Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER XIII
pp. 1034–1039
FINANCE AND PROPERTY

In this section

UNIVERSITY FUNDS

GENERAL REGULATIONS

In addition to the several funds prescribed by Statute there shall be a University Education Fund, a Buildings Maintenance Fund, a Quinquennial Equalization Fund, a Land Fund, and such other funds as may be prescribed by Ordinance or as the Council shall from time to time determine.

Distribution from the Amalgamated Fund

1. The appropriation and distribution for expenditure of the fair value of any Amalgamated Fund under Regulation 10(e) of the regulations for financial matters shall be determined as set out in Regulation 2. The Council, on the advice of the Finance Committee, may from time to time recommend amendment of the formula set out in Regulation 2 to the Regent House for approval by Grace.

2. The sum distributed to each unit shall be calculated according to the following formula:

   (PYD × 0.7) + (0.0425 × BMV × 0.3)

where:

  1. (i)PYD for 2005–06 is 110.5p uplifted by an inflation factor taken as the retail prices index of June 2005 plus one per cent and, for the year 2006–07 and subsequent years, is the previous year's distribution per unit in the Amalgamated Fund uplifted by an inflation factor taken as the retail prices index of June of the previous financial year plus one per cent or such other inflation factor as the Council may from time to time determine.
  2. (ii)BMV is the capital value of one unit in the Amalgamated Fund taken as the mean of the starting capital values of the most recent six half-years, including the first half-year of the current financial year (i.e. the closing value of the Fund on 31 July of that year, plus the two previous 31 July closing values and three previous 31 January closing values).

Funds of Faculties, Departments, and other institutions

Accounts.

1. Separate accounts shall be maintained for each Faculty, Department, and other institution in such manner as may be prescribed by the Finance Committee of the Council in consultation with the Council or the General Board as the case may be.

Responsible officer.

2. An officer who is required, by or under Statute or Ordinance, to be responsible for the proper application of funds at the disposal of a Faculty, Department, or other institution shall, at the end of each financial year, certify that the statement of the account for which he or she is responsible is correct and that the funds have been properly applied.

Balances.

3. Any balance in the funds of a Faculty, Department, or other institution at the end of a financial year shall be available for the purposes of the particular Faculty, Department, or other institution.

Funds allocated to the Council

In each year an allocation from the Chest to the Council shall be approved by Grace. The Council shall be empowered to approve grants for recurrent and non-recurrent expenditure from this allocation to the funds of institutions under the supervision of the Council and to such other University funds (other than the University Education Fund and the Travelling Expenses Fund) as they may consider appropriate.

Estimates

Submission.

1. During the Lent Term in each year Faculty Boards and comparable authorities, and Heads of Departments and other institutions, shall prepare estimates of expenditure for the ensuing financial year. Such estimates shall be submitted either to the Council, in the case of institutions under the supervision of the Council, or to the General Board, in the case of institutions under the supervision of the Board, for consideration by those bodies.

2.Estimates submitted in accordance with Regulation 1 shall be transmitted, when approved by the Council or the General Board, as the case may be, to the Finance Committee of the Council.

3. In the first half of the Easter Term, or as soon as possible thereafter, the Finance Committee shall submit to the Council a statement of the receipts of the Chest and payments from the Chest during the preceding financial year, a revised estimate of the corresponding figures for the current financial year, and an estimate of the corresponding figures for the ensuing financial year.

Allocations Report.

4. Before the end of the Easter Term or as soon as possible thereafter, the Council shall publish a Report on the financial position of the Chest, recommending allocations for the ensuing financial year to:

  1. (a)the General Board for the University Education Fund;
  2. (b)the Council for all other purposes save those specified in other recommendations contained in the Report.

Accounts

1. The Council shall publish an annual abstract of the accounts of the University, signed by the Vice-Chancellor and a University officer designated for the purpose by the Council.

2. The Council shall also publish an abstract of each of the following accounts: the accounts of the Local Examinations Syndicate, the accounts of the University Farm, the accounts of the Contributory Pension Fund, the accounts of the Colleges Fund, and the accounts of any amalgamated fund established by the Council under the provisions of Regulation 10(e) of the regulations for financial matters.

SPECIAL REGULATIONS

Buildings Maintenance Fund

The Buildings Maintenance Fund shall be at the disposal of the Council for the performance of their duties relating to the care and maintenance of University buildings. The Council, on the advice of the Buildings Committee, shall from time to time make allocations to the Fund of amounts within their total allocation as approved by Grace.

Colleges Fund

Purpose.

1. The Colleges Fund maintained under Statute G, II, 18 shall be used to make grants to Colleges for either recurrent or non-recurrent purposes.

Committee.

2. The Fund shall be managed by a Committee consisting of:

  1. (a)the Vice-Chancellor (or a duly appointed deputy) who shall be Chairman;
  2. (b)one person appointed by the Council on the nomination of the Finance Committee;
  3. (c)one person appointed by the Council on their own nomination;
  4. (d)two persons appointed by the Colleges.

Members in classes (b)–(d) shall be appointed to serve for six years.

Secretary.

3. The Secretary of the Committee shall be the Registrary or a University officer designated for the purpose by the Council.

Grants.

4. The Committee shall meet annually to consider representations from Colleges. The Committee shall have discretion to make grants to Colleges from time to time according to their needs and the resources of the Fund. Grants may be either single or recurrent for such period of years as the Committee may decide. All grants shall be reported by the Committee to the Council, who shall publish them to the University.

General Purpose Funds

Title.

1. Funds which have been established from benefactions made to the University for general or unspecified purposes shall be known as General Purpose Funds and shall consist, as long as any balance remains in the Fund concerned, of the Davy, Harrison, Kirkpatrick, Watkins, and Wightman Funds and such others as may be so designated by the University from time to time.75

How used.

2. The income or capital of any Fund specified in Regulation 1 shall be placed at the disposal of the Council to be used as the Council think fit provided that a statement is published in the Reporter on any expenditure therefrom.

Land Fund

Purpose.

All payments of premium for the lease of land and receipts from the sale of land (other than land held for investment purposes) shall be credited to the Land Fund. The capital and the income of the Fund may be used (a) to purchase sites which are suitable for development for University purposes, and (b) to meet the cost of planning and providing the infrastructure for the development of sites in University ownership, including costs relating to the requirements of Town and Country Planning legislation.

Loan Fund I

Committee.

1. Loan Fund I shall be administered by a Committee consisting of:

  1. (a)the Vice-Chancellor (or a duly appointed deputy) as Chairman;
  2. (b)two members of the Regent House appointed by the Council on the nomination of the Council's Finance Committee;
  3. (c)two members of the Regent House appointed by the Council on their own nomination.

Members in classes (b) and (c) shall serve for two years from 1 January next following their appointment.

2. The Committee shall meet not less than once in each term.

Applications.

3. Applications for loans shall be sent to the Registrary by Tutors of Colleges.

Condition under which loans may be granted.

4. Applications on behalf of students in their first year of residence shall be considered only in very exceptional circumstances.

5. Loans shall not be granted unless in the opinion of the Committee the applicant's College is already giving him or her as much assistance as may reasonably be expected.

6. Loans shall be free of interest. The recipient shall sign an undertaking to repay the loan, and in proper cases the recipient's parent or guardian shall be associated with the undertaking. The Committee shall determine, and shall have power to relax, the conditions of repayment.

Loan Fund II

Purpose.

1. In order to help University officers and University assistants who have, or have had, insufficient capital to buy, build, or extend houses, loans shall be offered from Loan Fund II, at a variable rate of interest equal to the standard rate charged by the Cambridge Building Society.

Conditions.

2. Subject to an upper limit of £100,000 in each case, loans may be offered of an amount up to the full value of the house as assessed by the Estate Management and Building Service reduced by the amount borrowed on first mortgage from a Bank, Building Society, or Insurance Company approved by the Finance Committee of the Council, provided that in each case the Committee are satisfied that the maximum advance on first mortgage has in fact been obtained.

3. A loan shall be secured by a second charge on the house.

Eligibility and repayment.

4. Conditions of eligibility for loans, for the award of loans, and for their repayment shall be determined by the Finance Committee, who shall have power to exercise discretion in exceptional circumstances.

5. The granting of loans under these regulations shall be subject to review by the Finance Committee of the Council in 1998–99 and at intervals of five years thereafter.

Pension Fund II76

Purpose.

Pension Fund II shall be used by the Council on the recommendation of the Managing Committee of the Pension Scheme for the following purposes:

  1. (a)to make grants or advances to assistants in needy cases,
  2. (b)to meet cases of necessity relating to dependants of assistants who have died in the service of the University.

Quinquennial Equalization Fund

Purpose.

The surplus income of the Chest shall be transferred at the end of the financial year to the Quinquennial Equalization Fund which shall be used to make good any deficiency of income in a year in which the authorized expenditure of the Chest exceeds the income.

Research Maintenance Grants Fund77

Conditions.

1. Applications for grants from the Research Maintenance Grants Fund may be made by Tutors of Colleges on behalf of students who fulfil the following conditions:

  1. (a)they must have proceeded, or have qualified or be about to qualify to proceed, to a Bachelor's Degree78 after having completed not less than nine terms of residence (including any allowed), and they must make application not later than the end of the academical year next but one following that in which they qualified to proceed to that degree;
  2. (b)they must be or be about to become registered Graduate Students admitted by the Board of Graduate Studies to follow a course of research as candidates, or with a view to becoming candidates, for the Ph.D. Degree.79
Value.

2. The annual value of any grant shall be fixed by the Board of Graduate Studies after consideration of the value of other awards which the applicant may have received. Alterations of the value of these awards and particulars of new awards received after the grant has been fixed must be notified to the Board by the holder and the Board may vary the amount of a grant on account of any such alterations or new awards.

Payments.

3. Grants shall be paid quarterly in advance to the holders, subject after the third payment to a certificate that the holder is pursuing research to the satisfaction of the Supervisor appointed by the Degree Committee concerned.

Periods covered by grants.

4. A grant to a Graduate Student shall be made ordinarily for a period of two years and shall be renewable for a further year, but no grant shall be tenable for more than three years in all. The holder of a grant who ceases to be a registered Graduate Student following a course of research as a candidate, or with a view to becoming a candidate, for the Ph.D. Degree shall thereby cease to be qualified to receive any further instalments of the grant.

Applications.

5. Applications for grants shall be submitted to the Secretary of the Board of Graduate Studies. The Board shall publish from time to time a notice of the dates by which such applications must be received.

Names to be published.

6. The names of students to whom the Board of Graduate Studies have awarded Research Maintenance Grants shall be published in the Reporter, but no statement of the amount of the grant made to any individual recipient shall be published.

Strategic Planning Reserve Fund

The Strategic Planning Reserve Fund shall consist of such sums as the University may from time to time transfer to it on the recommendation of the Council. The Fund shall be at the disposal of the Council, to be used for such strategic purposes as the Council may consider appropriate. A list of allocations from the Fund shall be published annually in the Reporter.

Student Housing Fund

Purpose.

1. The Student Housing Fund shall be used to make grants to Colleges or to the University for the provision of accommodation for members of the University in statu pupillari.

Committee of Management.

2. The Fund shall be under the control of a Committee of Management consisting of

  1. (a)the Vice-Chancellor (or a duly appointed deputy) who shall be Chairman;
  2. (b)two persons appointed by the Council;
  3. (c)one person appointed by the Council on the nomination of the Buildings Committee;
  4. (d)three persons appointed by the Colleges Committee.

Members in classes (b)–(d) shall be appointed in the Michaelmas Term to serve for six years from 1 January following their appointment.

Secretary.

3. The Secretary of the Committee shall be the Registrary or a University officer designated for the purpose by the Council.

4. The Committee of Management shall meet at least once in each financial year to consider representations from Colleges or from the Council. The Committee shall have discretion to make grants to Colleges or to the University from time to time according to their needs and the resources of the Fund. Grants may be either single or recurrent for such period of years as the Committee may determine. All grants shall be reported by the Committee to the Council, who shall publish them to the University.

Travelling Expenses Fund

Source of income.

1. There shall be a Travelling Expenses Fund to which shall be credited as income such sums as may be allocated from the University Education Fund by the General Board.

Purpose.

2. The income of the Fund shall be used, at the discretion of the General Board, for making grants towards the cost of travelling and other expenses incurred by University officers in attending learned conferences or in travel for study or research connected with their University duties; provided that holders of offices for which no stipend is paid or which have been established for so long as the whole cost is provided from specified funds shall not be eligible to receive grants.

Applications.

3. Applications for grants from the Fund shall be submitted before the proposed expenditure is incurred, with an estimate of the amount and any other information which the General Board may require, to the Secretary of the General Board through the Head of the Department or, in Faculties not organized in Departments, through the Chairman of the Faculty Board, or in institutions not under the supervision of the General Board, through the Head of the institution concerned, who shall state whether he or she recommends the approval of a grant.

4. The General Board shall consider applications for grants from the Fund at least once in each term, and they shall be empowered to pay grants in advance on condition that the recipient subsequently certifies that he or she has actually incurred the expenditure on which the application was based and that no contributions towards that expenditure have been received which were not declared in the application.

Unexpended income.

5. Any part of the income of the Fund not expended in any year shall be allowed to accumulate and shall be available for use under Regulation 2 in subsequent years.

University Education Fund

Allocation to, and grants from, Fund.

1. In each year an allocation from the Chest to the General Board for the University Education Fund shall be approved by Grace. The General Board shall be empowered to approve grants for recurrent and for non-recurrent expenditure from the University Education Fund to the funds of Faculties, Departments, and other institutions under the supervision of the General Board, and to the Travelling Expenses Fund.

Adjustments of allocation.
Balance.

2. The Finance Committee of the Council in consultation with the General Board shall be empowered to adjust the allocation to the Fund from the Chest in any year on account of differences between actual and estimated expenditure of the institutions under the supervision of the General Board on pensionable stipends, wages, pensions, national insurance contributions, family allowances, and other personal emoluments, except where the savings have arisen from deciding to suppress or not to fill any office or post with a view to applying the savings to new developments of a recurrent nature or for other General Board purposes. Any balance in the Fund at the end of the financial year after such adjustment, if any, has been made shall remain in the Fund.

Grants for deficits.

3. When a deficit has arisen in the accounts of one or more institutions under the supervision of the General Board the General Board may make non-recurrent grants from the Fund to meet the whole or part of the deficit.

Footnotes

  1. 75. By Grace 2 of 12 October 2005, the Archibald Douglas Ross Fund was designated a General Purpose Fund.a
  2. 76. For Pension Fund I, see the regulations for FSSU, which were last published in Ordinances, 1979, p. 109.a
  3. 77. Research Maintenance Grants are currently suspended. Students should apply to their Faculty or Department for nomination for Domestic Research Studentships.a
  4. 78. For the purposes of this regulation the term ‘Bachelor's Degree’ shall be taken to mean a Bachelor's Degree of this University (see Statute K, 3(p)).a
  5. 79. Under this regulation persons, otherwise eligible, who have applied initially for admission as Graduate Students registered for the Ph.D. Degree but who have been required by the Board of Graduate Studies and the Degree Committee concerned to register for the M.Phil. Degree in the first instance as a condition of possible subsequent registration for a research degree, or who, having so applied for admission, have been admitted by the Board of Graduate Studies as Graduate Students not at first registered for any qualification, will be eligible to apply for grants from the Research Maintenance Grants Fund.a