2018 saw the demise of the University Court, one of Lancaster’s oldest and most diverse decision-making bodies.
The University Court was an annual gathering bringing together a whole array of stakeholders. It made recommendations to the Senate and the Council of the university, was responsible for appointing the Pro-Chancellor, had delegates to various committees of the University, and had historically been used as an opportunity for locally based institutions and the broader community to raise concerns to the senior management. A ‘Court Review Group’ was set up by the University Council. It is not known how its members were appointed, and nobody from the University Court was invited to participate in the review. It was externally reviewed by a University of Exeter registrar who had been involved in the closure of that institution’s own Court, and the recommendations were approved by the Senate and Council, and presented as a fait accompli to the 2018 gathering of the Court, with no opportunity to vote on the proposals.
The reasons for abolishing Court are unclear. ‘Lack of diversity’ was presented as a reason, but the Court was more diverse than the Senate, University Council, and senior management team, so ignore that. It was also suggested that the Court consumed a lot of resources, but since the Court is being ‘replaced’ by a less accountable, less diverse ‘annual public meeting’ anyway, that can be ignored too.
What we can’t ignore is the fact that the Court of the University of Bath was instrumental in triggering a HEFCE investigation into Vice-Chancellors’ involvement in setting their own salary, and that only a few months prior our own remuneration committee was rejigged to remove the Vice-Chancellor. Just in time for the release of said HEFCE report.
What this means is that locally based institutions, alumni, dignitaries, clergymen, etc, now have no official say in the running of the university, and a tiny and unrepresentative body now has sole control over who to invite to its new ‘annual public meeting’.
It is the biggest, but by no means the only, exclusionary change to Lancaster’s decision-making this year, and you can read our coverage of this issue below:
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/10/12/court-in-the-act/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/10/12/to-court-your-favour/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/10/26/letters-2/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/11/23/senate-report/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/12/07/gravy-train-blues/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/12/07/malice-aforecourt/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2017/12/07/letters-5/
http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/subtext/2018/01/22/university-court-newsflash/