The 13th September saw the first meeting of the INVIC committee. Deborah has given us a quick update on INVIC, the purpose of the committee, what happened at that first meeting and what’s next.

Purpose

INVIC is a  sub-committee of Building a Great University (BaGU) which has been formed to provide a review gateway and assurance mechanism, as part of the Financial Regulations. This will ensure that all requests for infrastructure (capital or revenue) and investment projects from the University, (whether  Pillar Boards, Faculties or Directorates) over 0.5M are thoroughly considered by an expert panel from across the University.

Membership

• Chair (BaGU Co-Chair) –  Deborah Harry
• Faculty Professional Services Representative – Philip Wain
• Human Resources Representative – Debbie Stevens
• Finance Representative –  Simon Taylor
• Chief Operating Officers Group Representative – Joe Rennie
• Legal Services Representative – Rebecca Pugh

What happened at this meeting?

The committee adopted the terms of reference which has been agreed and signed off at BAGU and then Jo Solecki gave an update on the upcoming projects.

Antonia gave us a demonstration of SharePoint and took us through how the meeting will operate going forward. INVIC is not a traditional ‘meeting’ in that there is little need for discussion or debate as we are seeking expert input from each area. So instead INVIC will be a ‘virtual process’ and most of the project reviews will be completed online via a SharePoint site which will enable us to keep the projects moving at the pace that the University Strategy requires them to move at. Once the expert areas have been completed, the Chair can review the inputs, add any comments, and submit the INVIC report electronically – with no need for meetings, diary slots, minutes, or time-consuming report-writing.

Each committee member has a remit to provide an expert opinion based on their area which they are representing, addressing key questions and identifying any risks. Work is still on-going to develop and refine this process but as we have had our first business case to INVIC to review, I am happy to say that it has been a success. What we are doing is very new to the University and you could say it’s a little ground breaking, as meetings are traditionally held in meeting rooms where we all discuss and debate a matter, however, because of the remit of each member of the committee there is no need for us to bring everyone together and slow the process down.

What’s Next?

The committee has a meeting scheduled for the 10th October, however, there may be no need for us to have this meeting if the online process is working or there are no specific issues for us to debate. So I envisage that this meeting will either come out of the diary or review the process so far as we continue with our new online virtual reviews.

Thanks, Deborah