About the Court and its Committees

The Court

The Court is the governing body of the University with ultimate authority over all of the University’s activities. The responsibilities of the Court are set out in its Statement of Primary Responsibilities. The Court comprises 25 members, the majority of whom are independent lay members. The remaining membership is made up of elected staff and students and ex officio members (members who are present because of a role that they hold, such as the Principal and Vice-Chancellor).

Committees of the Court

Court Committees represent the working arms of the Court, reviewing the work of the University in more depth. Their memberships include both members of the Court and other independent lay members who are not Court members but have experience which is valuable to the work of the Committee. Court Committees currently include the following:

Audit and Risk Committee (normally meets five times each year)
Finance Committee (normally meets five times each year)
Infrastructure Committee (reports to the Finance Committee) (normally meets five times each year)
Court Interim Business Committee (normally conducts its business by correspondence)
Governance and Nominations Committee (normally meets three times each year)
Global Student Life Committee (normally meets three times each year)
Remuneration Committee (normally meets twice each year)
Staff Committee (normally meets four times each year)
Ordinances and Regulations Committee (joint Committee of the Court and the Senate) (normally meets three to four times each year)
Donations and Investments Committee (reports to the Finance Committee) (normally meets three times each year)

Three short life working groups also report to the Court:

Members of Court and Court Committees are appointed for a period of three years and are eligible to be considered for up to two further periods of three years.

To learn more about those Committees and their Terms of Reference refer to our A-Z of Committees page.