Reporter 2/11/01: Appendix I

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Appendix I

University of Cambridge Audit Committee: Review of University's new on-line accounting system project (CAPSA)

Extracted from Cambridge University Reporter, 31 January 2001

Terms of reference

3. Objectives of the review:

3.1 Part A will seek to establish:

(a)	how the project was formed, each phase defined, approved, conducted, and reported; the processes by which decisions were informed and taken, and whether appropriate expertise and resources were applied at each stage;
(b)	how the requirement was determined, assessed, and evaluated and how specifications and solutions, their implications and risks, were assessed, evaluated, and decisions made about changes in the requirement and specification;
(c)	whether the contracts were adequate and fulfilled;
(d)	what formal and informal project methods were adopted; whether they were appropriate and followed and if they were not, why not;
(e)	how and why judgements were influenced and made.

3.2 Part B will evaluate the findings of Part A in the broader context of the development of management and administrative systems in higher education institutions, and the particular needs of the University of Cambridge to modernize its management systems, and the relationship between such developments and issues of policy and governance in the University. It will seek to:

(a)	make observations on the origins and causes of CAPSA's difficulties;
(b)	identify lessons learnt and make strategic recommendations for the overall conception, management, control, and conduct of future large-scale software-based administrative projects within the University;
(c)	assess the effectiveness of policy-making and the influence of the University's governance arrangements on the CAPSA project;
(d)	make any other wider recommendation if appropriate.

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