What is Congregation?

What is Congregation and how does it work? 

Congregation is the ultimate legislative body of the University of Oxford: its ‘sovereign body’.  It has responsibility for considering major policy issues submitted to it by Council or members of Congregation; elects members to certain University bodies, including Council; and approves changes or additions to the University's statutes and regulations (its ‘legislation’), which define the governance structure.  The criteria for membership, the rights of members and its processes are all set out in University legislation.  

Members of Congregation have a number of individual rights and collective actions available to them which create different types of opportunity for offering a view on the policy or administration of the University, including proposed changes to legislation.  Items on the agenda for meetings of Congregation are published in the University’s official journal, the Gazette, along with deadlines for submitting notices of opposition. 

Rights of members of Congregation 

Members of Congregation can have an input to University matters in a variety of ways. Involvement of members in the business of Congregation is not compulsory. 

Individual rights

• Vote in elections for members of certain bodies, including the University’s Council; 

• Vote in elections by Convocation (for a new Chancellor or Professor of Poetry); 

• Attend meetings of Congregation;  

• Vote at meetings of Congregation and in any electronic ballot held subsequent to a meeting of Congregation. 

Collective actions available

• 2 members may object to a legislative proposal (change in legislation on the agenda of Congregation) or suggest an amendment to a legislative proposal; 

• 20 members of Congregation may submit a resolution on any topic, including on the suspension of the operation of sections 5-7 of Statute IV: Congregation or any regulations made by Congregation; 

• 2 members may propose an amendment to a resolution; 

• 20 members, may put forward for discussion in Congregation any topic of concern to the University; 

• 1 member may ask a question relating to any matter concerning the policy or the administration of the University (at a meeting of Congregation in Full Term); 

• 10 members of Congregation may make their views known on matters before Congregation, or Convocation, or any matter of general interest to the University, by issuing a statement as a fly-sheet for publication in the Gazette. 

For any questions regarding collective actions, please contact congregation.meeting@admin.ox.ac.uk for advice. 

Other functions and powers of Congregation

• To confer degrees; 

• To approve the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor. 

For full details of the functions and procedures relating to Congregation, please refer to the University’s legislation: Statute IV and  Congregation Regulations 2 of 2002.   

Communication 

The Congregation team maintains an email distribution list of current members of Congregation but the primary way of communicating is through the Gazette, the University’s journal of official business. Members of Congregation are recommended to sign up to email notifications of new additions of the Gazette.  Agenda items and any proposed changes to legislation will be clearly set out, along with a brief description of the proposed changes. 

Information relating to meetings of Congregation is also published on the Congregation web pages.