Congregation votes in favour of amendment to White Paper

14 November 2006

Proposals to reform the way Oxford is governed moved forward after Congregation, the University’s parliament of dons, voted in favour of an amendment supportive of the raft of proposals contained in the White Paper.

The amendment, put forward by Sir Derek Morris Provost of Oriel College, and passed by Congregation, allows the balance of Council membership to be adjusted slightly at the end of an initial five year period.

Following a two hour debate in the Sheldonian Theatre, 652 members of Congregation voted to accept the amendment, and 507 against it. University regulations require that the amended legislative proposal is put to a second meeting of Congregation, which would probably be held on 28 November.

The debate saw 14 speakers take to the floor to give their views on the future governance of Oxford, which has been the subject of consultation within the University for more than 18 months. During the course of the debate, a letter sent by HEFCE to a member of the University concerning its position on the governance of higher education institutions was read aloud.

A second meeting of Congregation – which is likely to be on 28 November – will debate and vote on the amended legislative proposal concerning the package of reforms contained in the White Paper. These include changes to the size and composition of the University Council (membership will be reduced from 25 to 15, with seven internal and seven external members and Lord Patten in the Chair for the first five years); the creation of a Nominations Committee to put forward the names of external members for approval by Congregation; and the establishment of an Academic Board to oversee the University’s academic activity.

Following the second meeting of Congregation, the decision is expected to be put to a postal ballot of all members, almost 4,000 people in total.

A webcast of proceedings will available on the University’s website, and transcripts of speeches will be published in the Gazette.

A brief guide to University governance can be found at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/publicaffairs/governanceguide/