Standing orders

The General Council was instituted by the Universities (Scotland) Act, 1858, but its constitution and organisation have been considerably altered by subsequent statutes.

The membership of the General Council is governed by ordinance No. 96 of the University of St Andrews and is as follows:

The Chancellor, all graduates of the University (including honorary graduates) and holders of the Licentiateship in Dental Surgery, members and former members of the University Court, Professors and former Professors of the University, Readers and Lecturers who have been in office for more than one year, former Readers and Lecturers who were members of the Council during their tenure of office as such and who continued in the employment of the University until retirement.

The Chancellor of the University is elected by the General Council and is President of the Council.

The business of the Council is to take into consideration all questions affecting the well-being 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. Members may raise any matter bearing upon the University, by reference to the Convener of the Business Committee of the General Council by emailing generalcouncil@st-andrews.ac.uk or by post to the Convener of the Business Committee of the General Council, General Council Office, 91 North Street, St Andrews KY16 9AJ.

Under the Universities (Scotland) Act,1966, new Ordinances and Resolutions are communicated in draft form to the General Council, whose opinion thereon is taken into consideration.

The Council nominates two Assessors to the University Court.

The affairs of the Council are conducted by a Business Committee exercising duties determined by the Council in accordance with the Council’s instructions.

Standing orders of the General Council

  1. Statutory Meetings — the Council shall assemble twice each year, such meetings to be held on the last Saturday in November and the last Saturday in June (subject to alteration from time to time by resolution of the Council with the approval of the University Court).
  2. Special Meetings — special meetings of the Council shall be called through the Clerk either at the request of the Business Committee, made by a majority of all its members, or at the request of not less than fifty members of the Council.
  3. Quorum — the quorum of the Council shall be twenty.
  4. President — at meetings of the Council, the Chancellor, whom failing the Principal, whom failing the Chancellor’s Assessor, whom failing a Council Assessor on Court (in order of seniority), whom failing the Convener of the Business Committee, shall preside; in the absence of all of these, a President-depute shall be elected by the meeting. In every case the President or President-depute has a deliberative and also a casting vote.
  5. Committees – the Council shall appoint and determine the duties of a Business Committee. From time to time the Council may appoint other committees to report on any matter remitted to them or to carry out instructions given to them by the Council.
  6. Notice of Motion — notice of every motion except procedural motions to be proposed at a meeting of the Council shall be given to the Clerk in writing, signed by the member giving it, at least eight days prior to the date of the meeting in question. Such a motion shall be succinctly addressed in not more than fifty words as a request to General Council to approve a particular course of action. If the President or President-depute is satisfied that due notice could not reasonably have been given in respect of a specific item of business, this Order may be suspended, for the sole purpose of discussing the business in question, on the vote of two-thirds of the members present at a meeting of the Council.

General Council Register

Changes of designation or address should be communicated immediately to the Registrar to the General Council by emailing generalcouncil@st-andrews.ac.uk or by post to the Registrar to the General Council, General Council Office, 91 North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9AJ. (Note – to comply with Data Protection legislation, the Register available for public consultation no longer contains members’ addresses but relevant queries may be directed to the Clerk to the General Council by emailing generalcouncil@st-andrews.ac.uk or phoning +44 (0)1334 46 1913.)

Business Committee of the General Council

Following approval of the revised terms of reference for the Business Committee by the General Council held on Saturday 28 June 2025, new standing orders are being developed for consideration at the General Council meeting in November 2025.

Last revision Tuesday 22 July 2025