What would you do to save Temple University some money?

How about: “Install motion activated lights in common areas, especially bathrooms,

lounges and classrooms, so that lights automatically go off when no one is in there.”

Or: “I would like to suggest heating some rooms or whole buildings with geothermal energy.”

And: “Cut back on landscaping that needs to be constantly replaced. Focus on planting seasonal foliage that can last for months, not weeks.”

Not to mention: “Eliminate the need to hand in essays on paper.” And if you do need to print the essays, “Require duplex printing on all handouts, tests and other papers, and allow students to submit duplex printed papers to save paper.”

Those are just a few of more than 1,250 suggestions that have been received so far from students and employees at Temple, as part of the university’s desire to cuts costs and improve efficiencies during the current recession.

“There is a lot of creativity out there,” said Deborah Hartnett, the vice president of human resources, who is chairing the Suggestion Box effort. “People really want to make a difference and help Temple save money.”

Paging through the lists of suggestions shows that there is no end to the imaginations of Temple’s community when it comes to cutting costs and improving efficiency. Of course, some are simply impractical, like the person who suggested making the university free for everyone and not charging tuition. But there are many more that warrant investigation.

Some of the initiatives — like encouraging everyone to turn off lights when they leave a room — are simple and are already being implemented. Other ideas — such as using solar, geothermal or wind energy to power Temple’s buildings — are clearly more complex and will need deeper study.

The suggestions have been reviewed and sorted into several categories, including books and programmatic suggestions that deal with coursework; working with vendors like Sodexho, the Campus Bookstore and suppliers; energy usage and savings; facilities; paper and office equipment usage; and athletics and business processes.

“We need to sort through the duplicates, weed out the ones that are completely impractical and build a list of ideas that we can recommend to the president,” said Hartnett.

The Suggestion Box exercise gained greater urgency with the governor’s announcement last week that Temple will continue to have $11.4 million in state appropriations cut from its budget in the coming fiscal year. Taken with the cuts from the current fiscal year, Temple has been hit with $22.8 million in reductions.

“With the economy continuing to slide, it is clear that everyone needs to be involved in helping Temple be as cost conscious and efficient as possible,” Hartnett said.

To access the suggestion box, log in to the TUportal at http://tuportal.temple.edu. Suggestions can also be made by campus mail to Hartnett in Human Resources, room 201 in the University Services Building (USB), TU zip 083-47.

All ideas relating to cost-savings and/or improving efficiency are welcome.