The UW-Madison Athletic Department announced it will be changing cell phone plans for its coaches, a move UW-Madison Associate Athletic Director Steve Malchow estimated will save the department approximately $100,000.
Malchow said due to the amount of traveling UW-Madison's coaches have to do every year, roaming charges on their cell phones accumulate. This resulted in state costs of some $180,000 for the 2003-'04 school year.
\The cell phone plan that we've had for the last couple of years was affecting us negatively,"" Malchow said, referring to the ""excessive"" roaming charges.
Following a state audit of the 10,000 taxpayer-funded cell phones, which include those used by UW-Madison coaches, Malchow said the Athletic Department aggressively searched for an alternative plan.
""The state ... allowed us to join with [the UW-Madison Division of Information Technology] and speak with our provider to see if we could come up with some plans that would be more efficient for us,"" he said.
Malchow said the Athletic Department has bundled minutes for its more high-end users and will cut down on roaming charges.
Malchow called the potential savings ""staggering.""
""Anytime that you can save some money, it's important,"" he said. ""We analyze our bills all the time as to what our needs are and what are expenses are and we feel like there had to be some plans out there that would be more efficient for us.""
