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A consortia agreement that enables multiple universities to arrange their insurances in unison

An online tool that enables universities to identify and prevent expensive IT purchases

A standard procurement framework that all UK universities can utilize to expedite and to diminish the costs of construction

Judges Examining Document

Inter-University Council of Ohio: Insurance Consortium

A consortia agreement that enables multiple

universities to arrange their insurances in unison

In 1998, a coalition of universities in Ohio established the Inter-University Council Insurance Consortium to purchase their property and liability or casualty insurance collectively.  Since 2006, a Board of Governors, with representatives from each university, oversee the consortium.  

 

Three committees—an Underwriting, Loss Control, and Audit committee—report to this board.   For example, the Underwriting Committee review and propose recommendations on the insurance programs and structure.  The Loss Control Committee prepare loss control analysis and implementation programs to address concerns.   

 

An insurance consortium is useful because of several reasons.  First, because adverse events are unlikely to unfold in distinct locations at the same time, consortia can typically negotiate lower premiums, diminishing costs.  Second, members can specialize in facets of insurance and risk management in which they have developed expertise and relinquish other decisions to their partners, decreasing administration expenses. 

An online tool that enables universities to

identify and prevent expensive IT purchases

Universities and other tertiary education institutions often pay vast sums of money to purchase IT equipment and tools.  Because these purchases are sometimes embedded in large contracts or projects, institutions often pay excessive amounts, unaware that suppliers may be severely inflating these prices.  To address this problem, the University of Birmingham embed an online application, called KnowledgeBus, in their procurement strategy.  KnowledgeBus identify the accepted prices of over 150 000 IT products from 2500 manufacturers.   This tool enabled the university to identify circumstances in which the quotes of suppliers were excessive and to negotiate better deals.  During the first six months, KnowledgeBus saved the university an estimated 70 000 pounds.  

 

Further reading

This webpage

Accounting Documents
Crane lifting on construction site

A standard procurement framework that all UK universities can

utilize to expedite and to diminish the costs of construction

Universities and other tertiary education institutions often need to design, construct, renovate, and refurbish buildings.  Before they achieve this goal, institutions must first choose a reputable supplier and then negotiate a procurement contract—and these activities can be prolonged, challenging, and expensive.  To expedite these activities, the University of Birmingham developed the Build Higher Frameworks.  If UK institutions pay a modest fee—about .1% of the project value—they can access six frameworks that stipulate the companies they should engage and the agreements they can use or adapt to achieve their goals.  Each framework corresponds to a particular service, such as

 

  • construction projects greater than 10 million pounds

  • construction projects of 2.5 to 10 million pounds

  • construction projects of less than 2.5 million pounds

  • surveying

  • architectural design

  • engineering services design

 

All suppliers were selected carefully, and the terms were negotiated extensively.  The frameworks are customized to suit the higher education sector, compliant with regulations, and easy to use.

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Further reading

This webpage

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