In this session Oxford University Innovation will introduce the audience to the thought process surrounding the various ways that IP might be commercialised (licensing deals and spin out companies,) and how the company aims to maximise the global impact of Oxford’s research and expertise as well as supporting the University’s societal and financial aims. In addition, how the funds generated by this commercialisation are used to reward and incentivise Researchers and the University alike, as well as to further additional enterprise.

HW Fisher will discuss how the management of commercialised IP does not stop when the licence agreement is signed. It is important to understand the university’s obligations to third parties, including researchers and funders, are being allocated properly per the terms of their regulations and agreements.
It is also important to monitor the progress of licensees, and maintain the relationship in a positive and proactive way, and this includes ensuring that the licensees (or even spin-off ventures) are correctly accounting for revenues due to the Tech Transfer unit.

We will discuss negotiating audit rights within the licensing agreement and the circumstances under which it is beneficial to utilise the audit clause. We will also walk through the typical areas of investigation within a royalty audit and the potential shortfalls or omissions that are often uncovered. 

In this session we demystify the challenging regulatory frameworks and explain which, if any, reporting requirements are mandatory. We highlight some best practice examples, including from those providers who are not required to report, but are producing SECR (Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting) disclosures and environmental impact reports, to highlight progress.

Environmental reporting may be external to the expertise of finance teams, so we will provide some resources for teams in order to get up to speed with the language, methods and requirements. Our presenters are well placed to comment on their own experiences from an audit and technical background.

This session will explore what is meant by the science of inclusion and how it shapes our working environment.  We will take a look at the key issues faced by the finance function in achieving a representative workforce, what progress is being made across public sector organisations and what approaches Higher Education and your individual function could consider to make progress. Please being your thoughts and ideas to this session.

When considering the potential cost, risks and complexity of migrating your core finance system(s) to the cloud, it’s tempting to ask why you would do it at all. 
However, for those that approach the challenge as an opportunity to rethink and improve the way in which they deliver Finance services, the potential benefits are great. Whilst cloud adoption requires a real shift in mentality and an acceptance that you can no longer bend the technology to fit every vagary and nuance of your business, what it does provide is the opportunity to learn from global leading practice, significantly bolster the quality of both your data security and management information.

If done well, systems change can be a catalyst for improved service delivery on a number of levels, and whilst the Higher Education sector is replete with salient warnings about the perils of getting it wrong, it’s also full of fantastic examples of how modern cloud technology has significantly improved day-to-day finance operations. Join Sam Sanders (KPMG), Nicola Arnold (Jisc) and guests as they unwrap the findings of the recently released BUFDG Guide to Finance System Implementation in HE – Ahead in the Cloud, and share the some of the many lessons learnt by UK Higher Education providers.

According to the Times Higher Education survey, sustainability is more important than location and just as many students are likely to rate ‘university sustainability’ as a top priority as ‘graduate employment prospects’. With sustainability being such a key factor in many students minds, there is a clear need for higher education institutions to have a clear, targeted and funded climate action plan. But how to go about it?
 
There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for higher education institutions to decarbonise. Factors such as location, current estate, demographics, supply chain, and of course, funding, all have a major influence on the feasibility and business case for various options. 
 
Helpfully BUFDG together with AUDE (the Association of Higher Education Directors of Estates) and the EAUC (the Alliance for Sustainability Leadership in Education) have launched their Cost of Net Zero Calculator tool, which helps institutions to better understand their cost levels and estimated carbon reduction achievable across the three categories of supply chain, built environment and travel/transport.
 
Looking at estates specifically, we will look at some of the options and talk through a number of examples of how different institutions have approached decarbonisation.

Julia Ascott (BUFDG) and Paul Moreels (KPMG) will present a session on the latest payment issues relating to volunteers, research participants, students (including trickier post-graduate arrangements) and fellowships. Whilst payments such as stipends, bursaries, scholarships, studentships, etc. are often considered tax free by the HE Sector, there are trip hazards that need to be hurdled (or not!) before payments can genuinely be paid free from tax obligations, typically around employment status.

This session will look at the trip hazards which will help you determine high risk scenarios at your institution, and some of the compliance issues around them.

All around us, cyber-attacks and cyber fraud are more prevalent than they have ever been. It’s essential that we remain up to date and informed on the key risks that face all of our organisations. Andrea Deegan, Fraud Risk Director, will be co presenting the session with Richard Curtis, a Certified Ethical hacker who provides practical advice and guidance to organisations on how to secure their IT systems, infrastructure and safeguard their key assets. Andrea and Richard will be covering several topics covering potential security threats and cyber fraud, relevant to the sector including, the evolving cyber threat landscape, some common attack techniques and proactive strategies to prevent cyber vulnerabilities.

An opportunity to step back and consider total reward, including pensions, for the sector.  

Flexible benefits packages are becoming increasingly common in the UK.  Such an approach enables employees to choose from a variety of different benefits and to personalise their reward to best suit their individual needs and specific circumstances as these change over time – and increases job satisfaction and retention.

The session will explore how the sector can offer greater flexibility.  So much of the staff-related spend has been directed to pensions in the past and the rigidity within the pension schemes provided could be seen as a limiting factor.  The reward structures in place might be creating unfairness and ignore different generational requirements.  How do you know what people want? And will value? 

The session will share Isio’s research undertaken with YouGov, and the eye-opening insight into the UK workforce’s attitudes towards work, finances, moving jobs and employee benefits. We will look into what’s working in employee benefits, who it’s working for, and whether the design of the benefit package is providing poor value for some (or even unintentionally discriminating against) certain groups of employees.

Whilst most Universities have set net zero targets, according to our research, only around a third are currently including their investment assets in those plans.

BUFDG and Cazenove are publishing practical guidance to help Universities take the next step. 

Join us to hear the highlights of the handbook and learn how to set an appropriate climate related investment policy. The session will cover how to work with your advisers to deliver your objectives in practice, what to measure, how to report and the pitfalls to avoid. 

Energy Systems Catapult is funded by the Department of Energy, Sustainability and Net Zero to support the public sector by providing free guidance, tools and bespoke support. This session will draw from ESC's forthcoming guide, which helps those developing estates decarbonisation projects to effectively pitch and receive support.

It will provide information and practical steps you can take to support your organisation to reach its Net Zero goals, including securing buy-in for projects, getting business cases signed off, and inter-departmental communications in complex organisations. Discuss the critical issue of how we tackle climate change, and input into the Catapult’s work programme for the coming year.

With the breadth of University activity ever increasing - whether to expand reach, enhance knowledge sharing or to generate additional income, it is important that Universities carefully consider how they structure their operations.  Most HE institutions have established trading subsidiaries and other special purpose companies and some larger institutions now operate quite complex group structures. The governing and resourcing of those companies is subject to a range of regulation including under company law and charity law.

HE finance professionals often have a role in administering group companies and this session will provide a useful refresher on when and why subsidiary companies might be required and how Universities could and should manage relationships with them.       We'll touch on strategies for effectively governing subsidiary companies but the main focus of the session will be on some of the legal challenges in operating a group structure.  

The contribution of charitable assets and resources to commercial activities can throw up a range of issues which University boards need to be aware of and properly evaluate. The sharing of rights and information  between group companies also needs to be managed carefully. We will also touch on other common issues such as VAT, subsidy control and regulator interests. 

Research Assurance and Compliance is growing in complexity as universities diversify and grow their research portfolios. This session aims to provide a high-level summary of the role that finance colleagues play in the Research Assurance arena. Delivered by experienced university assurance professionals and specialist grant auditors, the session will include details on institutional assurance activities delivered by major funders, and the fundamentals of project-specific grant auditing, levels of assurance and common errors and pitfalls.

BUFDG’s tax team, Julia Ascott and Andrea Marshall, will outline the top international tax issues that are common concerns in the university sector at the moment and provide their thoughts on what action you may need to take to address them.

Rebecca will go through what’s been happening and what is yet to come in the world of pensions in Higher Education covering USS, TPS, LGPS and local schemes. Rebecca will look at how pensions costs can be managed but also how pensions strategy can work for your employees. She’ll comment on what some institutions have already done and consider some of the more creative solutions being thought about to ensure good outcomes for all stakeholders. It’s all about strategy, options and communications.

This session will focus on the current challenges for Student Accommodation projects, and discuss why despite the current crisis, the future still looks rosy. We will explore some of the available financing structures and the private sector partnering deals in the higher education sector.

This session will be run by the Student Accommodation senior team, Victoria Goddard and Chris Owens. Recently they have led student accommodation projects for LSE and the Universities of Birmingham, London, Leicester, York, Sussex and Royal Holloway University with a range of funders, (Assured Guaranty, PIC and Aviva) and DBFO providers (UPP, Uliving, Balfour Beatty, Equitix, DIF and City Heart) as well as leading individual bids for DBFO provider Equitix.

The trials and tribulations of the annual external audit has been a hot topic on the BUFDG discussion forum in recent months with many Universities finding the process more challenging, costly and time consuming than ever. In this session, Finance staff from the University of Birmingham explain how they have managed to reduce their audit timetable by several weeks and what measures they have put in place to improve the planning and programme management of their audit.         

Employee engagement within the UK is amongst the lowest in the world (our own research indicates HE actually fairs worse than many other sectors) and nationally around 40% of workers feel stressed daily, resulting in low productivity, happiness and profit.

This session is designed to empower you to harness and maximise your unique strengths, and those of your team. Through shifting the focus from a traditional deficit approach of fixing weaknesses towards a strengths-based paradigm, you will learn how to capitalise on the diverse strengths around you to improve innovation and overall performance within the workplace.