NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration has agreed to have an outside group review the Republican’s privatization plan for building maintenance at Tennessee’s public colleges and universities.
Haslam plans to release his “business justification” for his privatization efforts by the end of the month. The governor has said the University of Tennessee and Board of Regents systems would be given the choice of opting out of the plan.
In a joint statement released Wednesday, University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro and Regents Chancellor David Gregory agreed to consider the third-party review and said that no decision has yet been made on whether to proceed.
The Haslam administration says it has saved $11 million in the first two years of having an outside company maintain 10 percent of the state’s properties.