How NUIG can save €€€'s

jogdish

Hi,
I just wanted to get a feel for the no doubt many many ways NUIG could save some money, by not spending loads on useless products. Eg. The countless number of brand new computers every year ( computers for office work really have not advanced that much in the last few years ), the out sourcing of our email to Microsoft, the use of blackboard, etc...

Perhaps we could end up with a sum total per year - im guessing its over €100,000

Anyone else have any good ideas?

gant0

We couldn't survive without blackboard.

jogdish

Dont mean to say scrap online learning, just that plenty other university either make their own or use an open source one like http://moodle.org/

Also blackboard has a pretty rubbish interface, so many clicks to do the simplest things.

ethernet

As mentioned, scrap Blackboard in favour of Moodle. It's crazy to be paying that much for Blackboard when survey after survey shows that the bells and whistles aren't even being used.

Accelerate the roll-out of smart lighting all over campus. Such a waste still seeing lights being left on for hours on end in some places with no one about.

The landscaping is lovely and all there have been a few too many days when I've seen one guy raking up leaves and another coming along with the windblower :rolleyes:

No more pointless changing (and scrapping) of the uni name, logo, colour scheme and associated headed paper.

Stop leaving bog roll left around the place or those pesky students will just steal it!

There are too many admin staff. Just look at Áras Uí Chathaill. My blood boils. In there doing their nails and claiming "we're very busy" and known to ignore ringing phones and take their sweet time responding to email. Such BS. Slash the numbers of dossers in there and we'll be much better off.

It is really necessary to be retarring the roofs every year or so? Is there not a better long-term solution? Similarly, what's the story with the paving outside the library/concourse - how many times has that been ripped up in the past year and how much is that costing?

Reduce the number of exam invigilators. Seems like they're so many and you're still left waving your hand about for ages when you actually need them.

Can we replace the "security" at the entrance of the library with a few card readers, please? It's 2011, FFS.

There's a lot more to add but they're the biggies that come immediately to mind.

Ficheall

jogdish wrote: »

Also blackboard has a pretty rubbish interface, so many clicks to do the simplest things.

I think that's NUIG policy for all websites actually - see what the maximum number of clicks a user is prepared to make to access a certain page is.

ethernet wrote: »

It is really necessary to be retarring the roofs every year or so? Is there not a better long-term solution? Similarly, what's the story with the paving outside the library/concourse - how many times has that been ripped up in the past year and how much is that costing?

They rushed it last September to be done in time for the students coming back, and it leaked. That's why they're re-doing it, afaik.

When someone wants to sign in on the wireless they are redirected to an authentication page every time - couldn't they get AIB or someone to put an ad on that page?

Also, and I know it's tiny, but it annoys me - there's a heater for the water in our prefab's bathroom which is left on all the time. The tap is bust and can't be turned off, so it's just running a constant trickle of boiling water all day every day. One should probably email someone about that, but who?

jogdish

One other one, every week or so i see the "Tipperary Water" lorry in campus,
1: Can we not just hook up to the main water supply ( perhaps add in a UV filter since its galway water ) - there are some on campus but very very few.
2: The no -brainer part, how about not giving everyone a free plastic cup to drink once and throw away 10sec later - bring a plastic bottle, it holds more and has a cap.

ethernet

Ficheall wrote: »

They rushed it last September to be done in time for the students coming back, and it leaked. That's why they're re-doing it, afaik.

I remember that. Oops! But didn't they try a quick fix after that but it clearly failed too so that's why they're doing an especially thorough job this time?

Also, and I know it's tiny, but it annoys me - there's a heater for the water in our prefab's bathroom which is left on all the time. The tap is bust and can't be turned off, so it's just running a constant trickle of boiling water all day every day. One should probably email someone about that, but who?

Hmmm, would that be buildings? *shudder*

ethernet

jogdish wrote: »

One other one, every week or so i see the "Tipperary Water" lorry in campus,
1: Can we not just hook up to the main water supply ( perhaps add in a UV filter since its galway water ) - there are some on campus but very very few.
2: The no -brainer part, how about not giving everyone a free plastic cup to drink once and throw away 10sec later - bring a plastic bottle, it holds more and has a cap.

I get having "fancy" water for visiting academics or whatever but filtered tap water is good enough for everyone. Water coolers were installed down the hallways off the concourse in the past few months. Sometimes the water tastes a bit off but it's usually fine. How about plonking a few more about the place?

Fooker

As said less money on admin, paying SU etc.

Reductions in money given to the departments would be wise.

Cut the money to the likes of the debating society who are given a large amount of funding when not that many go to their events. They should have to raise at least some of their funding through fundraising...

Euskadi1888

Make the college bar not-crap so it encourages people to spend more money there. Fill water-guns with piss and squirt them at people sitting in there on their laptops or having inane conversations on the sofas.

hokeypokey

Euskadi1888 wrote: »

Make the college bar not-crap so it encourages people to spend more money there. Fill water-guns with piss and squirt them at people sitting in there on their laptops or having inane conversations on the sofas.

Always thought the CB was grand, not as good as other places such as QUB or UCC etc. It's too small, but the food is tasty enough...

Euskadi1888

hokeypokey wrote: »

Always thought the CB was grand, not as good as other places such as QUB or UCC etc. It's too small, but the food is tasty enough...

And therein lies the problem. It's basically a restaurant with beer taps.

Ficheall

Why is that a problem?
It does some of the better food on campus. It's alright during the day.
What are its failings as a pub? (I don't drink, so genuinely wouldn't know.)

Columc

I think the SU controls the college bar, so its up to them on ho to run it etc. If they actually get a ent officer that books gigs in the bar on a weekly basis it might actually be good.

jogdish

I don't think there is anything intrinsically wrong with the bar. Perhaps people just prefer to get out of campus for a night out, which in turn leads to less people ( read girls ) in the bar - kinda snowball effect after that.

Euskadi1888

Does the CB not close rather early? They could do more to encourage use of it as a night-out. Sell kebabs out the Bialann :pac:

jogdish

back on topic,
I think the system of each dept having a yearly budget might be simple but is not really effective. It always leads to a rush towards the end of the year to spend so that you dont come in under budget. Perhaps switch to a system of you get funds for what you need i.e
2 Homework corrections per semester .. ok while new computer, silly posters, etc.. not needed

Nailz

DKIT has a wind-turbine on campus generating, not only it's own electricity, but the surrounding areas'. They've had it there since 2005 and they've already saved the amount of money spent putting it there, and it saves money for those houses and businesses around it - whom also pay DKIT for its' use.

And it also helps the environment... *sniff* :pac:
Not-so-necessary link

jogdish

Sweet! I think Earth Science wanted to do something similar here a good while back, but for whatever reasons it was scrapped. Apart from power/money/green it would better to look at than half the crap on campus ( eg. Four empty glass boxes outside library, the weird metal thing under the bridge at the back of geography, .. )
Not sure how easy it is to do, but geothermal would also be very cool.

jogdish

Hi,
Ok seems like we have run the course of suggestions. Here is a sample of them:
Blackboard over moodle
Buying of new computers every year
Paying MicroSoft to handle email
Switching off Microsoft programs in favour of opensource, eg Libre/Open office over MS office
Smart lights
Endless NUIG logo/website changes
Excessive admin staff numbers
Not selling free space for ads ( eg web log in page )
Free "fancy" water and free plastic cups
Yearly Dept budgets - and waste the yearly budget system can cause ( ie end of year rush to spend )
Lack of using Clean free energy

I have no idea how to get figures or even a very rough estimate for what the above could save ( does anyone know? want to guess? ) but i bet it would be a LOT!!