ELECTIONS
The Governance team manage a number of elections to a variety of bodies across the University, throughout the academic year. An overview of these elections are listed below, but please contact us directly if you have any specific queries.
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Staff to Board of Governors
The constitution of the Board of Governors provides for the election by General Assembly of one of its members from staff members within the University’s professional support services to serve as members of the Board.
Nominations from members of the General Assembly are invited for the place that will become available on the Board of Governors
Senate to Board of Governors
All members of Senate from the current year are eligible to be nominated except:
(a) those who hold ex officio membership of the Senate in category 1
(b) those who hold co-opted membership of Senate in category 4
(c) the student members of Senate, in category 5.
Of the six places available to Senate members on the Board of Governors, at least one shall be from Category 2, and at least four shall be from Category 3, at least one of whom shall hold a professorial or equivalent appointment and at least two of whom shall hold non-professorial appointments. Subject to these provisions, and the nominations received, balanced representation is required across the three Faculties in the University.
SENATE
Elections to the Senate of the University are held annually. Approximately one third of the elected places will fall vacant from 1 September each year.
The total number of seats on Senate for elected members is 40, and they are distributed between the three faculties as follows:
Faculty of Science and Engineering 13
Faculty of Humanities 12
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health 15
The rationale for the allocation of places is based on the number of academic and research staff within these faculties. If the number of nominations received in any Faculty’s electoral group exceeds the number of vacancies, a ballot will be held within the Faculty concerned.
Senate to Planning and Resources Committee
The Planning and Resources Committee (PRC) is the management body concerned with academic and resource planning and related matters in the University. The constitution of PRC provides for one of its members to be elected by the University’s Senate from amongst its own number. All ex officio, elected and co-opted members of the Senate may nominate and vote.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The main purpose of the General Assembly is to act as a two-way channel of communication through which the University presents its achievements to its broader constituencies and receives feedback and advice on matters relating to University business. There are a number of categories of membership, and the Governance office deals with elections to two of these categories, as detailed below. There is a third elected category of the assembly, that of Alumni, and this process is lead by the Development and Alumni team.
The membership of the General Assembly is currently under review, and as such, the elections mentioned below have been temporarily paused, until the review has been completed.
Staff to General Assembly
Any member of staff, full-time or part-time, who holds a paid, superannuable appointment:
- of a duration greater than twelve months; or
- of a duration of twelve months or less, but has an accumulated length of continuous service in excess of twelve months;
is eligible to nominate, vote or stand for election in their respective electoral group. Please note that it is not necessary to belong to a recognised superannuation scheme, only to be eligible to join one.
Senate to General Assembly
Category 11 of the General Assembly membership comprises 20 members of Senate (other than student members), elected by the Senate.
The General Assembly enables a number of informal opportunities, outside of its limited pattern of formal meetings, to engage with the University’s stakeholders. The time commitment required from members is minimal.
All members of Senate (from September 2019) are eligible to be nominated except:
(a) those holding ex officio membership of the General Assembly (President and Vice-Chancellor, Deputy Vice-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Deans of Faculties);
(b) those holding co-opted membership of Senate.
Only serving ex officio, elected and co-opted members of Senate may nominate (and vote if a ballot is required).