The Finance, Audit, Compliance, Facilities and Operations Committee approved a set of purchasing recommendations from university divisions that the administration said will yield cost savings and operational efficiencies.
The nut: trustees endorsed bulk purchasing of Dell devices, a multi-year Cisco maintenance enterprise agreement, a renegotiated Adobe licensing contract, and authorization to pursue up to three vendors for a digital-storefront printing and direct-mail RFP.
DoIT requested authority to spend up to $1,700,000 on device refresh purchases from Dell Technologies under a bulk-purchasing program that produced a per-device price reduction of more than 20% compared with individual unit pricing. The university reported an initial summer 2025 purchase of 500 devices at a total cost of $466,000 and said it intends to order additional equipment before the end of FY26. Trustees asked what would happen to replaced devices; DoIT said devices that cannot be upgraded (for example cannot run Windows 11) will be surplused in accordance with state rules and that upgradable devices may be reallocated to internal campus programs such as the library's loaner program.
Trustees approved a five-year enterprise maintenance agreement with Cisco for campus network hardware, software and 24/7 technical support with a five-year cap not to exceed $2,500,000. The administration noted prior years' annual costs ranged from $404,000 (FY23) to $490,000 (FY25) and that a five-year agreement would lock a FY26 price of $446,000 while stabilizing future costs.
DoIT also presented a renegotiated Adobe agreement negotiated in collaboration with Academic Affairs and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. The new contract will begin Oct. 1, 2025, run on a fiscal-year schedule and was reported as $177,000 for the first nine months and $236,000 per year thereafter for a total of $885,000 over the term of the agreement. Trustees voted to endorse forwarding the agreement for board approval in September.
The Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications requested permission to issue an RFP and enter agreements with up to three digital-storefront printing and direct-mail providers, each contract for an initial three-year term not to exceed $300,000 per year (up to $900,000 aggregate). Trustees asked about opportunities for local vendors and whether printing services are covered by prevailing-wage rules. Vice President Saul Jensen said an open RFP will allow local firms to bid and that different vendors can serve specialized needs (mass runs versus small orders). Trustee John Butler reminded the committee the prevailing-wage law applies to certain printing services and asked procurement staff to reflect compliance expectations clearly in RFP language.
All procurement items on the agenda were approved by voice vote in committee and will be forwarded to the full board for approval at its Sept. 25, 2025 meeting.