Board of Governors - APPENDIX IV - October 28, 1999

REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

FOR APPROVAL

1. Audited Financial Statements: The University of Western Ontario

Recommended: That the Board of Governors approve the audited financial statements for the University for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1999 (Annex 1, tab 1).

FOR INFORMATION

1. Supplementary Financial Statements: The University of Western Ontario

The University of Western Ontario, supplementary financial statements for the year ended April 30, 1999, are available on request.

2. Related Companies and Other Organizations

The financial statements for the following related companies and other organizations of The University of Western Ontario for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1999, are provided for the information of the Audit Committee (Annex 1, tabs 2-15).

• London Museum of Archaeology, as presented by the Museum's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the Company on June 22, 1999.
• Lawson-Jury Heritage Foundation, as presented by the Foundation's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Foundation's Board of Directors on September 7, 1999.
• Platt's Lane Estates Inc., as presented by the company's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Board of Directors of the Company on September 30, 1999.
• Foundation Western, as presented by the Foundation's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Directors of Foundation Western on October 4, 1999.
• The University of Western Ontario Foundation Inc., as presented by the Foundation's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as subject to approval by the members of the UWO Foundation Inc., at their annual meeting in April 2000.
• The University of Western Ontario Foundation for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, as presented by the company's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Directors of the company on September 8, 1999
• The University of Western Ontario Research and Development Park, as subject to approval by the Directors of the Company on a date to be determined.
• Ivey Management Services Group of Companies Combined Financial Statements and statements from Ivey Management Services, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, and Richard Ivey School of Business (Asia) Limited, as presented by the Ivey Management Service's auditors, Price Waterhouse and as subject to approval by the Board of Directors of the company on October 27, 1999.
• The Siebens-Drake Research Institute, as presented by the Institute's auditors, Ernst and Young, and as subject to approval by the Institute's Board of Directors on a date to be determined in October 1999.
• Combined Pension Fund for Members of the Academic and Administrative Staff - for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1998, as presented by the Pension Funds auditors, Ernst and Young, and as approved by the Joint Pension Board on June 22, 1999.

3. UWO Y2K Project Committee Report

The Audit Committee received the following Y2K Project Committee report on October 6, 1999.

DEVELOPMENTS:

Merger of Plans A & B

• The contingency planning efforts and ITS Y2K corrective efforts were merged August 1999 to create the UWO Y2K Project Committee. The two groups were merged to streamline the management of the Y2K project and to develop clear channels of authority and reporting.

Creation of UWO 4 Month Plan - version 3.0

• The 4 Month Plan has been approved by the Project Committee and PVP. The salient portions of the plan were presented to the Board of Governors September 23, 1999. The scope of the plan is to only address the Y2K status of the significant business functions (those ranking 5 or greater on the priority scale) of all areas of the University under the jurisdiction of the President's Office, Deans and Directors.
• The plan was drafted to fully delineate and articulate the following:
• Organization of the project
• Roles and responsibilities of the various individuals and groups tasked with addressing Y2K issues
• Timelines for completion of tasks
• Reporting format and lines of communications

Formation of Dedicated Teams

• Two areas of significant risk were recognized to be the development of contingency plans and the Y2K status of researchers equipment and data files. To address these risks dedicated groups were formed, the Contingency Planning Committee and the Researcher Resource Team. Both groups have full time project leaders. Both groups were launched in August 1999.
• The Contingency Planning Committee has reviewed the 2 volumes of the contingency worksheets submitted and has developed a core outline for the University's contingency plan. The Committee anticipates having a working draft of the plan by October 8, 1999.
• The Researcher Resource Team has the approval of PVP, SOGS and UWOFA. The ground work is in place to launch the team in short order, however, to date there has been difficulty recruiting team members. The Researcher Resource Team had planned to start offering assistance October 1, 1999; it is unlikely this date will be met.

Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry

• As of September 27, the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry had not submitted any formal Y2K reports. Those at the Faculty involved with Y2K are willing to cooperate, however, they are significantly overburdened and have not been able to comply. The Project Committee has been in regular communications with the Faculty and met with Faculty members on September 29 to develop a mini Y2K Project Plan for the Faculty.

Implementation of Phases I, II, III & Contingency Worksheets

• The three Phases address the identification and correction or "fix it" portion of Y2K readiness across the University. They are based on, but separate from the Contingency or Plan B efforts that were started earlier.

  • Phase I - September 17, 1999
    • Completion of Phase I of the Y2K Status Report.
    • List each Budget Unit or Department and assign a Y2K Unit Contact for each one.
    • Status: as of September 27, 1999 - 60% of targeted Units have responded. The University Organization Chart was used to target communications to Units. 41 Units were contacted, 16 have not responded.

  • Phase II October 1, 1999 - moved to October 8, 1999
    • Completion of Phase II of the Y2K Status Report.
    • Generation of inventory and assessments as they relate to identified business functions which rank 5 or above on the Johnson priority scale.
    • Sign-Off by Dean/Director
    • Status: as of September 27, 1999 - 15% of targeted Units have responded.

  • Phase III - November 1, 1999
    • Completion of Phase III of the Y2K Status Report.
    • Conclusion of remediation, implementation and certification of the items listed in Phase II.

• Contingency Worksheet Status
  • Identification and ranking of business functions per Unit. Development of contingency plans to ensure the continued operations of those business functions in the event of an emergency.
  • Status - as of September 27, 1999:
  • 56% of all targeted Units have submitted worksheets,
  • 75% of all Mission Critical & Medium Risk Faculties have submitted worksheets. - see attached Triaged Faculty Chart (Annex 2)
  • Note: With the implementation of Phase I, a number of Administration Units were added to the original Contingency Planning Unit list and this had an effect on the percentage complete.

Spot Review of Researcher Contracts

• A legal review of researcher contacts, as identified by the Director of Research Services, was conducted July 1999, to assess what potential legal exposure the University had with regard to researcher contracts.
• Major Findings:
• The University is a primary contracting party to all contracts and as such liable for damages in the event of a breach of the contract
• The primary deliverable is the research data - regardless of the outcome of that research the data must be provided to the funding party. Data corrupted by Y2K problems would be of questionable value.
• The research is to be conducted in a professionally competent manner and according to specified protocols.
• Ownership of the research data is vested or licensed to the funding body, with the exception of Tri-Council grants wherein the University owns the data.