8. Induction Process for New Members

New Committee Members may be either internal staff members or lay members.

Lay members are external to the University and provide their time for free. They may be either members of Council or non-Council lay members. The following committees all have non-Council lay members: Audit and Risk Committee, Finance Committee, Health, Safety and Environment Committee, Human Resources Committee and Infrastructure Committee.

It is particularly important that lay members are inducted properly to ensure that they are supported and have the best possible experience. Lay members will not be as familiar with the University campus, process and procedures as staff members. The induction for new lay members therefore, will normally include a tour of campus and meetings with key staff. 

Normally, new Committee Members are confirmed in the summer and officially assume their committee role at the start of the new academic year from 1st  August. Occasionally,  a new Committee member may be appointed during the academic year, this may be because a Committee member has left, a new person has joined the University, or someone has been co-opted to the Committee.

For all new staff Committee members the secretary should undertake an induction process which includes the following:

• Email the new member introducing yourself as Secretary and key contact for the Committee. The email should include information about how Committee papers are accessed (BI/ Teams), meeting dates, Terms of Reference (via the Committee webpage) and any other key documents.
• Ensure the member is added to Board Intelligence and/or the Committee Team.
• Send meetings invites via ‘Resource.calendar.University Wide.Committees’ calendar in Outlook, copied to the member’s PA if applicable.
• Arrange with the Chair to meet with the new member prior to the first meeting.  
• Confirm with the Chair if there are any other key individuals the new member should meet with before their first meeting.
• Update any Outlook or contact lists.
• Ensure the new member is added to the Composition and Membership on the committee webpage.

New lay members of Council are recommended by Governance and Nominations Committee and formally approved by Council.

Once approved, a formal letter of appointment will be sent to the new Council lay member from the Academic Registrar and Head of Governance, which shall include:

• The Role and Responsibilities of Council members and the Primary Responsibilities of Council.  
• Forthcoming meeting dates, including date of induction meeting, which is held prior to their first meeting.  
• The Register of Interests and Fit and Proper Persons forms.
• Information about claiming expenses.
• Members will be asked if they have PA support who will then be copied into meeting invites. 

Further information will be sent to the lay member by Academic Registry, including:

• How to access Council committee papers via BI
• Vehicle registration for the exempt parking charge list  
• Dietary requirements
• Profile for website
• University IT account and identity card
• EDI information

The University induction for new Council lay members will also include a campus tour and meeting with relevant key contacts.

If the Council lay member also sits on a sub-Committee the Secretary will be informed by Academic Registry about the appointment as soon as possible after it has been made and induction for the sub-Committee will be undertaken as in 8.4.

New non-Council lay members will be confirmed by Academic Registry, who will also send them the Register of Interests Form for completion.

The Committee Secretary should undertake the following tasks:  

• Email the new member introducing yourself as Secretary and key contact for the committee. The email should include information about how Committee papers are accessed, meeting dates, Terms of Reference (via the Committee webpage) and any other key documents.
• Ensure the member is added to Board Intelligence and/or the Committee Team.
• Send meetings invites via ‘Resource.calendar.University Wide.Committees’ calendar in Outlook, copied to the member’s PA if applicable.
• Arrange with the Chair to meet with the new member prior to the first meeting.  
• Confirm with the Chair if there are any other key individuals the new member should meet with before their first meeting.
• Update any Outlook or contact lists.

For non-Council lay members:

• Arrange a tour of campus.
• Obtain car registration details for the exempt parking charge list.
• Book a reserved parking space with the Security team in advance of the next committee meeting.  
• For the first meeting, offer to meet the new member and take them to the meeting room.
• Make sure you contact them directly a week before the meeting to confirm whether they will attend online or in person and confirm they have been able to access the committee papers.