Section 1 - Organisation and Management of the University
Index:
- Academic Support Services
- Administration
- Committee Structure Document
- Constitution
- Court
- Devolved Budgets
- Schools/Research Institutes/Services
- General Council
- Human Resources Committee & Related Sub Committees & Working Parties
- Lay Advisory Committee
- Management Group
- Map of the University, and how to get there
- Research and Enterprise
- Senate
Academic Support Services
Most of the academic support services have the assistance of a committee. The Information Services Committee co-ordinates the University's IT strategy and oversees the work of the Library, the Archives, Computing Service and the Management Information Services Unit through various sub-committees.Administration
The majority of the administration of the University is carried out centrally, but Colleges, the larger Schools and a few groups of Schools also have their own administrators.Central Administration is headed by the Secretary of Court and is divided into six divisions: Academic Support; Campus Infrastructure; Student and Staff Support; Financial and Business Resources; External Relations & Marketing, and Management Services.
Information Services is headed by the Director of Information Services and comprises the Library, Archives, Computing Service, Management Information Services, Media Services and the IT Education Unit.
Committee structure
Mission of the University of Glasgow
Vision and mission of the Human Resources Service (under review)
Constitution
The University of Glasgow was founded by Papal Bull in 1451; however, its modern constitutional framework derives from the Universities (Scotland) Acts 1858 to 1966. These Acts make provision for the main statutory bodies and officers: the Court, the Senate, the General Council; the Chancellor, the Principal and Vice Chancellor, and the Rector, and set out the powers and duties of those statutory bodies, as well as specifying their composition.
Court
The University Court is the governing body of the University of Glasgow. It was established in 1858 and was incorporated in 1889. All the property of the University is vested in the University Court, which has essentially a dual role; to deal with resource allocation, "to administer and manage the whole revenue and property of the University" (1889 Act); and to review decisions of the Senate. It is the body with which the contract of a member of staff is formally held.
The Court is a relatively small body, with 25 members, including staff and student representatives of the University. However, the majority of members represent the interests of local community, business, commerce and the University's graduates. It is chaired by the Rector, who is elected by the students every three years.
The Court meets regularly throughout the year, receiving papers and reports from a variety of committees, most notably the Estates Planning and Strategy Committee, the Finance Committee, the Staffing Committee, the Management Group and the Audit Committee as well as from Senate.
Devolved Budgets
The University implemented wide ranging improvements to its management and administration in 1992, delegating a significant measure of budgetary control, including pay costs, to academic groupings known as 'Planning Units' (which groupings broadly, but not completely, mirrored the old Faculty structure) and to the administrative support services, within the terms of a general University plan approved by the University Court. In August 2000, following the creation of a number of new Faculties, the term 'Planning Unit' ceased to exist, with Faculty and Planning Unit functions merging completely to form single units known as Faculties. The administrative support services - Central Administration and Information Services - retained their support roles but also ceased to be known as Planning Units.
The University restructure in August 2010 saw the creation of four Colleges and budgetary control is now with each of the College Finance sections.
Schools/Research Institutes/Services
The University has 4 Colleges (Arts/MVLS/Science & Engineering & Social Sciences), together with a number of inter disciplinary centres and Research Institutes, which are grouped together into 27 Schools/RI's: www.gla.ac.uk/academic/. Each College is presided over by an appointed Head of College, and conducts appropriate academic administration, including degree and course development, admissions and appeals and also undertakes financial administration of its own resources. Scrutiny of new course proposals is conducted by relevant College committees (boards of studies), but two interdisciplinary boards of studies (Information Technology and Managerial and Administrative Studies) report directly to the Education Committee of Senate.
General Council
The General Council, which includes in its membership all graduates of the University and all academic staff of more than one year's standing, meets twice a year to consider the well being and prosperity of the University and, through its Educational Policy and Business Committees, to make representations on such matters to the University Court. The Chancellor, whom failing the Rector, presides at meetings of the General Council.Human Resources Committee and Sub Committees
Each of the Committees undernoted meet regularly during term time and in the case of the Sub Committees, submit minutes and reports of significant matters to the Human Resources Committee.
Human Resources Committee
The Human Resources Committee is a committee of Court, and is responsible for all Sub Committees. It is a policy orientated Committee covering all categories of staff and operating in the context of a number of new/reconstituted Sub Committees (Human Resources Academic and Related Staff; Human Resources Research Staff; Human Resources Support Staff. It also receives reports from working parties which are constituted from time to time. The Human Resources Committee recommends to Court revisions to the University Staffing Strategy and oversees its implementation. The Committee meets regularly in term time.
Human Resources (Academic and Academic-Related) Sub Committee
The Academic & Academic Related Staff Sub Committee deals with all appropriate issues relating to Academic & Academic Related Staff, including policy formulation, requests for study leave (which are to be channelled through planning units), re-categorisation of posts and applications to transfer post-holders from temporary to permanent contracts. The Committee meets monthly during term time and is clerked by a member of Human Resources Service.
Human Resources (Research) Sub Committee
The HR Sub-Committee (Research Staff) deals with matters relating to the recruitment, development and retention of research staff, in particular, terms and conditions, probation, training and development, promotion and managing research careers. Careful consideration is given to the particular issues relating to contract research staff. The Sub-Committee is mindful in its deliberations that other staff are involved in the research process (technicians, secretaries, administrators), and considers equality of opportunity in all aspects of its decision-making. The Committee meets three times during the session and is clerked by the Vice-Principal's Administrator.
Human Resources (Support) Sub Committee
The Human Resources (Support) Sub Committee deals with all appropriate issues relating to Non-Academic staff. The Committee meets monthly during term time and is clerked by a Human Resources Manager.
Health and Wellbeing Working Party
The Health and Wellbeing Working Party deals with all appropriate issues relating to the health and wellbeing of members of staff. The Committee is clerked by the Vice Principal's Assistant.
Lay Advisory Committee
The Lay Advisory Committee consists of lay members of the University Court. It meets when appropriate with the Principal and other members of the Management Group to question them on the reasoning and assumptions which lie behind the Management Group's recommendations to Court on matters of University strategy. This enables lay members of the Court to enquire more deeply and open endedly than might be possible in the more formal setting of a meeting of the University Court.Management Group
The Management Group is the Policy and Resources Committee of the University, and as such is the principal source of recommendations to the Court on planning and development strategies. It conducts regular reviews of inter-related academic, financial, Human Resources and estates and buildings matters. It meets weekly, except for a short period in the summer. The Principal, as the University's Chief Executive Officer, reports on behalf of the group at Court. Where appropriate, the Management Group may report to, or seek the views of the Senate and may comment on matters referred by the Senate to Court. Its membership consists of the Principal, the five Vice Principals, the Secretary of Court, the Clerk of Senate and the Directors of Finance, Estates and Buildings, Human Resources Service and Information Services. The Vice-Principals are senior members of the academic staff, appointed by the Court for terms of four years, who have responsibility for strategy in the areas of: Research, Estates, Staffing, External Relations & Marketing, Learning & Teaching. There is, in addition, a small number of Associate Members of the group who receive papers and attend meetings from time to time.Research and Enterprise
Research and Enterprise (R&E) is the research development and commercialisation office of the University of Glasgow. It is situated at 10, The Square, telephone no. 0141 330 5199 and general enquiries will be responded to by the appropriate member of staff. Further information about the services of research and enterprise, staff and related activities can be found at the website www.gla.ac.uk/R-E.
R&E is the entry point for those in business, commerce, research funders and potential partners wishing to utilise the University's services and technologies. It should also be the first point of call for any academic or member of staff within the University who wants to take advantage of the funding opportunities available or to commercialise the output from their research.
Research and Enterprise provides responsive, flexible and focused support services via five teams:
- Research Development
- Completion
- Research Assessment Exercise
- Commercial Development
- Marketing/Information and Operations
Strategy & Policy Development
- Institutional research & enterprise policy, and strategy development
- Strategic links internally and externally
- R&E business planning and operational management
RESEARCH ENTERPRISE
Research Development
- Research opportunities
- Research funding
- Strategic proposals (e.g. IRC)
- Infrastructural funding (e.g. JIF, RDG)
- European funding
- Inter-disciplinary initiatives
Completion
- Research grants and contracts
- Commercial contracts
RAE Team
- Research Assessment Exercise
ENTERPRISE
Commercial Development
- Patenting
- Licensing
- Spin-out companies
- Technology transfer
- Innovation funding
- TCS
- Venture funds9
Marketing/Information and Operations
- Promotion of University research and commercial excellence
- Marketing research
- Marketing materials and event management
- Internal communication
- Activity recording and management information
- IT and administrative support
- Provision of pan-office systems
Research Development
The main priority of the Research Development team is the identification of appropriate research funding sources and the development of high quality proposals in partnership with researchers/Schools/RI's/Services. The Research Development team supports University staff with:
- general enquiries regarding research funding
- queries on specific funders and their schemes
- advice during preparation of project proposals and, if necessary, alternative funding sources
- European and other international research funding
- dissemination of news and notices of calls for proposals from funding bodies
- institutional authorisation of grant applications and acceptance of awards.
Since its inception in October 1998 the Research Development team has assisted University of Glasgow academics to win £34.6M (as at 1st June 2000) from major funding programmes such as the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF), the Research Development Grant Scheme (RDG), the Joint Research Equipment Initiative (JREI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In 1998/99 the University of Glasgow won the highest funding in Scotland from JREI and was ranked 7th in the UK, rising from 125th the previous year.
Completion
The core purpose of the completion team is the provision of relevant contractual terms and conditions and to ensure that all the elements of the agreement are in place. The team provides assistance with the costing and pricing of proposals and negotiation of terms and conditions of funding. The range of projects supported includes research contracts, service contracts, consultancy, CASE studentships, clinical trials and collaboration agreements. The team also supports the other parts of R&E in developing relevant agreements.
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
The purpose of the RAE is to produce ratings of research quality which will be used by the higher education funding bodies in determining the main grant for research to the institutions they fund. The RAE is a UK wide assessment of research quality based on the number of research active staff, the quality of staff publications, the numbers of research students and research assistants, the level of external research income and the research environment within the institution.
The RAE Team is charged with optimising the research groupings, the selection of staff, revealing evidence of excellence and ensuring the data for the submission is accurate.
Commercial Development
The commercial development team brings a business development approach to the exploitation of research and Intellectual Property within the University.
In 1998/99 the commercial development team was involved in the creation of six spin-out or start-up companies, most notably Kymata and Actis. Kymata, R&E's first start-up company, has set up a state-of-the-art fabrication facility in Livingston, and is on track to become the world's leading designer and manufacturer of optical chips and optical sub-systems. Actis has developed software to detect, police and prevent the use of inappropriate material from the web, it achieved one of the highest first day market capitalisations by a UK software start-up.
To support commercial activity, the University has recently won £4m from the University Challenge Fund (jointly with the University of Strathclyde) and £4m from the Science Enterprise Challenge as part of a five-university consortium. The University has also recently secured funding for Proof of Concept activity.
Good IP management is essential for successful research-based HEIs. For this reason, one of the main foci of the Commercial Development team is the protection, patenting and exploitation of intellectual property.
The Commercial Development team assists with the commercialisation of the knowledge-base of the University by providing academics and researchers with:
- advice on licensing, the formation of spin-out companies and commercial joint ventures
- market analysis and development of proposals
- advice on the preparation of business plans
- guidance on commercialising research and education packages
- assistance in accessing external development finance from public sector bodies, business angels and venture capitalists
- guidance for access to incubator space.
Marketing/Information and Operations
The Marketing/Information team undertakes marketing activities for R&E and the wider University, including:
- promotion of the University's research excellence and capability to industry, commercial funders, government and NGOs, potential collaborators and specific, identified target markets through various channels
- creation of communications channels between R&E and key University stakeholders, academics, research groups, Schools/RI's and Colleges
- promotion of the value of commercialisation to the University and the added value R&E can offer to academic colleagues
- development of generic marketing materials
- marketing support for commercial managers' sector specific initiatives
- assistance with marketing research, in both national and international arenas.
The Operations team provides the financial management and systems support to allow R&E to operate effectively within the College/School/RI and with the University as a whole.
University of Glasgow in California
To take advantage of the many Venture Capitalists and technology companies based in Silicon Valley, California and the surrounding area, Research and Enterprise has established an office within the Scottish Trade International STAR Centre in San Jose. This gives the University of Glasgow a base from which to target the main players in the high-tech business.
Research and Enterprise contact details:
Research and Enterprise
10 The Square
University of Glasgow
G12 8QQ
Tel: 0141 330 5199
Fax: 0141 330 4035
Senate
