Kansas University has been able to save $9 million after undertaking several efficiency measures since 2007.

University leaders updated the Kansas Board of Regents on the issue Thursday, saying the efficiencies have come in several areas.

First, officials pointed to a plan to reorganize KU’s Information Services department that has resulted in a more efficient department.

Provost Richard Lariviere said that while the moves did necessitate the layoffs of 10 people, the university would see significant savings in other areas.

He said KU was moving to a centralized acquisition of new desktop and laptop computers, instead of unit-by-unit purchasing. That means, he said, a faculty member who could have requested a specific computer in the past will go through a different process now.

“You might not get a red one. You might get a gray one,” Lariviere said, but it still does what is needed of it and is cheaper because it’s been bought in bulk. “This has been a culture shift at the University of Kansas that has been pretty interesting to watch.”

A new contract with Dell Computers resulted in a savings of more than $750,000, said Barry Swanson, KU director of purchasing.

Another key factor in KU’s cost savings has been a piece of legislation that allowed KU to operate outside the state’s purchasing system, Swanson said.

That program is allowing KU and Fort Hays State University to pursue their own contracts for some services. That allows both universities to take advantage of opportunities available to higher education but not state government in general, Swanson said.

A new office-supplies contract with OfficeMax is expected to generate savings of more than $217,000, Swanson said.

And, as Chancellor Robert Hemenway pointed out, the effort is ongoing across the university. From things like changing building temperature settings, initiating conservation projects to the installation of systems that turn off projectors when not in use, the university has managed to save $9 million.

Both KU and Fort Hays officials encouraged the Board of Regents to consider making the pilot program permanent and allowing other institutions to use it as well.

KU is likely not done with its efficiency measures, either. KU will be the subject, regents said this week, along with the other Regents institutions and other state agencies, of an upcoming state audit to find even more efficiencies.