carded
Choosing telepresence
boosting the bottom line
Printer Purchase Pointers
Money Matters
Viewpoint
End Note

University Business - January 2012

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pmg/ub0112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pmg/ub_cg09
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pmg/educomm2009
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com