From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Professional financial administrator in a school or university
A
bursar
(derived from
bursa
,
Latin
for '
purse
') is a professional
administrator
in a
school
or
university
often with a predominantly financial role. In the
United States
, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education (two-year and four-year colleges and universities) or at private secondary schools. In Australia, the
United Kingdom
and other countries, bursars are common at other levels of education.
Duties
[
edit
]
The bursar is responsible for billing of student tuition accounts.
[1]
This responsibility involves sending bills and making payment plans; the ultimate goal is to bring all student accounts to a "paid off" status. Bursars are not necessarily involved in the
financial aid
process.
Bursars' duties vary from one institution to another. At many institutions, bursars deal only with student finances. At other institutions, bursars also deal with some faculty finance issues. Elsewhere, they also oversee accounts receivable, or the payments that the university receives from outside organizations for which it performs services. In some institutions, all money held by the institution is the bursar's responsibility. Some bursars (in the UK for instance) also have responsibility for payroll, investments, facilities, IT, human resources, health and safety and oversight of administrative functions at an institution.
The bursar statement is also known as a tuition
bill
or a student account bill.
The bursar often reports to a
comptroller
. For example,
Barnard College
employs an Associate Comptroller?Bursar.
[2]
In other cases, the bursar has the same level as the
comptroller
, and both report to the director or vice president of finance. Some universities in the United States still have a director of student financial services whose role is similar to that of a bursar. The
University of Pennsylvania
employs an associate vice president who essentially combines the role of a bursar (using the student financial services title) and that of a
registrar
.
[3]
Notable bursars
[
edit
]
- Andrew Munro
(1869?1935), bursar
Queens' College, Cambridge
- Sir John Bradfield
(1925?2014), senior bursar of
Trinity College, Cambridge
(1956?92)
- John Maynard Keynes
(1883?1946), first bursar of
King's College, Cambridge
(1924?44)
[4]
- The Rev. Prof.
Norman Walker Porteous
(1898?2003), first bursar of
University of Edinburgh
(1916)
- Derek Taunt
(1917?2004),
Jesus College, Cambridge
- Billy Liddell
(1922?2001), former footballer and bursar of
Liverpool University
(1961?84)
- Cecil Goodden
(1879?1969),
Harrow School
[5]
Fictional
[
edit
]
Professor Dinwiddie is "
The Bursar
" of the
Unseen University
in
Terry Pratchett
's
Discworld
novels. He is driven insane by the Archchancellor and so madness is known there as "going Bursar".
[6]
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
Look up
bursar
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Bursar job description"
.
www.jobzilla.ng
. Retrieved
2022-03-28
.
- ^
Barnard College Bursar's webpage
- ^
UPenn website on student financial services
- ^
John Maynard Keynes, 1883?1946, fellow and bursar
,
King's College (University of Cambridge)
, Printed for King's College, 1949, 41pp
- ^
"Wisden ? Obituaries in 1969"
. ESPNcricinfo
. Retrieved
2 June
2011
.
- ^
Stubby the Rocket (2015),
They Got Red in Their Ledger
, Tor
- ^
Michael Cohn (2015),
"Accountants in Science Fiction and Fantasy"
,
Accounting Today