Senate is the supreme academic authority of the University and is accountable to Council.
The role of Senate is to promote the academic work of the University both in education and research. It has delegated authority from Council to oversee the academic work of the University, the enhancement of academic quality, the assurance of academic standards, and regulation of student discipline. It has 57 members, including pro-vice-chancellors, deans, heads of department, elected members and student representatives, and is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. Arrangements for observers to Senate are at the discretion and by invitation of the Chair of Senate.
The membership, functions and operations of the Senate are governed by Ordinances 13, 14, 16-19.
The powers of Senate are conferred on it by Council and are set out in full in Ordinance 14. These comprise:
Through these powers Senate supports and enables the development and implementation of the University Strategy, our Research Strategy and Education Strategy and relevant Supporting and Sub-Strategies, considers reports on our performance in relation to our education and research KPIs, contributes to shaping policies and procedures that fall within Senate’s remit, oversees enhancements in academic quality and assurance of academic standards, and to ensure the continued effective operation of the ordinances. Senate business will be shaped in any given year by our research and education priorities as set out in the Research Action Plan and Education Action Plan. Senate also receives regular reports from its sub-committees which support Senate in its work.
The agendas, papers (unless restricted) and minutes of Senate are made available to all University and Students’ Union staff through the Senate Digital Committee Portal. A range of other relevant information is also provided, including guidance and templates for paper sponsors and authors.
There are a number of ways in which members of the University community are able to engage in the work of Senate: