Governance News

Just prior to its meeting on Friday 1 April 2016, Council visited the University’s premises on the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, including the Galvanising Shop and the Sail and Colour Loft.

Council also admired the sympathetically renovated Royal Dockyard Church and received a presentation there from Professor Nick Grief, Dean for Medway.

A new Women Count report has placed Kent among the top tier of 166 UK HEIs for the number of women on its 25-member council.

With 48% of its Council positions taken up by women, Kent is well above the Committee of University Chairs aspirational target of 40% of female governing body members. It can also be considered a gender-balanced board, generally defined as between 40% to 60% of either gender.

The report, entitled Women Count: Leaders in Higher Education 2016, was published on 2 March.

Sir David Warren, Chair of the University’s Council, said: ‘I am delighted that the University of Kent is at the forefront of gender diversity on its Governing Council. Diverse institutions are more effective institutions. I am proud to be Chair of a very effective Council in a very high-performing university.’

Kent’s Council is “the supreme governing body of the University” and its responsibilities include the oversight of the management and administration of the revenue and property of the University and oversight of the conduct of the affairs of the University.

The Council is also responsible for the appointment of lay officers, including its Chair and the Chancellor, lay members of the Council and external auditors, and for the making and amending of the University’s Statutes and Ordinances.

The Council’s principal committees include the Finance and Resources Committee, Audit Committee, Lay Nominations Committee and the Remuneration Committee.

On Friday 26 February 2016 Council held its annual Strategy Day in Darwin College.

Topics discussed included governance, the external environment, responding to current challenges in teaching, learning and the student experience and financial sustainability.

A meeting of the Court of the University was held on Friday 22 January 2016 in Darwin Conference Suite. This was followed by the opening of the first phase of the Templeman Library extension.

Council met on 27 November 2015 and approved the 2014/2015 Financial Statements and the statutory reports/returns for submission to HEFCE. Council also considered the Key Performance Indicators and approved the People Strategy (subject to some re-drafting), a revised Health and Safety Policy and the Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech.

Autumn Term 2015 has been an exciting month for the University Council, with its first trip overseas, to Brussels, and a number of new members attending their first meetings.

In October 2015 new lay members Dame Ursula Brennan and Her Honour Judge Heather Norton, new staff member Mark Ellis and new student member Megan Wells all attended their first meeting of Council.

Since the October 2015 meeting, three additional lay members have joined Council, Martin Coleman, Sarah Gibson and Andrew Newell. We look forward to welcoming them to their first meetings either in November 2015 or in Spring Term 2016.

During the 2014/2015 academic year Angela McNab and Stevie Spring also joined Council as lay members.

Council now has a full complement of members (25) and the gender balance is 13 men and 12 women.

Biographies and photographs of Council members can be seen on the Governance website:

http://www.kent.ac.uk/governance/council/biographies.html

Council considered and approved the draft University Plan for 2015-2020, subject to any further comments from the meeting of Senate to be held on 21 October 2015.  Council also approved the draft Estates Strategy.

As the Council meeting was held in Brussels, Professor Roger Vickerman, the Dean for Europe, gave a presentation on the work of the University’s European Study Centres.

Sir David Warren, Chair of the University Council and a former UK Ambassador to Japan, officially opened the new facilities for the University’s Brussels School on Thursday 15 October 2015.

Sir David, pictured  at the event with Professor Dame Julia Goodfellow, Vice-Chancellor, chaired a meeting of the University Council at the new and larger facilities for the Brussels School earlier that day.  This was the first time that a meeting of the University Council had been held outside the UK.

Members of the University Council were very impressed with the new facilities at the Brussels School and the trip highlighted the University’s commitment to its European activities.

Council recorded its thanks to the outgoing members finishing their terms of office on 31 July 2015:

Deputy Chair of the Council/Chair of the Finance and Resources Committee:

Tony Quigley

Lay members:

John Bowers, Lord Hannay, Ashley West and Her Honour Judge Adèle Williams

Academic-related staff member:

Dr Louise Naylor

Council considered the draft Strategic University Plan 2015-2020.  Views were broadly positive and it was agreed that the next iteration would be considered at the Council meeting in October 2015, alongside the draft Estates Strategy 2015-2025, the first iteration of which had also been reviewed at the June 2015 meeting.