One common collaborative approach involves institutions banding together in order to contain costs through discounted purchasing. An example is a consortium established by the 16 technical colleges in Wisconsin more than a decade ago. Jim Blumreich, chief financial officer at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), said the initial purpose of the consortium was to negotiate contracts on IT services and equipment. But that role has since expanded to include other purchases, such as welding and nursing supplies contracts, he said.

 

“We operate from a model we call ‘The Rule of 16.’ If it happens in one district, chances are it’s going to happen in another district,” Blumreich said. “Our efforts right now are to share from the larger districts that have found good deals and extend those savings to the other districts.”

 

He added that he hopes the consortium will have an increasingly longer list of items that colleges can buy through a cooperative arrangement.

 

 

Six years ago, the 16 Wisconsin districts formed their own insurance company, the Districts Mutual Insurance Company, which provides each technical college with worker compensation, as well as property and casualty coverage. The company has two full-time employees, an executive vice president who manages the business and its coordination with member districts, and a risk-and-loss control consultant, who audits each campus and recommends how to maintain an accident-free environment.

The insurance company has built up an $8.5 million reserve fund and just lowered its premiums for the first time since its inception.

 

“We believe that, at a minimum, we’ve saved the districts’ money,” Blumreich said. “But perhaps even more importantly, we have really started to improve our safety procedures and are working together to help districts reduce their worker compensation and property and casualty losses.”

 

Each year, NWTC picks 10 areas to target for cost reduction and performance improvement, Blumreich said. As a result, the college ranks third lowest in the state for operating costs and third lowest for energy consumption.

 

NWTC, which annually serves more than 40,000 students within its nine-county area, has formed consortia for purposes other than just saving money. The technical college is offering welding and automotive programs at a high school about an hour north of its Green Bay Campus. It is looking to expand its programs to other high schools.

 

In addition, through its “1+3” program, students who enroll at NWTC for their first year of study can automatically transfer their second year to either the University of Wisconsin’s Green Bay or Oshkosh branches. The technical college also has a collaborative arrangement with the University of Wisconsin-Stout, offering students the opportunity to earn a manufacturing/engineering degree without leaving the NWTC campus.

 

“Collaboration pays off whether or not you can calculate the results,” Blumreich said. “Just the fact that people are working together benefits the student.”

 

Of course, proponents have figures to show the partnerships do work. For example, through its energy collective, NWTC consumed $273,000 less energy in 2009 than it did in 2006. The college used the savings to hire three additional instructors.

 

“That results in more classes I can take off the waiting list or add new classes,” Blumreich said. “When you interpret it that way, collaboration is all about the student being successful.”

 

 

Early in 2009, a few community leaders in Sedalia, Mo., started talking about ways they might do something positive for their city, which was in the throngs of the economic downturn.

 

“Initially, the idea was to help the college with its utility costs,” said Michael Ash, executive assistant to the president for resource development and external affairs at State Fair Community College (SFCC) in Missouri. “There was talk about using biomass to create electricity, putting it in the grid, and thereby helping to reduce some of the college’s utility costs.”

 

That’s when officials from the local landfill suggested that the college consider tapping the methane gas produced at the landfill.

“They already had the permits for handling the waste. They became one of our partners and the idea took off from there,” Ash said.

That idea became the concept for the Missouri Center for Waste to Energy, a partnership formed with state and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations and area businesses to provide a state-of-the-art research, training and production facility designed to collect and convert waste material into energy. With the help of a $719,000 state training grant, planning for the facility is progressing and is expected to be completed by fall 2011.

 

The center will have three main components: a power generation facility to be located a few miles from the SFCC campus and adjacent to the landfill, a training and education center that will help educate workers for the next generation of alternative energy as well as provide ongoing education for those already working in the field, and an energy technology incubator that will encourage innovation.

 

The center already has signed its first tenant, Hitec, a company that has developed a recycling system that converts scrap tires and other waste materials into alternative energy while reclaiming valuable, reusable byproducts in an environmentally friendly way.

 

“We’ve been pleased with the way in which all parties have gotten along on this project,” Ash said. “Many times, organizations look out for their own interests and want to make sure they are taken care of in the process. We’ve had very little of that. We’re waiting on a couple more grants to be announced so that we can actually start building the center.”

 

SFCC is currently researching curriculum requirements to offer the alternative energy program. It already offers some 2+2 programs with the University of Missouri, which is interested in participating in future research through the facility. SFCC also is talking with the University of Central Missouri along the same lines.

 

“While the idea of collaborating is not new, reaching out to new partners in the business, governmental and nonprofit sectors is gaining momentum,” Ash said. “We need to understand what industry’s needs are as they relate to their training. But we also need their financial support and their wisdom as to where the industry is headed.”