Saad Khan honoured with inaugural provincial award

McMaster’s Saad Khan, senior manager, Project Reporting is the inaugural recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Council of Ontario Finance Officers (COFO).

COFO recognizes and celebrates the achievements of administrators at member institutions through its acknowledgement awards. This award is given to recognize exemplary service and contributions to a university and/or the Ontario higher education sector.

Since joining McMaster University in August 2015, Saad has overseen a wide breadth of the university and high learning sector. He has had a diverse scope of responsibility, including manager lead for the annual financial statement audit, COFO annual submissions, HST and tax compliance, etc. At the same time, Saad has been an active member and lead on a variety of internal committees including but not limited to, Payment Compliance Committee, University Fee Schedule Committee, Trust Fund Operations Committee and University Pension Harmonization Operations Group.

Saad has also made large contributions to the higher learning sector, beyond just McMaster University. He has been a Chair of the COFO Guidelines Review Committee (GRC) for the past four years, in this role he also serves on the COFO Financial Reporting Committee (FRC). Saad has presented the COFO Fall Webinar for the past four years, training and teaching colleagues across the sector on the existing and new guidelines. Saad will soon be a facilitator at the 2024 COFO Fall Conference for the Non-Tuition Revenue Roundtable.

“Despite his large scope and high demands, he is always driven to help, mentor and partner with those around him.” says Sarah Bolduc, Director, Accounting & Financial Reporting. “When I joined in January 2024, Saad had recently started a new position. In that time, he trained myself and his successor all while meeting the daily demands of his new role. He did this with humility and grace, with no resentment or frustration, with the simple drive to help his team, his university and the higher learning sector.”

“I fully support Saad’s nomination for COFO’s Distinguished service award,” says Omer Ahmed, AVP & Chief Financial Officer, “Saad is a highly valued member of our Finance team and is one of our top performing talents. He has an owner’s mindset, is strategic in his approach and very diligent.”

Criteria for this award included length of service and contributions to a university and higher education, the COFO group, influence and integrity above their position, and a minimum of three letters of support from colleagues across the sector.

Congratulations Saad!