Court Membership

Senate

Subject: Purpose and Membership of Court

Origin: Director of External Affairs and Secretary to Council & Court

There are longstanding concerns about the effectiveness of the Annual Meeting of Court. Attendance is a small proportion of membership and recent efforts to make more of the occasion, whilst useful in themselves, seem to mask a more underlying issue about what purpose Court serves and how it benefits the University.

The membership of Court is a related issue, and linked closely to both purpose and usefulness. A strong membership, relevant to the University’s strategy and key activities (that attend) would make the investment of time and resources more worthwhile. However, this is unlikely to be achieved unless the event can be made more rewarding and useful for a wider range of participants. It is crucial that membership fits the agreed purpose and that Court contributes to the University’s capacity to achieve its strategy, not least in the area of Advancement. A relaunch of Court could be linked to the Centenary year in 2009.

A review of the effectiveness and membership of Court is therefore timely. The Charter states the following:

11.	There shall be a Court of the University (in this Our Charter called "the Court") which shall, subject to this Our Charter and the Statutes, appoint the Chancellor, the Pro-Chancellors (other than the Senior Pro-Chancellor) and the Treasurer and receive reports on the working of the University.

but does not place other restrictions on the arrangements for Court. The detail of Court’s membership, powers and meetings are now set out in Ordinances VIII and IX and therefore can be amended with the approval of Council.

It is therefore recommended that:

(a) Council endorse the need to undertake a review of Court, to define its purpose in both the advancement of the University and its relationship with stakeholders and to develop a membership that reflects this.

(b) Court in February 2008 is asked to note this proposal and to agree that a new structure for Court be put in place following Council agreement in July 2008.

(c) That the first meeting of a newly constructed Court takes place in 2009, related to the University’s celebrations of its Centenary year.

The Executive Management Group will agree a small working party to take forward the review and provide an update on progress to Council at its meeting in April 2008.