An Institution Under Threat
As time has gone by, Universities have become bigger and more business-like, and newer universities have been established with modern governance structures reflecting a more accountable approach. At the same time, it could be argued that – perhaps due to complacency and a decline in political activism - elections have sometimes yielded rectors less likely to play a serious role in the governance of the university, although they may have successfully brought a welcome dose of fun, excitement and profile. Concerned by the risks to good governance, the university authorities of the ‘ancients’ have made a number of so far unsuccessful attempts to remove the right of the rector to chair the Court:
1950s An attempt, by the then government. Defeated in the House of Lords.
1963 The Robbins Report into Higher Education proposed repeal and replacement of the legislation governing Scottish Universities, including threats to the role of rector. Many of its proposals were implemented in the 1966 Act, but the role of rector was not changed.
1989 An attempt to abolish the right of the rector to chair the Court, as a clause in the Self Governing Schools (Scotland) Bill. This was prompted by election at Glasgow University of Winnie Mandela who was unable to attend court at all, leaving the Court to be chaired by the Principal (Sir Alwyn Williams). He was rightly concerned that it was inappropriate for the chief executive to chair the governing body. The Conservative government (Malcolm Rifkind MP, Sec of State for Scotland) proposed to amend the legislation ‘so that meetings of the Court of the four ancient universities will be presided over by a chairman elected by all the members of the Court from among those members who do not hold an appointment in, and are not students at, the university’.
This was opposed by many notables, contributing to a very effective campaign run by the SRC bodies of the universities. Signatories included: Katherine Whitehorn, Malcolm Bruce MP, Tim Brooke-Taylor, David Steel MP, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, Menzies Campbell MP, and Donald Dewar MP.
A Motion in Westminster Parliament on 15/3/89 deplored the measure as ‘an attempt to change the universities from independent, democratic, consensus-based communities into centrally managed business institutions.’ It was also pointed out that the initiative confused two issues – the question of whether the rector should chair the court, and the separate question of whether, in the rector’s absence, the chair should pass to the Principal. The clause was dropped.
1992 An attempt to secure agreement that the rector should not chair the court, following advice to Edinburgh University by management consultants Coopers Lybrand, supported by the court at Edinburgh (but without criticism of the rector, Donnie Munro). The proposal was rebuffed unanimously by the Scottish Rectors’ and Presidents’ Group and failed to secure the required consensus (required by the Privy Council) from all four ancient universities before an amendment could be considered.
1997 A recommendation by the Garrick Report (part of the work of the Dearing Commission) to scrap the role. It said Courts should elect their chairs, observing (in the words of one its members) that “instead of a chairman carefully chosen for his or her business experience or leadership qualities, governing bodies were at the mercy of the whims of a student electorate.” Brian Wilson MP, Minister of Education at the Scottish Office, announcing the government decision to turn down this proposal, said rectors were an important part of the Scottish educational tradition, whose power should not be weakened. “The particular role of the rector as chair of the Court carries great weight. I do not wish to diminish that role by removing the right of rectors to chair the Court. Rather, I would prefer to see greater democratic representation in all of our universities.”
2003 A similar proposal made by university authorities in Scotland; discussed informally but reportedly dropped following advice from the Scottish Executive.
