Role of the Board of Governors

What are the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Governors?

The Board of Governors is ultimately responsible for all the University’s activities, but specifically its educational character and mission, its senior management structure and its financial solvency.
Members of the Board come from all walks of life, bringing considerable experience to the University.
The primary responsibilities of the Board are:
  • To contribute to and approve the University’s mission and strategic vision, through approval of the corporate plan, and associated academic and business plans and budgets designed to support the achievement of the mission and vision.
  • To ensure that appropriate supporting strategies are in place in relation to key Board interests such as estates, finance and human resources.
  • To monitor the University’s performance against approved strategies, using key performance indicators benchmarked wherever possible against competitor institutions, and to make available the outcomes of that monitoring.
  • To ensure that appropriate systems of control and accountability are in place to secure the solvency of the University and the safeguarding of its assets, including financial and operational controls and risk management procedures and that such systems are subject to audit.
  • To appoint a Vice-Chancellor as head of the University and put in place suitable arrangements for monitoring his or her performance; the Board is also responsible for the remuneration and conditions of service of the Vice-Chancellor and for processes whereby s/he may be suspended or dismissed.
  • To approve the structure and composition of the University’s senior management team.
  • To ensure that the University has the systems in place to meet its legal obligations in relation to charity law, equality and diversity, health and safety, and procurement.