APPOINTMENT OF
INDEPENDENT GOVERNORS
The professional University
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www.rgu.ac.uk
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CONTENTS THE OPPORTUNITY 5 THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS 5 THE ROLE OF INDEPENDENT GOVERNORS 6 PERSON SPECIFICATION
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RGU’s Strategy 8 The Estate 10 HOW TO APPLY 12 Links to Other Useful Information 3
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The Opportunity Robert Gordon University wishes to appoint a number of Independent Governors to help guide its work in transforming people’s lives, adding to knowledge and innovation and supporting the development of a high value economy in the region. Appointments are for a four-year period. The posts are not remunerated. Robert Gordon University is an ambitious cutting edge university, with a track record of dynamic leadership and innovation in both learning and knowledge exchange. The university has an established record of industry engagement, an outstanding record for high value teaching and learning, and one of the UK’s best graduate employment records with 96.5% of undergraduates in work or further study within six months.
The Board of Governors The Board of Governors of the university is constituted in accordance with The Robert Gordon University (Scotland) Order of Council 2006. The Board is composed of appointed and elected Governors who have experience of higher education, industrial, commercial, and public service sectors and a wide range of professional practice. Staff and Student Governors are elected and have equal standing with those others who are appointed. The university’s Board of Governors is committed to achieving a minimum of 40% female representation on the Board by 2018 at the latest. The Board would therefore be particularly keen to receive applications from female candidates.
The Board works with the Principal and Vice-Chancellor as a ‘critical friend’, supporting and advising him/her in the role of managing the university and its resources and monitoring the performance of the Principal and his/her executive team in a spirit of constructive engagement. The Board has ultimate responsibility for the strategy of the university and monitoring its effective implementation, and for ensuring the proper and effective use of funds and resources. The Board of Governors has the following standing committees – • Chair’s Committee. • Staff Governance Committee. • Audit Committee. • Finance and General Purposes Committee. • Nominations Committee. • Remuneration Committee.
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The Role of Independent Governors
The role of independent members of the Board of Governors is similar to that of corporate non-executive directors. They bring to the Board’s deliberations a wide range of knowledge and expertise, and apply balanced and impartial judgement to these deliberations. Their principal assets will be their independence and their objectivity, and their principal contributions will be to: • represent an external view. • offer special skills and expertise. • give an independent and objective view. • provide useful contacts. • advise on the public presentation of the university.
Person Specification The university is looking for individuals with a broad range of skills derived from a range of occupations, roles and professions, in both the private and public sectors. Appointments will take account of personal and professional skills and experience in the context of the overall composition of the Board of Governors. Currently, we are particularly interested to hear from individuals who have specific skills and expertise in: • Law and the Regulatory Environment • Health and Life Sciences • Economic Development • Finance • Creative Industries
Specific tasks performed by independent members will include: • contributing to an assessment and the approval of the university’s strategic direction. • monitoring the effective and efficient use of funds and resources. • advising on the adequacy of financial and other information available to the Board. • advising on management structure and practice. • serving as members of committees. • providing counsel to the Principal outside the formal management structure of the university. The time commitment required of an independent member will vary. It will normally be at least the equivalent of one or two days a month with input more focused during term time. In the case of the Chair and other Office Bearers it may be more.
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Successful candidates are likely to have experience of operating at the highest level within an organisation e.g. at a strategic or executive level and/or be able to demonstrate a track record of success in professional areas of expertise. A strong personal commitment to higher education, and an ability to demonstrate an affinity with the university’s history, values and ambitions, are also essential requirements of an Independent Governor.
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The specific qualities required of independent members are: • the ability to make an effective contribution at a strategic level. • an understanding of the distinction between governance and management. • a general understanding of higher education and an appreciation of broad social and economic trends as they affect universities.
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the ability to engage in constructive debate and to challenge decision making without being adversarial or losing respect and goodwill. acceptance of collective responsibility for Board decisions, common sense, tact and discretion. the capacity to question information and explanations supplied by officers of the university. honesty, integrity, selflessness, objectivity, accountability, openness and leadership. respect for confidentiality.
RGU’s Strategy The journey of Robert Gordon University has been an impressive one. The university has become known as an educational innovator, a strong partner for the city and shire and local education institutions, an active partner in regional and national economic development, a university that understands the needs and priorities of business, industry and the public services, and a place of learning that provides students with real advantages as they embark upon their professional careers. The university has invested to create a state-of-the-art campus at Garthdee, complemented by its virtual learning environment. These are the achievements of the staff and students of the RGU community, who will continue to be central to what the university can achieve in the future.
In order to achieve its vision, RGU is committed to a set of key strategic aims: • Teaching and learning: inspire all individuals to achieve their maximum potential and excel in the world of tomorrow. • Extending access to learning: enable individuals to achieve their ambitions throughout life whatever their circumstances. • Student experience: support students and graduates to enjoy and prosper within a vibrant learning community. •
The university also has a strong international profile, with students from countries around the world and strategic partnerships in a number of regions globally.
Research: be recognised for our contribution to the growth of innovation through advancing internationally excellent translational research in our areas of strategic focus.
• Commercialisation: harness our intellectual and physical assets so they generate value to the economy and are pro table to the university.
The university generates an annual group income of around £103 million through corporate programmes, consultancy and other business engagement, research income and fee paying or funded students. It currently employs approximately 1,600 members of staff and delivers courses to around 17,000 students.
• The regional community: contribute to and be an active leader in the development of the regional community. •
Our Vision RGU aspires to be recognised, in Scotland and beyond, as a distinctive university leading and shaping the debate on the future of higher education and placing students at the centre of the education it offers. It will be known for the impact of its teaching, scholarship and translational research, the employability of its graduates, its influence in the region and nation, its growing global profile, and its strong interdisciplinary focus on a small number of key questions and issues of concern to the local and global community. It will achieve its goals in partnership with academic, voluntary, public and business organisations that share its ideals and aspirations.
Partnerships: secure strategic partnerships with a small number of globally recognised universities and companies that will support the university’s key ambitions.
• Our university: empower staff and students to develop a strong and engaged community. RGU has in recent years developed specific strategic priorities, including a leading set of initiatives in oil and gas, data analytics and design. It has also highlighted expertise in health and wellbeing, and a focus on graduate employment.
The university will enter the global university rankings, diversify and secure its income and resources, and enter into close collaborative agreements with key strategic partners. RGU will be a model university of the future and will shape its own culture, practice and organisation accordingly.
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The Estate The university prepared and approved its estates strategy in 1994, covering a 20-25 year planning period. The university has recently located all its academic staff and students on one campus at the stunning riverside setting of Garthdee. The first phase, the consolidation of six sites into two, (Garthdee and Schoolhill) was essentially complete by 2004. This included the Aberdeen Business School, the Faculty of Health and Social Care, as well as a state of the art Sports Centre, modern onsite nursery and a health centre open to staff, students and the local community. The second phase of the ‘Masterplan’, a ÂŁ136 million development project of the Garthdee Campus, was completed in summer 2015. The Riverside East building provides accommodation for the Schools of Engineering, Computing Science and Digital Media, Pharmacy and Life Science, and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and the Built Environment. It also includes research facilities associated with these Schools as well as a new library and new social facilities.
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Phases three and four will see Gray’s School of Art relocated to the east end of the campus and the construction of student accommodation on campus. The Masterplan aims to: • Consolidate all academic and administrative activities on the Garthdee Campus in order to create one of the best riverside learning environments in Europe. • Create a clear heart of the campus, focused around a student-centred experience. • Develop a new and unified academic development on the eastern portion of the site in order to gain from the advantages of co-location and collaboration between disciplines. • Retain and enhance the landscaped qualities of the site and seek to achieve a stronger relationship between buildings and the riverside setting. • Develop the Garthdee Campus in a sustainable, phased manner reflecting the availability of project funding. • Re-utilise appropriate areas within existing buildings to form a more holistic and integrated campus.
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HOW TO APPLY Applications are invited in the form of: • A brief covering letter highlighting how your skills and experience can contribute to the Board.
• A full CV.
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If you would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact Ms Hilary Douglas, Academic Register and Secretary to the Board on 01224 262151 in the first instance. Applications should be submitted to Ms Douglas by email (hilary. douglas@rgu.ac.uk) no later than Friday 11 November 2016. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to meet with the Nominations Committee in early December 2016. The university is committed to ensuring that its Board of Governors represents the staff, students and the community which it serves. As such applications are particularly welcome from women, disabled people and individuals from an ethnic minority background.
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Sheena Anderson (Partner, Anderson, Anderson & Brown, LLP) “As a governor of the Robert Gordon University (RGU) from 2004 – 2012, education has always interested me and I have learned so much and derived great enjoyment from my involvement with RGU – an incredible university and whose ideals, aims and ambitions are aligned with my own. In my professional capacity as an employer of several RGU students annually, my firm benefits first-hand from the excellent academic and practical education afforded to those students. The university educates and trains students providing vital and relevant skills to produce the graduates who become tomorrow’s world class business professionals.“
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Lesley M Wilson (Training & Development Partner, Johnston Carmichael LLP) “I was surprised but delighted to be asked to join the Board of Robert Gordon University in 2003, and I was a Governor from 2004 to 2010. It was initially daunting to take part in the Board’s meetings, however everyone was very welcoming and I quickly found my feet. I especially enjoyed the Committee meetings. I felt due to the diversity of the Board we were able to really add value. The university is a fascinating body, and I met a number of very able and interesting people. Personally, I gained experience of chairing large and formal meetings, and got involved in internal promotions and other meetings which added to my skills set.”
Links to Other Useful Information Board of Governor information including the Statutory Instrument, Statement of Primary Responsibilities, Governors’ Handbook and Board membership/profiles. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/governance/board-of-governors Strategic Plan and other associated strategy documents. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/about/planning-and-policy/strategy/strategy Financial statements. http://www.rgu.ac.uk/financial-services Scottish Code of Good HE Governance. http://www.scottishuniversitygovernance.ac.uk/ Leadership Foundation for Higher Education “Getting to Grips with Being a New Governor”. http://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/publications/index.cfm/page/6/
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Robert Gordon University, Garthdee Campus, Garthdee Road, Aberdeen, AB10 7QE, United Kingdom Produced by The Gatehouse Design & Print Consultancy at Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, a Scottish Charity registered under charity number SC013781
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