Annual Academic Year Review 2007-2008 (17th edition)
Download 2.04 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- 11.2.1 Enhancing Financial Systems
- 11.2.3 Financial and Budget Management
- 11.2.4 Changes to Tuition Fee Regime
- 11.2.5 Supporting University Business Development
- 11.2.6 Estates and Facilities Development
- 11.2.7 Costing and Pricing
- 11.2.8 Regulatory and Tax Framework
- 12.2 Differential Fees and Bursaries
- Student Administration Improvement Programme
- 12.4 Freedom of Information/Data Protection
- 13 Staffing 13.1 Post and Staff Summary 2007/08
- 13.2 Staff Profile and Diversity
11 Finance11.1 OverviewDuring the year the Finance Department has undergone a major re-organisation in order to respond more efficiently to the requirements of the University’s corporate plan. The revised structure came into effect from 30th June 2008 and the department is currently in the process of making staff appointments to the new structure. The overall themes of the re-organisation were related to: Financial Management; Business Development; Efficient and Effective Processes; Collaborative Working; and ensuring that the Department had the capacity, capability and flexibility to appropriately facilitate the financial perspectives of activity reflected in the Corporate Plan. Broadly speaking the Finance Department’s contribution to the University’s corporate plan is associated with the governance and management of the institution, but much of its services cut across the other 5 aims. During the year the Department collected and accounted for the University’s total income of £145 million1
Maintained the payroll for an average of 3,000 staff and issued more than 6,000 P60s, an increase 13% over 2006-07; Paid out circa £50 million against more than 58,000 invoices to the University’s suppliers – an activity increase of more than 7% over the previous year (and 17% growth over the last 5 years); Assisted 200 budget holders in schools, faculties and central departments through the provision of advice on budgeting, budget management and expenditure control. This has facilitated the University to achieve more than its minimum financial target of £2.1 million historic cost surplus; Managed devolved access to the centralised finance system (eFin) for over 800 users; Administered the financial arrangements for over 550 research and commercial projects; Advised on the conduct of 55 tendering exercises equating to £34.7 million of expenditure; Oversaw the management of average cash balances of £41.9 million, which earned interest (including capital gains) of £3.2 million 11.2 DevelopmentsFor the academic year 2007-08 the Department has been engaged in a number of developments that have been driven by the University’s Corporate Plan or by national initiatives and objectives. The following are illustrative of the type of developments with which the Department has been involved. 11.2.1 Enhancing Financial SystemsSystem development work commenced in 2006-07 has been consolidated and developed further in 2007-08: The on-line debtor payment system first introduced in 2006-07 to facilitate and improve tuition debt collection was extended to incorporate the graduation ticket sales. Work has progressed to allow students to view their outstanding debts to the University over a secure web page, but other developments for 2007-08 regarding on-line debtor payments were postponed following a review of development priorities and service demand. Following the successful trials to pilot the on-line survey of the academic staff time in two schools, the TOTAL system was rolled out to all schools. The data collected is essential for the calculation of the University’s full economic costs (fEC), required in Research Council bids and a requirement for completing the University’s mandatory Transparent Approach to Costing submission. Work has progressed during the year to prepare systems for the roll out of procurement cards. These provide the University with a more flexible approach to purchasing and help to reduce transaction costs. There has been a slight delay in implementation due to final release of the version of the software required to administer the process and the decision to tender for the procurement card provider. The Department implemented a modification to the Personnel / Payroll system to reduce the administrative burden associated with the employment of casual employees whilst still remaining compliant with tax legislation. 11.2.3 Financial and Budget Management2007-08 saw the implementation of a new Resource Allocation Model (RAM) for the 2008-09 budget pocess. The Model uses a combination of income and cost drivers / allocators to help inform budget allocations to academic departments, based on principles developed for full economic costing (fEC) and the Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC). The elements of the new RAM provide a basis through which the economic benefit of activities can be calculated in order to determine financial viability as well as to identify unit contribution rates for central departments. It is anticipated that this information can be used for longer term planning and be taken into account when defining the academic profile of individual schools and departments. 11.2.4 Changes to Tuition Fee RegimeAs indicated in last year’s report the Finance Department became responsible for managing the setting of non-regulated tuition fees in 2006-07. A significant development for 2007-08 has been the establishment of a standard tuition fee structure that has facilitated the setting of tuition fees for two academic years in advance. A benefit of the new tuition fee structure has been to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of raising tuition fee invoices, providing these to students and sponsors in a timely manner and reducing processing time by an expected 6 weeks. A further benefit of the new structure will be to provide accurate fee information to prospective students in their offer letters. 11.2.5 Supporting University Business DevelopmentThe Finance Department continued to provide financial guidance in relation to business development opportunities, which included advising the Board of Governors in relation to the closure of the Services Company and have in relation to the development of the Limited Partnership ‘CommercialiSE ‘ seed fund. The latter aims to support the development of high growth businesses in the region. 11.2.6 Estates and Facilities DevelopmentThe Department has continued to support the implementation of the Estates Strategy, by providing financial guidance in relation to the timing and financing of accommodation developments, such as the loan arrangements for Falmer 4/5 and Cockcroft North West corner. 11.2.7 Costing and PricingThe Department administered the introduction of the Quality Assurance and Validation process, a mandatory requirement imposed by the Research Councils (RCUK) to ensure that universities are compliant with TRAC. The process involved the detailed review of the systems and policies that underpin the University’s mechanisms for collecting cost information and calculating indirect cost rates. The University was selected to participate in a pilot to develop costing information relating to the review of the national benchmark price for NHS funded pre-registration courses. The Finance Department worked with JM Consulting to refine the costing questionnaires being proposed for the review. The data collected from the resulting national survey has led to a significant increase to the benchmark prices. 11.2.8 Regulatory and Tax FrameworkWork has continued throughout the year to ensure that the University’s procedures and policies in relation to its tax affairs are up-to-date and fit for purpose, following the publication of the sector guides in relation to taxation in June 2007. 12 Registry overview12.1 The Department has experienced unusually high levels of staff turnover during 2007-08. Opportunities have been taken to revised some structures and job functions with a view to service improvement, including the creation of an integrated Recruitment and Admissions division covering, admissions, home/EU, international and widening participation recruitment work. Each of these sections is led by a subject specialist. The overall aim is to improve connectively across the range of the department’s recruitment activity aligned with a programme of work to professionalise admissions processes, including postgraduate admissions, and to response to changes in the national agenda.This will complement and support the university’s plan to provide a more focused approach to the recruitment and admissions agenda led by a new Recruitment and Admissions Committee under the chairmanship of the Pro Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs.The Department also led the university’s successful QAA Institutional Audit visit which took place during May 2008 and will oversee a programme of work in 2008-09 to ensure that matters raised by the auditors are considered and reported on as required.12.2 Differential Fees and BursariesProcedures and policy governing the operation of University of Brighton student bursaries is now well embedded and is operating effectively. At the close of the 2007-08 financial year the university had awarded 2,857 bursaries to UK domiciled students worth £2,589,172.50. This compares to 1,427 bursaries award for a similar period in 2006-07 (worth £1.28 m). 144 bursaries were awarded to EU domiciled students worth £106, 955.00. This compares to 86 in 2006-07 (worth £78, 800). Total expenditure in 2007-08 was £2.7m compared to £1.36m in 2006-07. Student Administration Improvement ProgrammeThe Student Administration Improvement Programme continues. During 2007-08 implementation of the postgraduate admissions review was advanced, including the roll-out of MAS to volunteer schools and the appointment of a new postgraduate admissions officer in the Registry Admissions Team. A review of partner college/university administrative links was also begun and is due to report in the autumn term 2008. The Lead Team is reviewing the programme of work for 2009. 12.4 Freedom of Information/Data ProtectionOver the past 12 months a substantial amount of work has been carried out by the Data Protection and Records Officer. The main areas have included provision of advice, guidance and training on the Data Protection and Freedom Acts and their implications for data use and handling throughout the university. Between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, 140 requests for information under FOI were processed/coordinated, more than twice the number for the previous year. Much of this increase may be attributed to interest in the outcomes of the Framework Agreement but a number did concern academic matters such as student non-completion rates and disciplinary hearings. 13 Staffing13.1 Post and Staff Summary 2007/08The tables below summarise the post and staffing figures for 2006/07 and 2007/08 (both periods are from 1 August to 31 July). The figures have been calculated as averages from the monthly staff summary sheets that are produced for the MIR (Management Information Report). Only vacancies/posts of three months or more are included. Casual staff and Hourly-Paid Lecturers are excluded. Table 1 represents staffing in terms of average full-time equivalent numbers reported via the monthly Management Information Report which links staff numbers to funding sources. The table shows the relative proportions of different staff categories, of which 43% (of filled FTE) are academic staff, which remains the same as the previous year. Approximately 5% of all posts are externally funded, the vast majority of which are research staff. Fourteen percent of filled posts are of fixed term duration (the same as last year and the annual vacancy factor is 10.5% (a decrease of 1.5%). Table 1: Staff summary by full-time equivalent (FTE) - 1/8/07 to 31/7/08
*For posts over 3 months duration Table 2: Staff summary comparisons
Table 3: Posts approved for filling
Table 4: Staffing overview
Tables 1-4 show that the total average FTE has risen by 2.0% this year, compared to 1.9% last year and the total filled FTE has risen by 2.4% this year (compared with 3.5% the previous year). There has been a decrease in the number of externally funded filled FTE (15.7%) but it should be noted that the overall proportion of externally funded posts is relatively small. The actually decrease in externally funded posts was 17 FTE and, as already noted, the overall FTE (both total and filled) has increased this year. The numbers of vacant posts shown may not represent a genuine vacancy factor. Posts are reviewed when they become vacant and may be deleted or reorganised rather than scheduled for immediate recruitment. Table 3 shows a decrease in the number of posts approved for filling. However, there was a significant increase in 2006-7 due to the whole scale transfer of part-time hourly-paid lecturers to fractional contracts and the level in 2005-6 was 463 posts. Table 5: Turnover of permanent salaried staff (excludes fixed term and temporary staff)
Table 5 shows turnover by school and department. Caution should be used when considering some of the higher percentages as these are often in departments or schools with few staff members (in which case one or two staff leaving will have a dramatic effect on the turnover percentage). Table 6: Turnover of permanent salaried staff by category (excludes fixed term and temporary staff)
Table 6 illustrates turnover by staff category. The categories of staff with the highest percentage turnover (relatively) are Manual (now mainly grades 1 and 2) and Administrative. Turnover remains relatively stable, despite anecdotal evidence of a higher number of leavers in some areas, associated with the implementation of revised pay and grading structures. Turnover of 10% or more is typical of public sector organisations, and too low a level may be regarded as unhealthy for an organisation.
* Source: University of Brighton 2006/07 HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) return
Table 7 shows that, from the available HESA data, most leavers go to another HEI in the UK, Private Industry in the UK or retire. 13.2 Staff Profile and DiversityDirectory: reg reg -> Board of Historic Resources Quarterly Meeting 16 June 2016 Sponsor Markers Diversity reg -> Port Cambeltown dated 8th April 1830 Name reg -> Contents september 2009 I. Executive order reg -> In this issue reg -> Reginald irenee vachon reg -> Index for the Register Volumes 72-108 (1974-2010) reg -> A century of ufo sightings and Close Encounters in the Midwest Download 2.04 Mb. Share with your friends:
|