This position arose from my last, that of Treasurer and Director of Services at Durham Students' Union. After I had completed that year, the University Treasurer offered me something similar to an Internship, whereby my various skills would be applied in many places over the Treasurer's Department of the University, thereby providing them with useful assistance and me with useful experience.

In general, I am answerable to the Head of Business Support Services, whose department is responsible for the management accounts, for applications and support of research grants received from assorted bodies, and for a whole host of other things besides. On occasion, when another section is short-handed, I am "lent" to them for the duration.

To date, my responsibilities have included:

• Sole responsibility for a project to improve the way in which the University's Management Accounts are produced.
• Liaising between the Treasurer's Department and the Estates and Buildings Department as the charging structure within Estates and Buildings is changed from one of "recharging" academic departments for work to a situation where Estates and Buildings hold the budgets for maintenance of the buildings housing the departments.
• Researching and clarifying the complex structure of cost centres within the University and the officers whose responsibilities these are.
• Analysis of comparatives residence costs for students at all of the UK's universities to help the University with setting its own charges.
• Assisting with the budgeting procedure by working on staff estimates throughout the university.
• A complete redesign of the Treasurer's Department's (intranet) website into a versatile and complete resource with a wide amount of information.
• Research into and analysis of the the funding sources for postgraduate students
• Analysis of the research grants received by the University, in particular to consider the Overhead Rates received.
• Numerous small tasks for a variety of sections, all the while improving my knowledge of structures, financial systems and a whole host of issues.

In this time, I have particularly improved my skills and knowledge with respect to:

• Accounting practices
• EU funding for Higher Education and Small Businesses
• Management Techniques
• Audit
• The practical applications of numerical analysis methods learnt during my degree
• The structures of large organisations
• The Oracle Financials Database, the Oracle Applications Desktop Integrator, and the Cyborg Personnel/Payroll system.

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