Each of the Ancient Scottish Universities, St Andrews among them, are governed by a tripartite system of General Council, University Court, and Academic Senate, as defined by the Universities (Scotland) Acts.
The General Council of St Andrews is the corporate body of all graduates and senior academics. Its role is to ask questions of the University Court on matters of University well-being and prosperity. The Council also elects two Assessors to the University court, appoints people to serve on Court, and elects the University Chancellor. You can read more about the General Council here: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/GeneralCouncil/
The office of the Chancellor has existed since the foundation of the University and no comprehensive definition of its powers has been made in any modern statute. The most authoritative definition is contained in the return made by the University to the Commissioners of 1826 which states: “The Chancellor is head of the University. He is consulted on all public matters relative to its welfare, and he is also Conservator of its privileges. The power of conferring degrees is vested in him: this he may exercise either personally when present or by his depute when absent, with the advice of the doctors and masters of the University.”
The present Chancellor is Sir Menzies Campbell CBE QC MP who, in terms of The Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, was elected in 2006, by the General Council and holds office for life. The Chancellor is the ordinary President of the General Council and appoints an Assessor on the University Court. http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/governance/TheChancellor/
The University Court at St Andrews is the ultimate decision making body on all financial matters; responsible for the strategic direction of the University. The Court is chaired by the Rector, Alistair Moffat - a position elected by students and whose role is to represent students. The next election of a rector takes place in 2014. You can visit the rector’s website here: http://moffatforrector.co.uk/
There are 23 members of court, drawn from the University, the local community and beyond. If you look at your contract of employment, you will see that it is not issued by the `University of St Andrews’ but by the `University Court of the University of St Andrews’.
The Senatus Academicus is responsible for all academic matters, in particular regulating the teaching and discipline of the University. It also approved all degrees to be conferred by the University - graduations are officially a meeting of Senatus. If you look at your degree certificate, you will see that it is not issued by the `University of St Andrews’ but by the `Senetus Academicus of the University of St Andrews.’ However, as the membership of Senate is so large (in excess of 140 people) the senatus devolves most of its business to a more streamlined Academic Council. The Academic Council makes decisions regarding all education matters e.g semesterisation, marking scales and library matters and is chaired by the Principal. Additionally, 4 members of Senate also sit on the Court.
There are also some key sub-committees that bridge both Court and Senate. The Planning and Resources Committee (PARC) reports to Court but also has very close links to Senate.
To read more about the governance of the University, visit the relevant section of the University website here: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/about/governance/