The Board of Trustees should have solid justifications to approve the Trammell Crow deal. The Trustees should vote yes to approve the Trammell Crow deal -- if they think the University will will be able to follow through on the promises it has made to employees in recent weeks. For those who are laid off, the University must provide severance pay and job-search assistance. But the Trustees shouldn't be a rubber stamp committee. If after analyzing the details of the contract, it doesn't appear that the University will be able to keep the promises it has made to the affected employees, then the Trustees shouldn't approve the deal. On paper, the Trammell Crow contract looks like a fair deal, with the University, getting $26 million up-front and job opportunities for employees currently working in facilities management. But administrators needed to present all the details of the deal when they first announced the letter of intent with Trammell Crow. As it was, most employees didn't have enough information to evaluate the deal objectively -- which, in the end, made it harder for administrators to sell. They should have had information on how much money the deal would save Penn, how many jobs would be cut and how many employees would be affected ready to release the day they announced the proposal. The University should take a lesson from the way the announcement of the Trammell Crow deal was handled. The Trustees should pass a resolution ordering administrators to provide concrete information to the public when they announce outsourcing deals in the future. Although University Council in its special meeting yesterday voted to advise the Trustees to not approve the Trammell Crow deal, the Trustees should vote yes.
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