Future of the General Council Business Committee

Submitted to the General Council on Saturday 28 June 2025.

Purpose

  1. To propose new Terms of Reference for the General Council Business Committee (GCBC).

Action requested

  1. The General Council is invited to approve the revised Terms of Reference for a restructured GCBC.

Consultation

  1. The proposed restructuring and revised Terms of Reference reflects extensive discussion by the GCBC since January 2023 and its deliberations about its role and purpose over the past decade.
  2. The Alumni Relations Office has sounded out several associations and clubs, who have responded positively to this initiative and indicated that they would be happy to be involved in the GCBC.

Background

  1. The General Council was created by the Universities Scotland Act of 1858, with membership consisting of all graduates of the University and senior academics. It is chaired by the Chancellor and its remit is to take into consideration “all questions affecting the wellbeing and prosperity of the University, and to make representations from time to time on such questions to the University Court, who shall consider the same, and return to the Council their deliverance thereon”.
  2. The General Council is required to meet twice a year and elects the Chancellor, the ceremonial head of the University, who also acts as its President. It nominates two Assessors to the University Court (since 2019 this has been through a selection and interview process analogous to that for other co-opted Court members) and is consulted on draft ordinances and resolutions referred to it by the University Court.

The historic context

  1. The GCBC has been in existence since the 1950s and its creation was constitutionally permitted under the Universities (Scotland) Act of 1966, which provides that 'the General Council of each of the older Universities shall have power to appoint committees of its own number or others, and to define the powers, and to determine the membership and the quorum, of such committees'.
  2. The GCBC’s terms of reference are published on the University website and tasks it 'with organising the business within the remit of the General Council and framing the programme of business to be communicated to the General Council members under powers specifically conferred upon the Committee, or in circumstances of emergency'.
  3. It has a maximum of 12 elected and co-opted members, with four ex officio members, namely the Chancellor’s Assessor, the Principal, and the two General Council Assessors to Court.
  4. The GCBC played an active role in alumni relations throughout the second half of the 20th century, but the advent of electronic communications and the establishment of a permanent Alumni Relations Office meant that these functions were taken over by the University.
  5. Following a review of General Council eIectiveness in 2013, conducted by a working group comprising the two General Council Assessors and two representatives of the GCBC, it was agreed that the GCBC would operate without administrative support.
  6. In practice, for at least the past decade, the GCBC has had minimal involvement in the organisation of General Council meetings, with the selection of speakers, the agreement of agendas and the practical administrative arrangements being carried out by the Alumni Relations Office, overseen by the Registrar and Clerk.
  7. Whilst the GCBC has had a historic role in coordinating General Council views on ordinances and resolutions (the website also states that 'All University decisions (in the form of draft ordinances and resolutions from University Court) are communicated to the General Council through the Business Committee, in practice the University communicates directly to General Council members, who are able to comment directly. GDPR considerations prevent the GCBC from being able to communicate directly with the membership of the General Council, and its work reviewing draft ordinances and resolutions has tended to focus on the views of GCBC members rather than that wider constituency. (Over the past decade, the General Council has been consulted on 15 resolutions and five ordinances. The GCBC has provided comments on two and four of these respectively.)
  8. The GCBC currently has responsibilities under Ordinance 129 for oversight of the election of the Chancellor. The GCBC agreed a protocol for this in November 2023, which delegates responsibility for this to a working group consisting of the Convener or their deputy, the General Council Assessor, the Principal, and the Registrar and Clerk.

The need for change

  1. Since 2022, the University ceased running electronic elections in-house and outsourced the conduct of these to Civicas. The GCBC has no dedicated budget and University funding would be necessary to meet the cost of this. The GCBC was advised that to bid for a budget, it would need to provide a business case that articulated the role and purpose of the Committee and the value it would add to General Council business.
  2. The terms of office of the last remaining elected members of the GCBC come to an end this June 2025. Without refreshed Terms of Reference , going forward the GCBC would consist of the ex officio members only.
  3. Although the GCBC has, over several years, sought to redefine its roles and responsibilities, this provided an opportunity to take a fresh look at its purpose and how it can best support the General Council and the alumni community.
  4. The proposed Terms of Reference for a revised GCBC recast it as a forum where representatives nominated by the most active alumni associations can meet to share experiences and support the University’s global outreach activities.
  5. This recognises the changes of the last decade and provides opportunities for the General Council to maintain its relevance in University governance, encouraging greater involvement of alumni worldwide.
  6. It is not proposed to change any of the Standing Orders to General Council.

Recommendation

  1. The General Council is invited to discuss and approve the revised Terms of Reference for its Business Committee, to take immediate effect.

Matthew Lawson
Convenor
General Council Business Committee
April 2025

Download a copy of the paper: Future of the General Council Business Committee (PDF)