Corporate Governance at the University

The mandate for the ISDB is as follows:

Strategy and Policy:

• Production and communication of the Innovation Strategy, ensuring full alignment to the 2025 University Strategy and associated thematic and enabling strategies
• Understand the potential to achieve our innovation ambition in each College and across University Services
• Recommend policies regarding innovation to SMG and Court
• Oversee a framework for corporate engagement (consultancy and corporate venturing) at a strategic and institutional level
• Promote inclusive innovation
• Ensure that the Board's membership includes the skills and experience necessary to address its remit effectively.  To this end, the Board membership may rotate depending what aspect of the innovation agenda is under development. Small working sub-groups may be formed from time to time

Delivery and Operations:

• Governance of the University fund to close external funding gaps
• Establish a pool of Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs), mentors and experienced non-executive board candidates
• Increase the level of Innovate funding and other external translation funding
• Identify and develop opportunities for new clusters in Glasgow
• Governance of the GRID strategy
• Develop entrepreneurship programmes to support staff and student start ups
• Establish the sustainability of the innovation agenda through:
• Use and application of the annual University Innovation Fund dispersed by Scottish Funding Council
• Use and application of annual license income and realisations
• Development of the on-campus Innovation Zone and GRID innovation spaces
• Oversee Research Hub research impact (including beacons)
• Provide support to academics, in terms of defining potential external impact, who bid on large challenge-led funding calls or initiatives
• Define and implement a corporate engagement framework at a strategic and institutional level
• Pre-approve the annual Innovation Strategy capital spend
• Pre-approve the rolling investment plans for 3-year cycles and submit as part of the Investment Committee annual planning exercise
• Provide overarching programme governance to the Innovation programme

The following details the delegated authority for the ISDB and shows how it is placed in the overall University Scheme of Delegation with escalation to Senior Management Group, Finance or Investment Committees or Court:

This is an executive chaired Board with the following membership:

• Vice Principal (Corporate Engagement & Innovation) (Chair)
• Senior Vice-Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor
• Executive Director of Finance
• Vice Principal and Head of College (CoSE) OR Director of Professional Services (CoSSE)
• Vice Principal and Head of College (MVLS) OR Dean of Innovation (MVLS)
• Vice Principal and Head of College (CoSS) OR Dean of External Engagement
• Vice Principal and Head of College (Arts) OR Dean of Research
• Vice Principal (Research)
• Research Hub Academic Lead

The Board has final accountability for the production and governance of the annual and 3-year investment plans.  Each Board member has a fiduciary responsibility to:

• Assess and publicly support the outcomes from the Innovation Agenda including providing insight into impact
• Provide challenge on the Innovation Strategy Delivery Timescales including cost and resource constraints
• Identify, assess and mitigate innovation risk at an institutional level as well as horizon scanning at a sector level
• Openly and constructively challenge where investments or gap funding proposals do not meet our Innovation Strategy outcomes
• Take ownership for specific actions and risks in the ISDB Action and Risk Logs. All actions and risks must have a board member as overall owner
• Ensure all investments and gap funding proposals are in line with University Strategies & Policies
• Agree on the achievability of business cases, plans and roadmaps
• Activity and behaviour should embody the University’s values (click here for details)

The meeting schedule will be every 2 months tying in with annual budgeting cycle. 

INPUTS

• UofG strategy and plan
• Innovation Strategy and Roadmap
• Innovation related policies
• Management information provided by Planning Insights & Analytics
• Current FY and 3-year Innovation budgets and 3-year Outlook
• Investment Business Cases to be presented
• Gap funding report
• Annual GU Holdings report
• Summary of changes made to action log

OUTPUTS

• Papers as required to SMG or Court
• Revised business cases
• Communication and support for the innovation strategy
• Decision Log
• Action Log
• Minutes

Substitutions may be made with prior notice given to the clerk.  There must be a minimum of 4 from the core group (excluding clerk) in attendance for decisions or approvals. In the event of a consensus not being reached, the Chair will have the casting decision.

The ISDB will follow the UofG procedure for the management of any conflicts.  The procedure defines declaration of conflicts as a standard agenda item at the start of the meeting, the maintenance of a register of conflicts, and a process for managing all conflicts which are declared.