A new job advertisement has revealed the present occupation of the Union's finance department is set to continue. Last year's executive committee handed control of the Union's finances to College to get hold of Beit redevelopment funds, something which was eventually achieved after a three month delay.
As part of the deal the previous Head of Finance, who had been involved with the Union for over twenty years, was removed and replaced with someone on secondment from the College's finance division. It is this division which is leading the search for a permanent replacement in the form of a "Finance Officer". Although the new trustee board should be fully running by then - and hence have overall financial responsibility and oversight - the new member of staff will continue to report to College finance as a matter of course.
The College takeover has caused friction between club officers and CSC/FU chairs and ICU's finance department: contact time between clubs and the department was cut to just 3 hours per week, at times when many club officers would be unable to ask for advice. Emails seen by Live! show senior ICU officers calling the situation "ridiculous". Many found it strange that a large source of potential financial problems in the Union - clubs - were to be deprived of a contact within finance to help out. Rules have also been tightened, with invoices now requiring contracts and purchase order numbers before they can be issued: while this reduces problems later on, it requires a member of staff to be on hand to check details and issue the invoice. After complaints from CSC and FU chairs the hours were extended to 7.5 per week.
Email this Article
