year ended March 31, 1999
In addition to the annual audit, my staff completed a review of the planning, budgeting and performance information provided to the Board.
Reporting to the Board It is recommended that Medicine Hat College work towards an integrated planning, monitoring, and reporting process that incorporates strategic planning, business planning, budgeting, performance targets and reports, and Board communication.
At the request of the Board of Governors, I reviewed the reporting to the Board by senior management. After developing a new model of governance over the past two years, the Board wanted to confirm or improve its reporting processes. The Board wants financial and performance information that will enable them to make the governance model work effectively.
The board is developing a strategic plan
In addition to the existing business planning and budgeting processes, the College is embarking on a strategic planning process. The Board has developed statements of mission, vision and guiding principles. Workshops are being held with staff to inform them of these and to ask for their input into strategic directions for the College. The Board has been briefed on the process and members have been invited to participate in the workshops. The Board should also ratify the strategic objectives and goals early in the process.
The strategic plan should be integrated with the business plan, the annual budget and Board communication processes
Clearer links need to be established between strategic planning, the three-year business plan, the annual budget, and Board communication processes. As the College
implements strategic planning, it should ensure that planning and reporting mechanisms, including business planning, budgeting, performance monitoring, and communications, form an integrated system that sets expectations for the College and determines whether they are being achieved.
Planning horizons should reflect the nature of the decisions being made and budgets should present the financial implications of the plan over the budgeting period.
The budget process and presentation have been improved substantially in the past few years. The Board is informed of the assumptions and trends underlying the budget. Areas of risk are identified. The Board is kept apprised of progress in developing the budget.
Performance measures should be established during the planning process and results reported to the Board and community
Board members believe that performance expectations and quality educational outcomes are being achieved. However, a complete set of objective measures of overall performance and student success is not in place. The College’s
performance should be measured against Board and
community expectations of the Board established during the planning process, and reported both to the Board and the community. Performance measures might include:
• Tracking alumni and measuring their progress and success after a 3 to 5 year period.
• Identifying program costs and results.
• Determining a measure of community contribution.
• Improving measures of the personal improvement courses.
• Improving measures of success of students involved in academic upgrading.
• Determining measures for quality of instruction.
Successful performance of the College includes achieving annual financial targets; adequate planning for the future;
delivery and completion of quality and relevant educational programs; and aversion of risk. The Board should look to best practices and potential benchmarks utilized at other colleges and institutions that may apply and incorporate reporting on performance measures, including student success, in its annual report.
The Board should monitor the implementation of its policies systematically
The Board should also monitor the implementation of its policies systematically. In its governance model, the Board has adopted ends policies and executive limitation policies that frame its expectations for the College and the President.
Many of these policies are too new to have been through a cycle of monitoring.
The Board should adopt a plan to enhance
communication with the community, staff, faculty and students
As an integral part of planning, the Board should adopt a communications plan to enhance linkages with the community and foster better communication with staff, faculty and students. The purposes of communications are:
to provide input to planning; to seek feedback; to
demonstrate leadership; and to raise awareness of the vision, mission and guiding principles of the College. While the Board uses a number of communications mechanisms, they are concerned as to how clearly the community understands the College’s financial position. New strategies for reporting may help explain what the College can and can not do in the future.
Guidance to reader
The mission of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is to enable the growth of a globallycompetitive, sustainable agriculture and food industry through essential policy, legislation, information and services. Its main functions are research, technology
transfer, regulatory, industry development, risk management, public land management and lending. For financial
statement purposes, the Ministry comprises the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, the
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation, the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute, the Alberta Dairy Control Board, and the Crop Reinsurance Fund of Alberta. In 1998-99, total revenues and expenses for the Ministry were approximately $343 million and $531 million, respectively.
The development of a competitive agricultural industry presents certain risks to the Ministry. The increase in volume and diversity of agriculture products may have an adverse effect on the environment. Loans and grants provided to farmers and others may not be cost-effective.
The Ministry may encourage farmers to grow certain crops based on expected markets which may never materialize.
The move by the Ministry to outsourcing certain services may result in a loss in the effectiveness of these services. To be successful, the Ministry needs to manage these and other risks.