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Four undergraduate colleges at the University of Northern Iowa were identified for review by a firm hired to find cost savings within academic programs at Iowa’s three public universities, according to a report obtained by The Des Moines Register.


Only one college each at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa were selected for review by KH Consulting, a firm involved in the Iowa Board of Regents cost-savings study of public universities, the report showed.


KH Consulting had planned to meet with faculty work groups in August. However, the firm’s contract was terminated, and it’s unclear whether a new firm hired to continue their work will use that plan.


“Any analysis of (KH Consulting’s) work would be premature,” said Jeneane Beck, the board’s state relations officer and spokeswoman for the study. “It’s very preliminary, and while we believe it has value for the next consultant, they will not be tied to it.”


The state Board of Regents is in the midst of a study examining how the state’s three public institutions could maximize resources, improve efficiency and reduce costs. Deloitte Consulting, which is leading the study, has estimated that the regents’ institutions could save $30 million to $80 million annually through the implementation of several measures.


KH Consulting had been hired to help with the review.


The board released KH Consulting’s 21-page work plan by the firm after a public records request by the Register.


Four out of UNI’s five colleges were mentioned in that report, including the College of Humanities, Arts and Sciences; the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences; and the colleges of business and education. The graduate college was not listed.


UNI, the smallest of Iowa’s three state universities, cut a number of academic programs two years ago under a budget-cutting plan.UNI officials did not return a request for comment.


Scott Peters, faculty chairman at UNI, said faculty hope they can salvage some of the organizational work already completed by KH Consulting.


“We don’t want to reinvent the wheel when we get a new consultant in place,” Peters said.


Kevin Schalinski, ISU faculty senate president, said the college targeted by KH Consulting, Liberal Arts and Sciences, is one of the largest on the ISU campus with courses that the majority of students are required to take at some point in their major.


“That’s why we wanted faculty senate representation from other colleges on those working groups. We had (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Engineering) slots that would have been filled if KH Consulting was still doing it,” he said.


Alexandra Thomas, UI’s faculty senate president, said she’s pleased that the board has advocated for faculty involvement but she is waiting to hear more about the new consultant.


The Board of Regents has said Deloitte is seeking to replace KH Consulting because of a “scheduling conflict.”


Both firms have declined to answer questions from the Register.


The Board of Regents has spent $3.3 million so far on consulting firms to complete the cost-savings study.


Deloitte was paid $1.9 million for the first phase of the study, and board officials said they don’t know how much of that was paid to KH Consulting. But an internal Deloitte document shows that two consultants from the firm were paid a total of $29,367.50 for 88.5 hours of work in phase two of the study, from June 9 to 26.


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