Member Services Consortia | CONSORTIA |
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Information Security Consulting Supplier, Services, & Equipment Contracts Infrastructure Equipment & Construction Services Other Consortia
COALITION FOR COLLEGE COST SAVINGS (CCCS)
CCCS serves as a central point of contact for the creation of supplier relationships, program implementation planning and execution, and a repository of best practice information on process efficiency. CCCS provides programs, materials, and resources necessary to support the business operations needs of its member organizations and their member institutions. CCCS's philosophy relies on a cooperative arrangement of independent higher education institutions working across geographical boundaries and consolidating their volumes of purchased supplies, equipment, and services to reduce business operating costs and streamline internal processes. Membership and participation in CCCS and CCCS programs is strictly voluntary. Member institutions may decide to participate in one, two, all, or none of the CCCS programs. MICUA joined CCCS in February, 2010.
CCCS offers a long-term care insurance program to the staff, faculty, and immediate families of CCCS member campuses nationwide through Affinity LTC, LLC and John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company. This agreement enables participating campuses to offer a flexible and robust addition to their employee benefit program, assuring the availability of care for long-term illnesses while providing protection of retirement savings.
CCCS has announced a new leasing and asset management agreement with First American Equipment Finance (FAEF). Not only does the agreement provide lease options as an alternative to the use of capital to meet future equipment needs, First American also provides online tools to manage leases over time. Whether using budget calculators to assist in projecting cash flows over the life of the lease or reviewing the current status of all lease commitments in one customized, electronic location, these tools provide the opportunity to manage capital assets from initial selection to disposal at the end of their useful life.
Founded in 1967, Fastenal Company is the fastest growing full-line MRO and industrial distributor and the largest fastener distributor in the nation. Through its 2,300 locations nationwide, Fastenal focuses on customer service and helps customers attain their business goals, reduce procurement costs, and ensure quality products and performance, while maintaining a consistently high level of service. Fastenal strives to provide best value cost containment and supply chain solutions for plant services, facility management, and environmental services staff on campus.
CCCS has teamed up with Heiler to provide an electronic purchasing system. The Heiler Education Purchasing System (HEPS) enables members to replace their current paper requisitions, purchase orders, and invoices with the ability to make purchases online from a desktop. Using a pre-negotiated database of contracts, members can create a shopping cart of items from a number of suppliers in a single order session. With a single mouse click, these items move from the shopping cart to a standard requisition that can be approved online and transmitted to suppliers in accordance with members' school protocol design.
International Business Solutions Alliance (IBSA) is a full-service document management company. Through IBSA, CCCS members can streamline the process of ordering printed materials and promotional items by utilizing their numerous manufacturer relationships. These manufacturers provide services as well as products, including document management, marketing and creative services, and inventory management and fulfillment.
CCCS has teamed up with Identity Theft Loss Prevention (IDTLP) to provide CCCS members with a nationally acclaimed information Compliance and Awareness Process (iCAP), which can help institutions comply with the law and prevent identity theft incidents from occurring on campus. CCCS members have access to deep discounts for services provided under this program.
CCCS has an agreement with Nelnet Business Solutions (NBS) to become a contract provider to member campuses seeking assistance with electronic payment processing and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance. Nelnet Business Solutions Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nelnet Inc. (NYSE: NNI) and is a major provider of campus commerce and payment solutions to the higher education market, serving over 800 colleges and universities.
CCCS has announced an enhanced procurement card agreement with JPMorgan Chase. This second generation p-card agreement provides the same services as before with an improved rebate structure and calculation basis. In addition to an average 20% increase in the rebate matrix for participating schools, additional basis points are now included in the calculation base for those schools with individual spending volumes over $10 million annually. This additional rebate incentive provides a contractual opportunity to attract mid-sized to large campus members whose larger p-card volumes benefit all participating schools regardless of size.
CCCS offers a new national contract with The Principal for life, vision, and dental insurance. For nearly 70 years, Principal Life Insurance Company has provided flexible, affordable, and quality benefit solutions for growing businesses. As one of the largest providers of non-medical insurance, Principal Life values long-term relationships with its customers and is committed to outstanding customer service. The company consistently earns top-tier financial strength ratings from all the major ratings agencies.
CCCS has announced a new contractual relationship with Provista, a large group-purchasing organization for higher education. This agreement entitles members to access almost 200 supply and equipment contracts from the Provista portfolio. Whether contracting needs are focused on office equipment and supplies for educational areas, furniture for buildings and residence halls, chemicals and paper products for plant operations, food for dining facilities, or medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for on-campus student clinics, Provista has contract groupings available for member access.
CCCS has a contract with Turner Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turner Construction Company and a leader in managing supply chain solutions. Turner business relationships include over 200 of the leading manufacturers in the U.S., resulting in over $400 million in annual equipment and product sales. With 47 offices nationally and project sizes ranging from $100,000 to over $100 million, Turner has become a top five purchaser of equipment. Turner cares about the environment and is a top purchaser of green building products as well.
CCCS has announced an agreement with Unimarket, a leading e-procurement provider in higher education, to create a single sign-on internet portal that enables electronic access to cost savings contracts. The objective is to make it easier and more convenient for member institutions to purchase products and services and achieve the most competitive contract pricing available to campus departments.
Good healthcare is essential to students' academic success, and adequate insurance provides the opportunity to receive quality health care. Unexpected medical bills can threaten students' ability to complete their education if they are uninsured or have inadequate coverage. To protect against this prospect, CCCS has worked with UnitedHealthcare to develop a student accident and sickness insurance plan to provide options to member schools and their students and families.
For more information about CCCS programs, please contact:
MICUA Bret Schreiber Phone: 410-269-0306 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
CCCS David Jones Phone: 615-242-6400
SOUTH RIVER CONSULTING
MICUA has endorsed an energy-purchasing consortium and other energy cost-saving options, at the request of several member institutions looking for ways to contain costs in a fully deregulated electricity market. In order to pursue a consortium approach, MICUA has contracted with South River Consulting, an energy consulting firm that works with several MICUA institutions including College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Loyola University Maryland, Maryland Institute College of Art, and St. John’s College.
South River’s services include energy price risk-management, energy strategy, energy procurement, utility cost tracking, and energy budgeting. South River will be advising and investigating opportunities for aggregated purchases among MICUA institutions that use their service. South River recently became the energy purchasing consultant for the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, which includes Baltimore City, and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard county governments, public schools, and community colleges. These jurisdictions pool their energy purchases—estimated at over 200 MW—with South River advising them. The jurisdictions estimate that the consortium could save them $500,000 next year and roughly $13 million when fully phased in.
For more information about South River Consulting, please contact:
MICUA Bret Schreiber Phone: 410-269-0306 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
South River Consulting Noel Chesser Phone: 443-524-2880
MICUA institutions are also involved in consortia and aggregated purchasing activities with non-MICUA members. MICUA encourages institutions to take advantage of all cost-saving opportunities.
This consortium of 15 Baltimore-area institutions of higher education works together on a variety of projects. Ten of the member institutions are MICUA members. Consortium activities include: cross-registration of classes, joint marketing activities, shuttle bus service among campuses, and joint purchasing of plain paper.
For more information about the Baltimore Collegetown Network, please contact Executive Director Kristen Campbell (tel: 410-532-3037) or visit the website at www.baltimorecollegetown.org.
Six MICUA members participate in the Maryland Interlibrary Consortium (MIC): College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Hood College, Loyola University Maryland, Mount St. Mary's University, Stevenson University, and Washington Adventist University. Collectively, these institutions have access to about 800,000 volumes with 24-hour courier service to the various campuses. MIC participating institutions are also collaborating on purchases such as digital databases. (One recent group purchase, for example, saved Stevenson about $5,000.)
For more information about MIC, please contact library staff at the participating institutions.
Loyola University Maryland purchases some insurance in a consortium of Jesuit institutions, including: St. Joseph's University, the University of Scranton, and Wheeling Jesuit University.
Many MICUA institutions partner with other MICUA schools on specific projects. For example, College of Notre Dame of Maryland and Loyola University Maryland jointly own and operate a library; Notre Dame contracts with Loyola to provide student health coverage to Notre Dame students; and Notre Dame allows Loyola soccer teams to use their soccer field.
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