How decisions are made at our University
05 Mar 2020
Find out more about our governance and management committees
Feedback from the Staff Survey 2019 revealed that colleagues would like to know more about how decisions are made at our University.
An animated diagram has been created to help explain at a University-level the different governance and management committees. To view the animation you’ll need to click the slide show icon which you can find on the right hand side of the bottom menu bar in Powerpoint.
As you click on each icon you’ll find more information like who sits on the group, when it meets and what its terms of reference are. Where minutes are published you’ll find links to them. The diagram is colour coded to show the difference between:
- Yellow: University governance committees - which are concerned with enabling our University to fulfil its strategic objectives and ensure the University is well managed and accountable to our stakeholders. The Board of Governors has ultimate responsibility for our University’s strategic direction, its finances, property and employment arrangements for all staff.
- Blue: Senate – this is the University’s academic authority which is responsible to the Board of Governors for the promotion of research and monitoring standards in teaching.
- Purple: University level management committees - which oversee the delivery of the University’s strategic plan by monitoring performance, approving policy and priorities and agreeing the deployment of shared resources. Planning and Resources Committee is the principal body, with a number of sub-committees and other groups reporting in to it, accountable to the Board of Governors for the operation and performance of the University.
This diagram lays out the University’s formal governance and central management committees. In addition to these there are a number of informal bodies which are involved in pre-policy discussion and are not shown on this diagram. These include the University’s Senior Leadership Team; Professional Services Leadership Team; Faculty Leadership Teams; Teaching and Learning Group; Research Group and the Social Responsibility Governance Group.
The University regularly reviews its governance framework in the context of external regulatory requirements to ensure that governance remains robust and proportionate and to remove unnecessary complexity. A governance handbook is in development and this will facilitate the development and sharing of good practice across the University.
If you have an issue which you’d like to raise but are unsure whether it’s appropriate for a University-level governance or management group, in the first instance contact deputysecretary@manchester.ac.uk
Regards,
Mark Rollinson, Deputy Secretary