Academic Board

Primary page content

Parent body

Council

Purpose

Academic Board is the principal academic authority within the College committee system.

It is responsible for overseeing all academic and research business at the College, and providing assurance to Council that the College is striving for and maintaining the highest provision.

Academic Board is made up of representatives from all stakeholders across the College and is chaired by the Warden.

The Board has 11 sub-committees to which it delegates various areas of its responsibilities for focused scrutiny, support and action, and is also the parent body of all Departmental Boards and their sub-committees.

The Academic Board has no single Terms of Reference document. Its Terms of Reference are derived from a collection of statements in the Charter, the Statutes and the Ordinances, the provisions of which are brought together below for convenience:

The role of Academic Board is defined in general terms by the Charter (Paragraph 7):

7. There shall be an Academic Board of the College (hereinafter referred to as "the Academic Board") which, subject to the powers of the Council as provided in this Our Charter and the Statutes and to the Statutes and Regulations of the University, shall be responsible for the academic work of the College in teaching, examining and research.

The powers of Council as defined in the Charter & Statutes (Statute 4) make other more detailed references relevant to the position of Academic Board. In particular, "before determining any question or taking any decision on the allocation of resources which the Council considers to affect the academic policy of the College, the Council shall seek the advice of the Academic Board."

The Statutes also contain the following requirements specifically in relation to the Academic Board:

Note: The Composition (Constitution) of Academic Board is defined in the Statutes (Statute 6), and may therefore only be changed with the permission of the Privy Council, acting on a recommendation from the College Council. Some details of the Statutory provisions follow the list of members below.

In the membership list, expiries of terms of office are 31 August in the year mentioned, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Statute 6 also provides for the following:

Class 1 and Class 2 members of the Academic Board shall remain members for so long as they hold the relevant office.

Class 3 members shall hold office according to the Standing Orders of the College, subject to any specific arrangements prescribed for Academic Board by Ordinance.

Class 4 members shall remain members for a period of one year but shall be eligible for re-election for a further period.

Class 5 Members shall be the holders of up to four specified posts, to be designated by the Council for this purpose from time to time.

The Academic Board shall have the power to co-opt up to two appropriately qualified persons for such period as it shall determine, except that such members shall not remain co-opted members for a seventh consecutive year.

Elected members of the Academic Board including student members shall cease to be members of the Board if they cease to be eligible in the categories in which they were elected. A student member shall vacate office immediately upon ceasing to be a student.

Casual vacancies shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the Standing Orders of the College, subject to any specific arrangements prescribed for Academic Board by Ordinance.

  1. The Academic Board shall be the body responsible for the academic work of the College in teaching, in examining and in research, excluding matters relating to the allocation of resources.
  2. The powers of the Academic Board shall be prescribed by the Ordinances.

  1. The Academic Board shall meet not less than once in each term.
  2. The quorum for a meeting of Academic Board shall be twenty, or such larger number as the Council may from time to time prescribe.

As indicated by the quotation from Statute 7 above, the main statement of the Powers of Academic Board is found in Ordinances. The relevant Ordinances are 4-5.

Class 1: ex officio members

CompositionMembership
Chair: Warden Professor Frances Corner
Pro-Warden Academic Professor Paul Rowlett
Pro-Warden Research, Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange Professor David Oswell
Students' Union President Hafsa Haji

Class 2

Heads of Department

CompositionMembership
Anthropology Dr Elena Gonzalez-Polledo
Art Professor Richard Noble
Computing Dr Jennifer George
Design Duncan Fairfax
Educational Studies Professor Farzana Shain
English and Creative Writing  Professor Jane Desmarais
History Professor Richard Grayson
Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship Gerald Lidstone
Institute of Management Studies Dr Ragupathy Venkatachalam
Law Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos
Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Professor Des Freedman
Music Dr Lauren Redhead
Politics and International Relations Dr Simon Griffiths
Psychology Dr Jose Van Velzen
Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies Dr Naomi Thompson
Sociology Professor Monica Greco
Theatre and Performance Dr Pamela Karantonis
Visual Cultures Dr Lynn Turner / Dr Astrid Schmetterling

Class 3: Elected members other than students

One member of the Academic Staff elected by the Academic Staff from each Academic Department.

Academic Departments

CompositionMembership
Anthropology Dr Henrike Donner (to 2023 eot)
Art Professor Stephen Johnstone (to 2024)
Computing Dr Jamie Ward (to 2025)
Design Matthew Ward (to 2024)
Educational Studies Dr Vally Lytra (to 2025) 
English and Creative Writing Professor Andreas Kramer (to 2024)
History vacancy
Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship Professor Victoria Alexander (to 2024)
Institute of Management Studies Dr Ivano Cardinale (to 2024)
Law Dr Fatima Ahdash (to 2025) 
Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Miranda Mclachlan (to 2025)
Music Dr Holly Rogers (to 2024)
Politics and International Relations Dr Elizabeth Evans (to 2023)
Psychology Dr Rebecca Charlton (to 2025)
Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies Lynne Brown (to 2025)
Sociology Dr Michael Guggenheim (to 2025) (Professor Abby Day interim for 2022-23 Autumn term)
Theatre and Performance Dr Mischa Twitchin (to 2025)
Visual Cultures Dr Emily Rosamund (to 2024)

Class 4: Student Members

By Statute, no more than three students may be elected to Academic Board, provided that the student membership at no time exceeds one-tenth of the total membership of Academic Board. By agreement with the Students' Union, the student places are currently filled as follows:

CompositionMembership
One member of the Student Assembly, elected by the assembly Georgia Little
One sabbatical officer of the Students' Union elected by the Student Assembly Islam Al Khatib
One officer of the Students' Union with a portfolio including postgraduate student matters, elected by the Student Assembly Victoria Chwa

Class 5: Specified Postholders

The holders of up to four specified posts to be designated by the Council for this purpose from time to time.

  • Dean of the Graduate School - Professor Mark Johnson
  • Academic Director of the Teaching and Learning Innovation Centre - Professor Marco Gillies
  • Director of Centre for Academic Language and Literacies - Conrad Heyns

Secretary: Louisa Green

In Attendance

CompositionMembership
Chief Finacial Officer Imran Chughtai
Chief Operating Officer Jilly Court
Director of Student Experience and Academic Registrar Louisa Green 
Director of Governance and Legal Services Matthew Brooks
Director of Communications Dr Stephen Lake
Director, People and Organisational Development Susan Edwards
Dean of Students vacancy
Academic Director of International Development and Academic Partnerships Dr Tara Page
Head of School: Arts & Humanities Dr Stephen Graham
Head of School: Culture & Society Professor Adam Dinham
Head of School: Professional Studies, Science and Technology Dr Anna Carlile
School Administrator Arts & Humanities Amanda Cater 
School Administrator Culture & Society Hugh Macnicol
School Administrator Professional Studies, Science and Technology Wendy McDonald 

Terms of office on committees are for three years, renewable for three further years. If the letters "eot" appear against a person's name in a membership listing, this indicates that he or she will reach the maximum term as a member of the body concerned on 31 August in the year specified.