Court

Court activities

The Court activities include:

• the Annual Meeting, including
• the Vice-Chancellor's report on the workings and sustainability of the University since the last meeting
• the award of Honorary Fellowships

In addition, members of Court, as members of the University, are encouraged to attend University events, and to contribute through their networks and expertise to specific areas of our work, such as student employability.

Annual Meeting 2024

The Annual Meeting was held on Thursday 27 June 2024 and you can read the speech that the Vice-Chancellor gave at the Annual Meeting on our Annual Meeting and Summer Reception blog. 

Notice of next meeting

Our Annual Meeting and Summer Reception will take place on Thursday 26 June 2025. We would be delighted if you could join us to help celebrate this year’s achievements.

Members

The Court has currently around 250 members, including:

• senior University office holders
• members of academic staff and students
• a wide range of external members

Role of members 

There are no formal obligations or duties on members as such, but we ask members to accept the Statement on the Role of Court (.pdf). We expect that Court members will promote the University and its interests in the local and wider regions. We hope those active in business, the public sector or in the charities sector will help in providing opportunities for students or in developing links with business and the community.

The University will ensure members are kept informed regarding the University's activities and strategic priorities, though the Annual Meeting and through other media. It will work with members with business and other connections to realise potential mutual benefits involving students and academic staff.

Appointment of members

Appointed members are appointed by the Council, the University's governing body, on the recommendation of its Nominations Committee. Court members are appointed on the basis of their interests, expertise or other connections with the University. We aim to ensure that members are broadly representative of the local community.

Process of appointment of an Appointed member of Court

If you would like to be considered as an Appointed member, please complete the following documents:

• Statement of application (.docx)
• Equality and diversity data collection form (.docx

These documents should be submitted to the Stakeholder Engagement and Events Team, for consideration by the Nominations Committee and approval by the University Council.

The Nominations Committee meet three times during the year, normally once in each term and the Council meets four times during the year. The dates of the meetings can be found on the University diary of meetings webpage.

All applications will be acknowledged. The applicant will be notified of the outcome following the meeting of Council.