Bursary

BURSARY OPERATIONS IN THE UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT

Vision of Bursary Department

To create a proactive and first rate ICT driven Finance Department posed to ensure that  the University ranks among the first 100 Universities in the world

Mission of Bursary Department

To guarantee the University and its stakeholders the most efficient and effective way of resources mobilization, allocation and management using appropriate information technology through the provision of excellent services.

Bursary as a Department

The Bursary, which naturally began with the establishment of the University, performs the financial and accounting functions of the University. It is headed by the University Bursar who is, by the Michael Okpara University, the Chief Financial Officer of the University and is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the day-to-day administration and control of the financial matters of the University.

The Department, which started as a small Unit and had the Internal Audit as one of its sections, has developed into a large Department. Following the Federal Government White Paper on the 1986 Visitation Panel Report, the Internal Audit was excised from the Bursary and given a separate status in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office.

Objectives

Objectives of the Bursary in the process of service delivery include;

• Overall control of the Institution’s financial resources;
• Guidance to all departments in all financial matters, particularly as regards the preparation and    monitoring of their budgets;
• The institution’s accounting, reporting and internal control procedures;
• Maintaining the financial information system;
• Administering the pay-roll, loan and pension schemes;
• Arranging adequate insurance cover for the University’s assets
• Ensuring that surplus funds are invested and managed prudently.

The Bursar and His Tools of Control:

The Bursary assists the institution and the Governing Council to fulfill the mission and objectives of the University through strict adherence to standard practices on financial management and accounting principles laid down by the Government and Governing Council:

• Public Procurement Act
• University’s Financial Regulation as provided and approved by Council
• Treasury Circulars issued by the Accountant General of the Federation
• Other statutes such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act

To assist the Bursar, the Bursary is divided into three functional directorates with each being headed by a Director.

The Directorates are:

• Directorate of Budget, Planning, Control and Staff Matters
• Directorate of Final Accounts
• Directorate of Treasury

A strong control measure adopted by the university to manage its resources is through budget planning and control. In University of Lagos the financial budget period is from July to June of every year.

The budget must be approved by the council before it becomes operational.