Viewed through the front arches of Spooner Hall is Dyche Hall, right of center, one of several historical buildings on the Kansas University campus. At left, in the distance, is Danforth Chapel and Fraser Hall. A new pilot purchasing program has the potential to help universities save time and money.

Topeka ? Higher education officials say freeing regents universities from state government purchasing requirements will save money for Kansas taxpayers.

A pilot project that allowed Kansas University and Fort Hays State University to bypass those state purchasing guidelines proves the point, they said.

“We did achieve hard dollar savings,” said Barry Swanson, associate comptroller at KU.

Fort Hays State University President Ed Hammond said the school has been able to save an average time of 11 days on purchases.

“It has tremendous potential,” he said.

As part of the Kansas Board of Regents’ legislative package, it will be asking the Legislature to allow all universities to have the option of tailoring purchasing policies to their own needs.

In 2006, the Legislature authorized a pilot project for universities’ purchasing systems that would exempt the schools from state government requirements. The regents selected KU and Fort Hays State and the project started in June 2007.

In a recent report to the regents, KU says the program was extremely successful, saving the state nearly $1 million in the last fiscal year.

KU said the program gave it more flexibility to put in place “transformational” changes, such as implementing new software to best meet the university’s needs.

Now all competitive bids conducted by KU Purchasing Services are delivered to vendors electronically and bids are received from vendors electronically, and many of the former manual tasks are now automated.

FHSU also reported that it was able to create a vendor list specific to its area and participate in larger purchasing groups.