Royal Holloway (RHUL) in its present incarnation as a College of the University of London was established as a charity by an Act of Parliament, the Royal Holloway and Bedford New College Act 1985. This Act specifies that two Royal Holloway bodies have ultimate responsibility for the conduct of Royal Holloway’s activities: the Royal Holloway Council and the Royal Holloway Academic Board. The Council is the governing body, but must consult the Academic Board about academic matters. The Academic Board is responsible for Royal Holloway’s academic activities and has the right to advise the Council about the general management of the College. Royal Holloway is governed by this RHBNC Act 1985, the Royal Holloway Statutes and the Royal Holloway Regulations of the Council, and a brief summary of the Sections of the Royal Holloway Instruments of Governances is available. The office of Principal is established by a College Statute (not the RHBNC Act), and the Principal is the “chief academic and administrative officer of the College”. The office of Principal is subject to the will of the Council and the Academic Board. Good practice in university governance is specified in various documents and is ultimately regulated by HEFCE, though for certain matters it is possible to petition the College Visitor. Good Governance for universities includes the following requirements.
- The Council must supervise the Principal.
- Council business is to be conducted as openly as possible.
- Council members should directly hear the views of staff.
- Rigorous evaluations of Council effectiveness are published.
- The institution is well-connected with its stakeholders.
- Non-compliance in governance is reported in the annual Financial Statement.
Governance practice at Royal Holloway currently falls some way short of the mandatory requirements, as the following examples illustrate.
- The College Council set up a secret redundancy committee.
- Evaluations of Council Effectiveness have not been published.
- Governance failings are not recorded in the Financial Statement.
More generally, the two fundamental governance bodies at Royal Holloway, the Council and the Academic Board, have minimal non-managerial academic staff membership, even though informed constructive challenge is a requirement of good governance. The presentation Governance Matters: Comparing Royal Holloway shows conclusively that such a composition for the Council and Academic Board is also very different from that at almost every other directly comparable UK university, that is to say the 31 current or recent members of the Russell Group or 1994 Group complying with the Committee of University Chairs (CUC) requirement that a Governing Body has at most 25 members with a majority of external members. This is illustrated by the two histograms below (compiled Autumn 2012) and discussed in the Times Higher Education article (9 May 2013) Royal Holloway Council Lacks Academic Input, (Text of the Times Higher Education Article).
The Council, or the Principal acting on the Council’s behalf, has wide-ranging powers which have immediate and serious consequences for the College and also for the academic staff (collectively and individually).
- Governance is the framework which specifies the limitations of the Council’s powers and the Principal’s powers.
- Governance is the mechanism by which the Council and the Principal are answerable for their actions to the academic staff and others.
A Council Effectiveness and Statue Review Board was set up in November 2012, leading to the publication of some new Draft Statutes. Any Draft Statutes that are adopted will impact immediately upon the governance of Royal Holloway, and so help determine both the nature of Royal Holloway and the success of Royal Holloway for the foreseeable future. The role of these pages is to provide information for an informed discussion about the governance of Royal Holloway, including Statute reform.
ucurhulgov 