General Discussion Forum

Dear All,

At JCU we have eleven controlled entities one of which is a wholly owned overseas operation (JCU Singapore – JCUS) which is now an enterprise worth well over $100m and it accounts for around two thirds of the assets of all eleven entities added together.

The current level of governance oversight by Council is the same for this entity as it is for the other ten entities one of which has had revenue of around $4,000 so far this year. Council receives the minutes of Board meetings and the management accounts on a quarterly basis along with the financial statements and any business plans on an annual basis for each entity. We also have a short-form of reporting to Council in the form of a dashboard that summarises the position of each entity three times a year.

We’ve recognised from a risk point of view that an entity that’s worth well over $100m and growing should have a greater level of governance oversight than the other ten, which are much smaller and are looking into those oversight arrangements at the moment.

If any of you have a wholly owned overseas operation delivering your university’s courses in another market, under a different regulatory regime, could you let me know what governance oversight arrangements your governing body has for that entity?

I’m interested in:

- the frequency and level of detail of reporting (each governing body meeting/quarterly, minutes/business plans or a bespoke report template etc);

- are business plans/strategies, risk assessments/profiles and compliance for the entity reviewed by the university’s governing body?

- the composition of the entity's Board (the current members of the JCUS Board are the VC (Chair), DVC Services and Resources, Chair of Academic Board, an external member (a former Deputy Chancellor) and the CEO of JCUS); and

- whether there is an external and independent member of your governing body on the entity’s board.

Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Ian