UT-Knoxville, UTC say no to Haslam outsourcing option

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The University of Tennessee campuses in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Martin are opting out of Gov. Bill Haslam’s signature effort to privatize facilities management services.

The Haslam administration awarded Chicago-based company real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle a statewide contract to pitch its services to individual higher education institutions, but left it up to each campus to decide whether to participate.

UT-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport said in a release Tuesday that the decision is due to the university’s extensive financial analyses, the complexity of the work done on the research-intensive campus and its commitment to East Tennessee’s economy and its workforce.

Davenport wrote that the university ranks among the lowest in the Southeastern Conference in administrative and maintenance costs per square foot, and five-year projections indicate $3.3 million more in savings.

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