The University Council

University Council – supporting and guiding the University of Southampton.

The University’s governing body is the Council, which meets six times a year. It approves the strategic plans of the University and is ultimately responsible for its finances, buildings and staff.

It approves all major development and receives regular reports from the Vice-Chancellor and the Executive Management Team, and is responsible for ensuring that audited financial statements are produced for each financial year. 

The Council is made up of:

• external members
• Executive Management Team members
• academic members
• non-teaching staff member
• representative of the Students’ Union

The Council has a key role to play in stewardship of the University, guiding the strategy and providing challenge to the Management Team. They are also ambassadors of the University helping the educational and research activities to be world renowned.

Council members

Dr Gill Rider	Philip Greenish	Graeme Hobbs
Professor Sir Christopher Snowden	Dr Bashir Lwaleed	Dame Judith Macgregor
Peter Hollins	Professor S Mark Spearing	Ms Flora Noble
Professor James Vickers	Dr David Price	Dr Alison Vincent
Adrian Reyes-Hughes	Mr Guy Berruyer	William Shannon
Professor Rachel Mills	Professor Philippa Reed	Francesca Barnes

Committees of the Council

The Council has a number of committees. The committees hold delegated responsibility for decision-making or consultation in specific areas.

• Standing Committee of Council
• Nominations Committee
• Senior Salaries Committee
• Audit Committee
• Health and Safety Audit and Assurance Committee
• Safety and Occupational Health Committee
• Consultative Committee for Safety and Occupational Health
• Genetic Modification and Biosafety Committee
• Finance Committee

Download PDFs of the terms of reference of the Council committees.

The Council is made up of 5 different classes of membership:

• Class 1: Officers (5 Positions - Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Provost and Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
• Class 2: Members Appointed by the Council (8 External Members)
• Class 3: Academic members of staff (4 Members)
• Class 4: Non-academic member of staff (1 member)
• Class 5: President of the Students' Union

The confirmed, unrestricted/non-confidential minutes of Council meetings are publicly available and copies can be obtained by emailing the Clerk to Council.