Branch motion on Board of Trustee representation goes to JNCC

Branch Committee

The following motion was passed unanimously at our last members meeting. It has now been sent to JNCC management representatives to provide a response.

Worker and student representation on the Board of Trustees

UCU Senate House Branch notes:

  1. That despite our branch’s continued advocacy and representations for more worker representation at the highest level of governance at the University of London, there is still none;
  2. That although the University of London state that the Board of Trustees is set up “In line with the Committee of University Chairs’ Higher Education Code of Governance” (https://london.ac.uk/5436htmlcentral-university-governance/board-trustees), the current arrangement of the Board of Trustees excludes any worker or student representation;
  3. That the Higher Education Code of Governance 2018 states:
    1. “There is an expectation, often enshrined within the constitutional documents of HEIs, that governing bodies will contain staff and student members and encourage their full and active participation.”
    2. “Student and staff members of the governing body share the same legal responsibilities and obligations as other members and must not be routinely excluded from discussions.”
  4. Staff, student and trade union membership of highest governance of university is standard practice across the Higher Education sector (examples are provided below). According to a survey undertaken in early 2022, the University of London is the only member of the University of London Federation that does not have staff membership of  the Board or Trustees of the equivalent highest governance committee of the university. We are falling behind in terms of the sector and our own Federation. This is in urgent need of reform:
    1. At the  University of Bristol, there are 20 members of the Board of Trustees, with a lay majority. The members are the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Treasurer, up to 15 lay members elected by Court upon the nomination of Court’s Nominations Committee, a member formally nominated by Convocation, 3 members of the academic staff, 2 members of non-academic staff and 2 students. Elected and appointed members serve for renewable three-year terms, with the exception of student members who serve one-year terms.
    2. At the Open University, the Council has a membership of 21. The majority (11) are external non-executive members, of whom the chair, the Pro-Chancellor, is one. There is also one executive member, the Vice-Chancellor, five members of the Senate one of whom shall be an associate lecturer appointed by the Senate, the President of the Open University Students Association and one other student, one associate lecturer and one member of the non-academic staff.
    3. At the University of Manchester, the Board of Governors meets formally at least five times in each academic year. Its membership of 25 has a majority of persons who are not employed by the University, known as lay members. The Chair of the Board of Governors is appointed by the Board of Governors from within the lay category of the membership. Members of the Senate, members of the support staff and a student representative also serve on the Board.

(This list is in no way exhaustive and further examples can be provided on request.)

UCU Senate House Branch believes:

  1. That workers and students are affected more than any other group by Board of Trustee decisions and deserve a say in how they are made;
  2. That the University of London does a disservice to its students, its workers, and itself as an organisation by refusing to have appropriate representation on the Board of Trustees;
  3. That appointing worker and student representatives would make the Board of Trustees a more diverse, transparent, and better operating component of the University of London.

UCU Senate House Branch resolves:

  1. To call on University of London to appoint worker and student representatives to the board of trustees;
  2. To call on University of London to work with Unions and students in order to determine what this representation looks like – we propose:
    1. Representatives from each recognised trade union,
    2. elected worker representatives,
    3. elected student representatives;
  3. To lobby the OfS and other regulatory bodies, and consider other options if these reasonable requests are not met.