From the Columbus Ohio Dispatch.
A seemingly routine request by Miami University to purchase $167,000 worth of office chairs turned into a spirited exchange yesterday that ended with a rare rejection by the state Controlling Board, a legislative spending oversight panel.
In a bipartisan 6-1 vote, lawmakers slammed the door after realizing that Miami officials decided to purchase the most expensive office chairs available — the Aeron stretched-fabric brand. Of the 333 chairs purchased, 245 of them designated for staff and faculty offices cost $522 apiece. Chairs for conference rooms ranged from $397 to $446 each.
As members including Sen. Ray Miller, D-Columbus, grilled university architect Robert Keller about the purchase, lawmakers said they were not satisfied with the responses.
“They didn’t give a solid explanation as to why” they purchased the most expensive chairs, said Sen. Mark Wagoner, R-Toledo. “In a difficult financial environment, we have to be fiscally responsible.”
APG Office Furnishings of Cincinnati is providing the chairs and gave the university three options for chair styles. Two other options offered staff and faculty office chairs for $458 and $365.
Rep. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, voted to reject the request but first reminded his colleagues that they were sitting in $2,000 high-back leather chairs.
March 24th, 2009 at 2:35PM
All but one of my department’s chairs are castaways (needless to say) from various administrative offices or professional school faculty. If we behave, we may get an invitation as to their availability. If they’re feeling mean, they simply put them out into the hall and let the academiproles squabble over them.
March 24th, 2009 at 2:50PM
Why would a mass purchase of chairs, on a university-wide basis, be going on anyhow? Did they all wear out at precisely the same time?
It would be interesting to know how budgeting works at this university. If the Department of Lemming Studies, for example, saves money on chairs, do they get to spend the money on something else? Or does it just disappear?
March 24th, 2009 at 4:56PM
Perhaps as part of a building-wide or college-wide renovation. A few summers ago Northern Illinois purchased new desks and office chairs for all tenants of the social science tower as part of a space rearrangement in the building. That might have been a way to dampen faculty discontent with the revelation of preferences implied by the rearrangment (extra space for deans and advisors, less space for faculty).
March 24th, 2009 at 6:52PM
Someone spent university money on chairs? What about the RedHawks!?
March 25th, 2009 at 7:00AM
Stephen is on the right track. This many and at this cost suggests a new building or wing for a b-school, law school, or other professional area. At least some of their old furniture will be available to trickle down to the social science and humanities types.
Nice stuff can be had for those willing to scrounge. About eight years ago, I scored a big round table, six great office chairs, and a laser printer, all cast off like used Kleenex after less than 18 months by an administrative office–and all still in good condition, including the laser printer, which is apparently indestructible.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:10AM
Ha! I’d wandered away after clicking through to these comments, and came back having forgotten the original UD article. So imagine my amusement as I read theprofessor’s first comment above, misreading "department’s chairs" as "department chairs", and thinking he was referring to the people not the furniture. The picture of squabbling in the halls over them was both confusing and exceedingly funny.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:23AM
Seems to me Miami got a pretty good deal on Aeron chairs, probably because they were buying in bulk. Chairs are outrageously expensive in general. This does sound like a purchase tied to a capital project. They were probably required to blow a lot of money on "public art" while they were at it.