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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
michigandaily.com
ADMINISTRATION
In wake of
outcry, 'U'
to rethink
service plan
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Business Prof. Scott Masten speaks at a meeting of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs at the Fleming Administration Building Monday to
discuss the University's decision to suspend the Administrative Services Transformation,
Deaypraised b aut
Shared service
decision met with
relief as SACUA
braces for more talks
By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA
Daily Staff Reporter
The Senate Advisory Com-
mittee for University Affairs is
praising the University's recent
decision to postpone the imple-
mentation of a Shared Services
Center which was expected
to save the University $5 mil-
lion annually by consolidating
human-resources and finance
employees, who are currently
department specific to a central
location.
As the representative body
for University faculty, SACUA
has voiced its concern regard-
ing the shared-services initia-
tive to the administration at the
last few Senate Assembly meet-
ings. Many members expressed
relief Monday that the admin-
istration has decided to delay
Administrative Services Trans-
formation.
In a letter published in the
University Record, University
administrators announced that
the moving of staff to the cen-
ter will be delayed past April to
accommodate further discus-
sion with faculty and staff. The
letter noted that interviews for
individuals who are expected
to move to the center will con-
tinue in the meantime.
University Provost Mar-
tha Pollack, the executive vice
president for academic affairs,
will also be establishing facul-
ty-led committees to undertake
the major issues facing the Uni-
versity, including faculty pro-
ductivity, diversity and campus
climate, and financial chal-
lenges with cost containment,
according to the letter.
In the letter, Pollack, E.
Royster Harper, vice president
for student life, and Timothy
Slottow, executive vice presi-
dent and chief financial officer,
wrote that "the passion and
concern for the University's
future direction is palpable."
Though the mood of the
meeting was light following
this decision, most SACUA
members were realistic about
the fact that discussion will
eventually continue.
"I wouldn't say we're done
with the (Administrative Ser-
vices Transformation)," Busi-
ness Prof. Scott Masten said.
He added that he's happy with
See FACULTY, Page 3
Planned shared
service center will
be delayed until at
least April 2014
By SAM GRINGLAS
Daily StaffReporter
After weeks of faculty outcry,
a stack of letters from University
departments and a petition signed
by more than 1,000 faculty mem-
bers, University administrators
announced Monday they would
delay the planned transition to a
Shared Services Center.
The Shared Services Center, a
component of the Administrative
Services Transformation initia-
tive, was designed to consolidate
some University departmental
staff in a central service center, a
move estimated to save the Uni-
versity about $5 million annually.
In response to concerns regard-
ing the project's transparency and
implications for University depart-
ments, the University announced
that all staff moves would be
delayed until after April, the peri-
od originally slated for staffing
transitions,
University Provost Martha Pol-
lack; E. Royster Harper, vicepresi-
dent for student life; and Timothy
Slottow, executive vice president
and chief financial officer, wrote in
the letter the administration plans
to immediately involve faculty in
reevaluating the structure of the
shared services program.
By including faculty, the admin-
istrators wrote that they hope to
create a shared services program
that "is structured to meet the
needs of our faculty and our stu-
dents while achieving necessary
cost savings."
The letter noted that the deci-
sion to delay AST's implementa-
tion was made in consultation with
University President Mary Sue
Coleman.
Under the plan, each school and
college would work with their fac-
ulty to determine the best steps
to proceed with AST. However,
the University will go ahead with
See SERVICE, Page 3
FACILITIES
Bid planned
. for 16.7-acre
lot on S. State
WATER YOU DOING?
University offers
$12.8M, but city
can match bid to
buy property
By JENNIFER CALFAS
Daily Staff Reporter
The University has plans to
purchase a 16.7-acre property
at 2500 South State St. previ-
ously owned by the Edwards
Brothers Malloy printing for
$12.8 million.
Edwards Brothers, a
120-year-old company, has
used the 185,000-square-foot
facility as a manufacturing
plant. The company is the
fifth-largest book and journal
manufacturer in the country
and has more than $100 mil-
lion in annual sales.
The company plans to
merge the State Street plant
with its other Ann Arbor
location, an 180,000-square-
foot plant on Jackson Road.
Edwards Brothers announced
the State Street plant's clo-
sure in July.
The property is located one
mile from the University's
athletics facilities on South
Campus and sits near a Uni-
versity commuter lot.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald said the property is
in a key location for the Uni-
versity, as it is surrounded
by the Athletics Campus and y
other University buildings.
"When strategic pieces
of property like this become
available, it makes good sense
for the University to pursue
properties that would be in
such strategic locations,"
Fitzgerald said.
Since the purchase has not
yet been finalized, Fitzgerald
said it is too early for him to
disclose what the University
might use the building for.
The purchase must be
approved by the University's
Board of Regents before it
is finalized. Additionally,
Edwards Brothers approved
a right of first refusal from
the Ann Arbor City Council,
or the right for the city to be
able to purchase the building
before any other party. The
city could purchase the prop-
erty within a 60-day period of
the agreement between the
company and the University.
The city would have to
match the University's offer
on the property. While the
company made this agree-
ment with the city, Fitzgerald
said Edwards Brothers also
approached the University
about purchasing the prop-
erty.
John Edwards, president
and CEO of Edward Brothers,
said in a statement that he is
pleased with the deal.
"It helps us protect jobs,
stay here in Washtenaw
County and be competitive
in a very difficult industry,"
Edwards said.
Edwards's grandfather
built the State Street plant in
See BID, Page 3
University repair crews fix a broken 12-inch water main underneath Murfin Avenue on Monday. The water main broke
late Sunday night, causing the street to flood. Crews closed Murfin Avenue all day to work on the main.
BUSINESS
On Main Street, shopping
gives way to gourmet scene
CITY COUNCIL
Crosswalk
ordinance
wil remain
unchanged
After amendments
pass, Hieftje vows
to veto updated
legislation
By WILL GREENBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Community members came out in
droves Monday night to support the
current crosswalk ordinance and
prevent its repeal, which was being
considered before the Ann Arbor
City Council. Thanks to a surprise
veto promise by Mayor John Hieftje,
they'll get their wish.
The original proposal to repeal
the ordinance was altered after
Councilmember Stephen Kunsel-
man (D-Ward 3) requested that Ann
Arbor instead adopt the wording of
ordinance drafted by the Traverse
City, Mich., city council. That vote
passed 6-4, but immediately after its
passing, the mayor promised to veto
the proposal.
"Changing the ordinance, I just
don't see a way how that can possi-
bly help," Hieftje said to the council
during discussion before the vote. "I
think the city is safer for pedestrians
now than before; I think a good deal
of progress has been made. Driv-
ers are stopping for pedestrians at
a higher rate now than they were a
few years ago."
Traverse City's simple ordinance
requires drivers to stop and yield the
right-of-way to pedestrians who are
walking within a marked crosswalk
where atraffic signal is not present.
A repeal of the ordinance would
have meant Ann Arbor would adopt
See ORDINANCE, Page 3
Area sees increase
in restaurants,
decrease in shops
By WILL GREENBERG
Daily StaffReporter
While State Street has seen
an influx of new businesses over
the past few years, the changes
to Ann Arbor's Main Street have
been more subtle. The street,
known for its unique shopping
and more upscale. restaurants,
is becoming increasingly food-
centric.
Maura Thomson, execu-
tive director of the Main Street
Area Association, said the street
transformed from a shop-heavy
area in favor of an abundance
of restaurants in the past five
years.
Dennis Serras, owner of
Real Seafood Company since
1975 said he has watched Main
Street's decline in shopping
attractions since the opening
of Briarwood Mall in the 1973.
Since then, the surrounding
eateries have become more con-
temporary, adding fresh faces to
older locations, Serras said.
Serras is a co-founder of
Main Street Ventures, which
owns Gratzi, Palio, Chop House
and La Dolce
Vita on Main
Street, and
Carson's'
American Bistro on Plymouth
Road. The company also owns
restaurants in Maryland, Ohio,
West Virginia and Florida.
"It's a testimony to the suc-
cess of the restaurants that
have been here for a long
time," Thomson said. "Other
restaurateurs see the success
that restaurants are having in
downtown Ann Arbor and they
see that this community really
demands quality food and does
spend some of their extra earn-
See SHOPPING, Page 3
WEATHER HI: 50
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