University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler announced Friday that the University will spend $48,000 on an outside consulting firm to review the University’s administrative structure.

Two state senators requested a report after recent reports of excessive administrative spending.

Sibson Consulting, a New York-based human resources consulting firm, will generate an interim report of findings for the Legislature by March 15, as requested by Sen. Terri Bonoff, DFL-Minnetonka, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook.

Kaler said the analysis will provide the University with new data and tools to ensure administrative efficiency and will also provide recommendations for future cost savings.

“In short, the analysis will answer the question, ‘Does the University have the appropriate number of organizational levels, and do managers at various levels oversee the proper number of people?’”Kaler said.

In addition to the preliminary analysis of the University’s administrative structure, the consulting firm will also provide a report on spending in the University’s finance, information technology, human resources, and purchasing departments compared to other institutions.

The report will come in time for the Legislature to decide whether to fund the University’s request for an 8.4 percent increase in state funding for the next two years.

Kaler said he was confident that the report will show “progress and efficiency.”

“We must drive administrative costs down … so that we get the dollars to address our core goals,” he said.