ORDINANCE 4
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
1. Subject to Article 9 of the Charter, the Council shall define the role and responsibilities of its members based on recommendations from the Governance Committee. The terms of office for members of the Council shall be as prescribed in Article 10 of the Charter, apart from the President and Principal and the President of the Students’ Union, who are both ex officio members of the Council with terms of office aligned to their executive roles.
2. As required by the Office for Students, all members of the Council shall meet the ‘fit and proper person’ test for members of the governing body of a registered provider of higher education and shall be asked by the Secretary to Council to re-confirm their declaration as a ‘fit and proper person’ at least once a year.
3. All members of the Council shall comply with the University’s Conflict of Interest Policy, declare to the Secretary to Council any conflicts of interest which exist or may arise as soon as they occur, and not participate in decisions of the Council where a conflict of interest arises unless such participation is authorised by the Council in accordance with the Conflict of Interest Policy. The Secretary to Council shall maintain and publish a register of interests declared by members of the Council and shall ask each member to review and update the register at least once a year.
4. External members of the Council, including those nominated by the Drapers’ Company, shall be appointed by the Council based on recommendations from the Governance Committee.
5. Pursuant to Article 9 of the Charter, the two Senior Officers of the University who are nominated by the President and Principal to become members of the Council shall be appointed by the Council based on recommendations from the Governance Committee.
6. Pursuant to Article 9 of the Charter, the call for nominations and elections for elected staff members of the Council shall be conducted by the Secretary to Council and overseen by the Governance Committee as follows.
(a) All current staff employed across the University on academic or research staff terms and conditions, apart from the Senior Officers of the University, shall be entitled to stand for election as one of the four academic staff members of the Council.
(b) All current staff employed across the University on professional or support staff terms and conditions, apart from the Senior Officers of the University, shall be entitled to stand for election as the staff member of the Council who is not an academic staff member.
(c) Where more than one person stands for election, the Secretary to Council shall conduct an electronic ballot using the single transferable vote method. All current staff employed across the University on academic, research, professional or support staff terms and conditions shall be entitled to vote in every election.
(d) Elections shall normally be held one semester prior to the end of the term of office of a current elected member of the Council.
7. A new member of the Council who is appointed or elected to fill a casual vacancy shall commence a new term of office of four years and be eligible for re-appointment or re-election as appropriate in the same way as other members.
8. A member of the Council may resign by writing to the Chair of Council or the Secretary to Council.
9. A member of the Council may be removed from membership for good cause by the Council. ‘Good cause’ in this Ordinance includes but is not limited to:
(a) behaviour which falls short of the standards specified in the role description for a member of the Council;
(b) disqualification under the Charities Act from acting as a charity trustee or failure to satisfy the ‘fit and proper person’ test as required by the Office for Students;
(c) conviction of a criminal offence involving fraud or dishonesty;
(d) a bankruptcy order is made against that person;
(e) a composition is made with that person’s creditors generally in satisfaction of that person’s debts; and
(f) a registered medical practitioner who is treating that person gives a written opinion to the University stating that that person has become physically or mentally incapable of acting as a member of the Council and may remain so for more than three months.
10. Concerns or complaints about a member of the Council shall be raised with the Chair of Council or the Secretary to Council. In the case of a concern or complaint containing one or more of the grounds listed in paragraph 9 of this Ordinance, the Secretary to Council shall convene and support an ad hoc panel comprising the Chair or Vice-Chair of Council and two other external members of the Council to consider the concern or complaint, to receive representations from the member who is subject to the concern or complaint, and to make a recommendation to the Council. In the case of a concern or complaint about the Chair of Council, the panel shall include one additional person who is both external to the University and not currently a member of the Council.
Approved by the Council with effect from 1 August 2024.