A statue of a KU Jayhawk outside during an orange sunset.

Your Ideas Matter

Jayhawks Elevate is successful because of you. Your ideas make us better. There are times when you might ask why are we spending money the way we are as a campus. Below are some examples of fellow Jayhawks who started asking why. Their questions turned into opportunities to reduce our spend as an organization. You probably have ideas too.

Replace Inefficient Freezers with Sustainable Ones

Ramia Whitecotton became aware of potential savings we could achieve by replacing some of our old, inefficient freezers on campus. When reviewing the latest freezer options, there will be some dramatic utility savings we could achieve with new freezers in research spaces. Because there is substantial investment needed to completely shift to new freezers this strategy will be incorporated through Procurement support when replacements are needed.  

Fellow Change Agents:

Cassy Kuhn, Mike Russell

Impact of idea:

Improved utility savings and a more green campus

Jayhawk placeholder image

Reduce Trash Collection during Off peak times

Lawrence Chapman saw a City of Lawrence trash truck pickup an empty dumpster and wondered why we had them pick up trash so often during Summer and Winter breaks. This prompted some research with Facilities and the City of Lawrence to reduce the frequency of pickups during off peak times of the year.

Fellow Change Agents:

Cameron Lauer, Cassi Kuhn, Sarah Waters, Krissie Druen, and Shawn Harding

Impact of idea:

$24,000 in annual savings

A high up POV of KU's campus, on an autumn day.

Migrate Existing Security Cameras to Aruba Network with Internal Resources

Thomas Droge II suggested that internal resources of IT and PSO counterparts do the migration of existing security cameras to the Aruba network. Rather than outsourcing this work to a contractor, they were self-sufficient to handle the task.

Fellow Change Agents:

Fellow Change Agents: Ben Brassart, Mark Nace, Ray Buffalomeat, Callie Long, Sara Jean Coughlan, and Charles Ammel

Impact of idea:

$40,000 in Fiscal year 2024 savings

KU building with red and yellow flowers in front.

See What Other Improvements are Being Made