General Information about this constituency
This constituency is comprised of four members of Congregation elected by Congregation from members of the faculties in the Divisions of Humanities and of Social Sciences.
Elections to this constituency restrict candidates to members of the faculties in the Divisions of Humanities and of Social Sciences. This means that all members of Congregation are eligible to nominate a candidate or to vote, but prospective candidates who want to stand for election must be a member of one the faculties in the Divisions of Humanities and of Social Sciences. (A list of these can be found in Statute VII).
The full term of office is four years (or less, when a by-election is held to fill the residue of the term of office for an elected member who is standing down early).
The terms of reference and membership of Council are set out in Statute IV.
Nominations from a diverse range of Congregation members are encouraged, particularly those from underrepresented groups.
Council is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and meets on Mondays of Weeks 1, 4 and 9 of each term (Week 8 in Michaelmas term) and in July and September. Meetings begin at 2pm and usually last for 2–3 hours. Members of Council are the University’s charity trustees and have a responsibility for ensuring that Council conducts itself in accordance with accepted standards of behaviour in public life, embracing selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. They must also play an appropriate part in ensuring that the business of Council is carried out effectively, efficiently and in a manner appropriate for the proper conduct of public business. Key skills include the ability to see issues from all angles, to discuss and question without being adversarial, to accept collective responsibility for decisions and to exercise common sense across a broad range of matters.
Elected members of Council will ordinarily be expected to serve on a small number of other committees (typically between one and three, usually including at least one of the main committees of Council i.e. Education Committee, General Purposes Committee, People Committee, Planning and Resource Allocation Committee, Research & Innovation Committee).
For further information, please contact the Head of Governance.
