9:15 – 10:15 Session 1 - Implementation of the new IIA Standards
Speaker: John Chesshire, JC Audit Training
The new Global Internal Audit Standards promise evolution, rather than revolution. And there is a lot of continuity. But there are also plenty of pesky new additions - both little and large - that will require our additional thought, effort and stakeholder engagement. John will deliver his view on the biggest challenges and opportunities in the new Standards, and how these could help raise the bar for us and our internal audit functions.
John is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (FCIIA). He has over 25 years' experience working in the internal audit, risk management, business improvement and governance fields. He lives in Oxford, but is rarely at home as he is fortunate to work with internal audit and risk management teams across the world. John is an Independent Internal Audit Committee Chair, has been Chief Assurance Officer for the States of Guernsey and runs his own training company, JC Audit Training Ltd. He specialises in cost effective internal audit training delivery, advisory work and external quality assessments. John is also a member of the Audit Committee for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of WaterAid, a fantastic international charity.
10:40 – 11:40 Session 2 - The Good, the Bad & The Ugly: Advance HE’s Governance Reviews
Speaker: Dr Colette Fletcher, Head of Consulting and Governance, Advance HE
Colette will be presenting the findings of Advance HE’s Governance Effectiveness Reviews and Academic Governance Reviews. This will draw some conclusions about key challenges facing Governors and Executive Teams in the UK’s Higher Education sector. Collette will provide an overview of the current national state of play and share her thoughts on areas of focus for Internal Audit teams.
Colette has almost 15 years of experience in the HE sector with an in-depth understanding of HE governance, leadership and management. She has held previous governance and policy roles at the University of Winchester, Bournemouth University, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and HEFCE.
12:00 – 13:00 Session 3 - How sustainable are our Estates?
Speaker: Graham Howard, Director of Estates and Facilities Management , Loughborough University
How do our Estates meet the needs of our staff and students and how do we future proof our buildings? This session will consider these questions and look at some of the other Estates-related risks facing our HEIs. Graham will provide an overview of the different considerations for a director of estates and discuss the various factors currently impacting university estates management. He will also discuss sustainability and how universities can meet environmental commitments and challenges.
As Director of Estates and Facilities Management Graham leads the strategic development and operational management of the University’s two campuses, in Loughborough and London.
Before his appointment at Loughborough, Graham was a director in KPMG’s management consulting operations practice based in Canary Wharf, London. He joined KPMG in 2015 after a full career in the Royal Air Force retiring in the rank of Air-Vice Marshal. Graham’s last military appointment was as the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff responsible for the logistics support of all UK Armed Forces in the UK and on global operations. His military career included a blend of operational leadership and pan-defence business focused appointments.
14:00 – 15:00 Session 4 - Ethics and Internal Audit Professionalism
Speaker: Rachael Saunders, Deputy Director, Institute of Business Ethics
The new Global IIA Standards require internal auditors to ‘enhance their awareness and understanding of honesty and professional courage by seeking opportunities to obtain ethics-related continuing professional education’. This session will focus on the importance of having a sound organisational ethics framework and share guidance for best practice when it comes to dealing with ethical issues in a business environment.
Rachael is Deputy Director of the Institute for Business Ethics and is responsible for their research programme and advisory and training services.
Rachael has collaborated with senior leaders across business, charities, communities, local and central government. After gaining her first degree in Politics and History from the University of Durham, and a Masters in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics, Rachael worked in Westminster, then for Carers UK, for UNISON, the public sector trade union, and for the TUC, on skills policy. She was at Business in the Community for over ten years, as an expert in workplace diversity and then in education business partnerships. As a Director at BITC, she worked closely with the Department for Work and Pensions, the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and business leaders from Aviva, Barclays, Nationwide, UBS, McKinsey and many more. Her most recent role was on the SLT of Speakers for Schools as it scaled its delivery of opportunities for young people.
Rachael was an elected local councillor for ten years and served as leader of the Labour Group on Tower Hamlets Council. In 2019 Rachael gained an MSc from Birkbeck, University of London, in Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, with a dissertation focussed on how boards communicate their community engagement.
9:15 – 10:15 Session 1 - Putting the student context into our audits
Speaker: Rebecca Gendreau-Hobbs, CEO, Hertfordshire Students Union
Students are at the heart of what we do and many of our audits will cover student-related areas, such as student recruitment and retention, student complaints processes and student debt. It is important therefore that we understand what makes our students tick and what the main issues are that students face whilst studying at University.
Rebecca will provide an insight into some of the key issues facing our students now, from the impact of the cost-of-living crisis to loneliness and the importance of community. She will also cover how the Students Union can support Internal Audit in their work, by providing that all important student context.
As the CEO of the University of Hertfordshire Students’ Union, Rebecca is responsible for leading the work of the Union’s staff team. The Students’ Union is the representative body for students at Herts and employs a staff team of 40 permanent and more than 100 student staff and supports over 1,000 student volunteers (in the form of student reps and student society committee members). The SU deliver a range of services for students at UH, including: a free and confidential advice centre, student-run societies, student voice initiatives, student focused events and activities, and the Forum nightclub. Prior to joining HSU, Rebecca’s background was in communications and customer engagement, and in addition to her role within the SU, Rebecca is a Trustee of The Change Project, a domestic abuse and counselling charity based in Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Norfolk.
10:40 – 11:40 Session 2 - The top 5 risks and opportunities in HE student recruitment
Speaker: Penny Eccles, CEO, Marketing Partnership
In this session Penny, CEO and Founder of Marketing Partnership, will take us through their PACE framework and share with us the early signals of a potentially weak (or strong) student recruitment cycle. She will cover useful ways to recognise effective portfolio approaches, the strength of an institution’s CRM ethos and the markers of a strong marketing and student recruitment team. Penny will share with us the key questions to ask of your marketing teams and offer tips on developing a prosperous and open dialogue.
Penny is CEO and Founder of Marketing Partnership, a specialist consultancy for Higher Education Marketing. The team has supported over 35 institutions over the last five years and Penny has worked in Higher Education marketing, admissions and student recruitment for 25 years.
In her previous role as Director of Marketing and Communications on the Executive team at Nottingham Trent University, the institution became the largest recruiter of undergraduate students in the UK. Penny is a chartered Fellow and a Non-Executive Director of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
12:00 – 13.00 Session 3 - Financial Sustainability of HE Institutions
Speaker: Alison Jarvis, Executive Director of Finance, University of Southampton
Alison will present an overview of the key financial risk areas for universities and discuss what factors are causing the current issues in the HE sector. She will share what finance ‘red flags’ auditors need to look out for, and discuss how internal audit staff can work with their finance teams to help their institutions understand and respond to financial challenges. Alison will also touch on the future of HE finances, before opening up the floor for questions and discussion.
Alison has an extensive background in higher education finance. Prior to Southampton she was Chief Financial Officer at Plymouth University, Director of Financial Operations at Cardiff University, and Deputy Director of Finance at the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). She has also held a number of roles at the Office for National Statistics, including as Head of Financial Strategy.
In her current role she is accountable for the overall financial performance of the University, ensuring that the University and its subsidiaries operate financially effectively, efficiently, and sustainably through a clear financial strategy and an effective financial management framework. She also plays a key role in enabling successful delivery of Southampton's University strategy.
14:00 – 15:00 Session 4 - Trusted Research – Assessing compliance with Trusted Research Principles
Speaker: Chaitali Desai, Head of Research Compliance (Solicitor), University of Bristol
This session will provide an overview of Trusted Research principles and what these mean for universities. Chaitali will discuss the Trusted Research Evaluation Framework and share practical advice for how this can be implemented in institutions to ensure they are complying with Trusted Research principles.
Chaitali is the Head of Research Compliance at the University of Bristol. She is a qualified solicitor with over 17 years’ experience in the private legal sector, before joining the HEI sector in 2021. She began her career in higher education as a team of one just as the sector was waking up to the impact of expanding national security regulation, developing widespread awareness, training, and understanding of how partner engagement and research collaboration can be safeguarded in a shifting geopolitical landscape. She has designed and developed process and policy in a heretofore unknown area at the University and secure growth of the team to eight members by the end of 2024.
The Team is responsible for advising senior management and academics across the breadth of the institution in relation to the application of Export Control Regulations, the National Security & Investment Act, the Nagoya Protocol and ABS legislation, UK Subsidy Control and the Trusted Research agenda. Chaitali is also leading the implementation of a project to bring the University from “Foundation” through to “Developed” status of the NPSA’s Trusted Research Evaluation Framework
