Nominations Committee

Terms of Reference and Constitution

Governance reporting line: Council

Document owner: Governance Services

1. Origin

The Council has established a committee of Council known as the Nominations Committee.

2. Purpose

The Nominations Committee:

• advises Council on the appointment of Council members and persons to the office of Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor
• appoints members of specific Committees of Council in accordance with delegated authority.

3. Responsibilities and activity

To consider and advise Council on those persons (including the lay Officers) who might be appointed (or reappointed) to membership of Council in the appropriate Classes of membership.

To consider and advise Council on those persons who might be appointed (or reappointed) to the office of Chancellor or Pro-Chancellor, after appropriate consultation with the Senate or after the Senate has been given the opportunity to comment on the appointment or reappointment.

To appoint the members of the Audit Committee, Finance Committee, Health and Safety Audit and Assurance Committee, Remuneration Committee, Pensions Committee and Estates and Infrastructure Committee.

To ensure the body is fit for purpose by performing an effectiveness review every three years.

Mode of Operation

The composition of the Council is set out in the Statutes of the University and is divided into classes of member as follows:

• Class 1 – officers 
• Class 2 – members appointed by Council being neither employees nor officers of the University
• Class 3 – members of Senate
• Class 4 – a member of the full-time staff of the University
• Class 5 – the President of the Student’s Union

Under the Statutes, the Class 1 members hold office while they occupy the named office. There is no requirement for a Class 1 member to have served as a Class 2 member before appointment as an officer and a class 2 member cannot be an officer of the University.  Therefore, if a person has been appointed to Class 2, the appointment ends on appointment to Class 1. The appointment process is set out in the Ordinances where it states that the Council appoints the Chair of Council, the Vice-Chair of Council and the Treasurer and each holds office for 3 years from appointment and shall not normally hold office for more than 6 years. 

Terms of office; Class 1 members can serve a maximum of 2 three year terms, Class 2 can serve a maximum of 3 three year terms. Class 2 members can, at any time, be appointed as Class 1 members, thus potentially serving a maximum 15 year. Under normal circumstances, Class 2 members should expect to serve 2 three-year terms. Consideration will be given to a third and final term if required to enable a steady turnover of Class 2 members or when a member brings exceptional skills or supports the University in unique ways

4. Reporting arrangements

The Nominations Committee is accountable to the Council.

5. Constitution

5.1 Membership

Members of the Nominations Committee are appointed by Council.

The committee shall comprise:

• Chair of Council (Chair)
• Vice-Chair of Council
• Treasurer
• President & Vice-Chancellor
• Senior Vice-President (Academic)
• A lay member of Council 
• A Senate member on Council (appointed by Senate)
• President of the Students’ Union

5.2 Attendance at meetings

The following shall normally be in attendance at Nominations Committee meetings:

• Vice-President (Operations)
• Executive Director Legal, Governance & Strategy Implementation
• Governance Services
• Current membership is set out in the Annex to these Terms of Reference.

6. Quorum and frequency

6.1 Quorum

A quorum for this Committee is a third of the membership plus one (three members), one of whom must be the Chair of Council or the Vice-Chair of Council.

6.2 Frequency of meetings

The Committee will meet usually four times per year, prior to Council meetings.

7. Resources 

Secretariat support is provided by Governance Services.

8. Terms of Reference review

Date of last review: September 2021

Date of next review: September 2023

Annex