Senate

1. The core functions of the Senate are exceedingly broad and are defined by the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016 as the body which 'is responsible for the overall planning, co-ordination, development and supervision of the academic work of the institution'.
2. The Senate is responsible for all academic matters relating to education and research. This includes approving education (including assessment) policies and practices, regulations that govern students' programmes of study, their progress and their awards, and admission requirements to the University's various degrees (known as “Going Rates”); and ensuring that appropriate and effective arrangements are in place for student support (academic and non-academic). It is on the authority of the Senate that degrees and other awards are conferred.
3. Much of the detailed work in regard to the above matters is delegated by the Senate to the University Education Committee (UEC) and the Quality Assurance Committee (QAC). The UEC is responsible to the Senate for education matters relating to undergraduate, postgraduate taught and the taught elements of postgraduate research; the wider student experience relating to matters impacting on student success; the development of approaches to educational innovation. The UEC has two sub-committees (the Employability and Entrepreneurship Committee and the Student Support and Experience Committee) which inform its work.
   
   As delegated by Senate, the QAC oversees the assurance of the quality of the University's educational provision, particularly in relation to the design, implementation, evaluation and review of mechanisms for quality assurance and quality control. and for the safeguarding of academic standards. The Academic and Regulation Policy sub-group of QAC is responsible to QAC for the development and regular review of education policy and regulations and for ensuring the alignment with the QAA Quality Code and wider academic infrastructure.
4. Much of the work of the above Committees is forwarded to the Senate after discussion and consultation with Schools. This detailed iteration, coupled with the fact that all Schools are represented on each of the above committees, often results in proposals from these Committees being approved routinely by the Senate. Senate plays an important role, however, in that, occasionally, questions or suggestions are raised that are referred back to the relevant Committee for consideration and amendment of proposals, as deemed appropriate.
5. The research aspects of the Senate's remit are covered through the above Committees with regard to research students. Non-student research interests are overseen by the Senate through regular reports from the Vice-Principal (Research) who chairs the University Research Committee and through consideration of national initiatives as and when appropriate, for example in regard to the research assessment exercise.
6. The Senate plays a broader, strategic, role in commenting on draft responses to external consultations on a variety of issues relating to academic matters, and on internal matters such as the Strategic Plan.
7. The Senate is also responsible for approving, for its part, policies relating to student academic appeals, discipline and complaints; and for hearing and determining the outcome of related issues through its sub-committees (the Senate Appeals and Complaints Panel; the Students' Progress Committees; the Student Disciplinary Committee).

The composition of the Senate is as follows:

a) Ex officiis

• Principal (Convener)
• Senior Vice-Principal
• Vice-Principals (4)
• Heads of School (12)
• Deans for Education (4)
• Deans for Global Student Recruitment (4)
• Dean for Regional Engagement & Regional Recovery (1)
• Deans for Research (4)
• Dean for Sustainability (1)
• Quality Assurance Committee (4)
• The University Librarian

b) Elected Members

• 80 teaching and research (including honorary and part-time) staff (i.e. approximately twice the number of elected members) elected approximately pro rata by, and on the basis of, the total electorate within each School (see below), to serve for a four-year period, with half retiring every second year and with retiring members eligible for re-election for one further four-year period.

c) Student Members

• President of the Students' Association
• Vice-President for Education
• The School Conveners (14)
• Three postgraduate representatives

In addition, the Welfare Officer and Vice-Chair of AUSA Education Committee are in attendance.

Distribution of Elected Seats by School

The number of seats allotted to individual constituencies (a) to (l) above may be varied by the University Court on the recommendation of the Senatus Academicus.

• George Boyne

• Karl Leydecker (Senior Vice-Principal)
• Jo-Anne Murray (Education)
• Siladitya Bhattacharya (Global Engagement)
• Pete Edwards (Regional Engagement)
• Nicholas Forsyth (Research)

DESIGNATION

• Graeme Paton (Biological Sciences)
• John Skatun (Business)
• Beth Lord (Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History)
• Catriona MacDonald (Education)
• Ekaterina Pavlovskaia (Engineering)
• David Muirhead (Geosciences)
• Chris Collins (Language, Literature, Music & Visual Culture)
• Greg Gordon (Law)
• David Blackbourn (Medicine, Medical Sciences & Nutrition)
• David McGloin (Natural & Computing Sciences)
• Doug Martin (Psychology)
• Joanne McEvoy (Social Science)

DESIGNATION

• Vacant (Dean for Educational Innovation)
• John Barrow (Dean for Employability and Entrepreneurship)
• Steve Tucker (Dean for Quality Assurance and Enhancement)
• Jason Bohan (Dean for Student Support & Experience)

DESIGNATION

• Harminder Battu (Dean for International Partnership Development)
• Srinivas Sriramula (Dean for International Student Recruitment)
• JP Mynott (Dean for Portfolio and Programme Development)
• Vacant (Dean for Widening Access, Articulation and Outreach)

DESIGNATION

• Dr Heather Morgan (Dean for Enterprise and Innovation)

DESIGNATION

• Michelle MacLeod (Dean for Impact and Engagement)
• Nir Oren (Dean for Knowledge and Understanding)
• Ben Tatler (Dean for People, Culture and Environment)
• Stuart Piertney (Dean for Postgraduate Research)

DESIGNATION

• Tavis Potts (Dean for Environmental Sustainability)

DESIGNATION

• Marie-Luise Ehrenschwendtner (Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Business)
• Selma Carson (Business School)
• Faye Hendry (Education)
• Vacant

• Simon Bains

DESIGNATION

• Thomas Bodey (2022-2026)
• Sam Martin (2022-2026)
• Ursula Witte (2022-2026)
• Astley Hastings (2024-2028)
• Michelle Pinard (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Scott Allan (2022-2026)
• Fiona Stoddard (2022-2026)
• Vacancy (x1) (to 2026)
• Ignacio Canales (2024-2028)
• Muhammad Aziz Islam (2024-2028)
• Seungho Lee (2024-2028)
• Agathe Rouaix (2024-2028)
• Thereza Raquel Sales de Aguiar (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Nikolaos Vlassis (2024-2028)
• Alexandros Zangelidis (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Alessandra Cecolin (2022-2026) (Re-elected)
• Samantha Newington (2022-2026)
• Karin Friedrich (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Nathaniel Greene (2024-2028)
• Phil Ziegler (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• William Barlow (2022-2026)
• Charlaine Simpson (2022-2026)
• Lorna Stewart (2022-2026)
• Catherine Francis (2024-2028)
• Amy Mcfarlane (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Waheed Afzal (2022-2026)
• Euan Bain (2022-2026)
• Marcus Campbell Bannerman (2024-2028)
• Ines Graca (2024-2028)
• Oleksandr Menshykov (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• David Cornwell (2022-2026)
• Javier Martin-Torres (2022-2026)
• Alex Brasier (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Nicholas Schofield (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Jonathan Hicks (2022-2026)
• Alan MacPherson (2022-2026)
• Trevor Stack (until 30/09/26)
• Nadia Kiwan (2024-2028)
• Patience Schell (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Isla Callander (2022-2026)
• Thomas Muinzer (2022-2026)
• Vacancy (x1) (to 2026)
• Irene Couzigou (2024-2028)
• Scott Styles (2024-2028)
• Vacancy (x1) (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Lesley Anderson (2022-2026)
• Beatriz Goulao (2022-2026)
• Colin Lumsden (2022-2026)
• David McLernon (2022-2026)
• Amudha Poobalan (2022-2026)
• Justin Rochford (2022-2026)
• Karen Scott (2022-2026)
• Diane Skåtun (2022-2026) (re-elected) (also Senate Assessor to Court until 30 September 2025)
• Toni Gibson (2023-2026)
• Ann Rajnicek (2023-2026)
• Leone Craig (2024-2028)
• Sergio Dall'Angelo (2024-2028)
• Chantal den Daas (2024-2028)
• Flora Gröning (2024-2028)
• Aravinda Meera Guntupalli (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Karolin Hijazi (2024-2028)
• Anne Kiltie (2024-2028)
• Patricia Norwood (2024-2028)
• Daniel Powell (2024-2028)
• Asha Venkatesh (2024-2028)
• Gordon Waiter (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Nigel Beacham (2022-2026)
• Peter Henderson (2022-2026) (re-elected)
• Richard Hepworth-Young (2022-2026) (re-elected) (also Senate Assessor to Court until 30 September 2027)
• Matthew Collinson (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Jean-Baptiste Gramain (2024-2028)
• Rebecca Walker (2024-2028) (re-elected)
• Roland Young (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Constanze Hesse (2022-2026) (re-elected)
• Bert Timmermans (2022-2026)
• Brett Cochrane (2024-2028)
• Mauro Manassi (2024-2028)

DESIGNATION

• Ilia Xypolia (2022-2026) (re-elected) (also Senate Assessor to Court until 30 September 2027)
• Martin Mills (2022-2026)
• David Anderson (2024-2028)
• Jennifer Walklate (2024-2028) (re-elected)

DESIGNATION

• Christina Schmid , Students' Association President
• Miles Rothoerl , Vice-President for Education
• Abigail Meissner , School of Biological Sciences Convener
• Joshua Fernando, School of Business Convener
• Vacancy, School of Dentistry Convener
• Jessica More , School of Divinity, History and Philosophy Convener
• Vacancy, School of Education Convener
• Samuel Seymour , School of Engineering Convener
• Raja Muhammad Abu Bakar , School of Geosciences Convener
• Hannah Cowie , School of Language, Literature, Music & Visual Culture Convener
• Fatima Mirzayeva , School of Law Convener
• Fatima Garcia Bernal , School of Medical Sciences Convener
• André Justin Carpio , School of Medicine Convener
• Roshan Rajesh , School of Natural & Computing Sciences Convener
• Babu John , School of Psychology Convener
• Erin Campbell, School of Social Science Convener
• Mansi Vasant Utikar , Postgraduate Education (Vice-Chair)
• Hiremath Niranjan , Postgraduate Education Representative
• Aana Khandelwal , Postgraduate Education Representative

DESIGNATION

• Karim Hurtig , AUSA Vice-President for Welfare
• Chukwuadinula Kachikwu , Undergraduate Education (Vice-Chair)

(*whose elected terms have ended but remain in their capacity as members of Court)

• Joachim Schaper (Senate Assessor to Court until 30 September 2025)

The ex officio membership of Senate is currently made up of:

• The Principal (Chair)
• Senior Vice-Principal
• All Vice-Principals (4)
• All Heads of School (12)
• All Deans (14)
• Representatives from the Quality Assurance Committee (4)
• The University Librarian

Ex Officio members of Senate are members who are included because they hold one of several positions within the University. Some of these positions are specified by the Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016 (The Act): the Principal and the Heads of School must be ex officio members of Senate. Collectively, the ex officio members hold positions that are of direct relevance to the work and responsibilities of Senate.

The overall composition, the balance between ex officio, elected and student members, is aligned with the requirements of The Act and can only be changed by the passing of an Ordinance which requires Privy Council approval. The Act requires that, within the membership of Senate, no more than 50% of members fall into the ex officio category. At Aberdeen total Senate membership is 136 of which 37 members are ex officio members.

In the same way that elected members are required to represent the views of the constituency responsible for their election and not their personally held views, ex officio members are required to perform their role in a similar fashion, drawing on their skills, experience and knowledge of the role they perform (that has accorded them the ex officio status). All categories of membership have equal rights in terms of decision making and so all have the right to vote.

Ex officio members retain their place on Senate for as long as they hold the relevant position affording ex officio status, and they are then replaced by the new post holder.

The elected membership of the Senate has been based on School constituencies, with the number of seats allocated to each constituency being indicated below:

The number of seats allocated to individual constituencies (a) to (l) above may be varied by the University Court on the recommendation of the Senatus Academicus.

Members are elected to the Senate on the basis of serving for a four-year period, with half retiring every second year and with retiring members being eligible for re-election.

Election is by Single Transferable Vote to ensure an adequate spread of disciplines and grades among the elected members.

Each constituency comprises the Professors, Readers and Lecturers, including clinical staff and the holders of research posts of equivalent status, who at the time of election are not elected members of the Senate.

Elected Senators are appointed to represent the views of their constituency on items that are to be discussed/debated at the Senate. They are not elected to represent their individual views.

In carrying out their role, elected Senators should note the following expectations regarding their role:

• There are five Senate meetings per year. Elected Senators should attend the majority, if not all, of the five Senate meetings each year. Attendance is taken at all meetings, is published on the Senate website and reviewed annually by the Senate Business Committee.
• Elected Senators are responsible for representing the views of their constituency and consider their responsibility as individuals to act for the good of the whole university community, both academics and students. It is therefore important for Senators to be pro-active in seeking input from their constituency on matters of Senate business in advance of meetings.
• Senators should work together with fellow Senators in their School to determine the most effective mechanism for obtaining feedback from colleagues in advance of meetings. The way in which this should be done is not prescribed but may include holding an open meeting for staff to seek input ahead of the meeting or providing an email route for colleagues to provide feedback.
• Senate business is informed by a number of Senate committees. Elected Senators should ensure that they keep abreast of the ongoing work of these committees. The agendas and papers are made available on the Senate website and notification is provided when papers for the next meeting are available. Senators should ensure effective communication between themselves and their School representative on these committees and feed any matters they wish raised to their School representative in advance of meetings.
• Following meetings of Senate, elected Senators are responsible for ensuring there is appropriate feedback to their constituents on the outcome of discussions at Senate. To facilitate this, a digest of the outcome of Senate is provided to the University community 48 hours after Senate has met.

The following are student members of the Senate:

• President of the Students' Association
• Vice-President (Education)
• The School Conveners (14)
• Three postgraduate representatives

In addition, the Welfare Officer and Vice-Chair of AUSA Education Committee are in attendance at the Senate.

The primary role of all student members of the Senate is to represent student opinion on matters that are discussed or debated at the Senate.

In regard to the Sabbatical Officers, this representation generally would be on behalf of the Students' Association.

The School Conveners, represent the student views within their parent school.

In regard to the postgraduate student representatives, this representation would be primarily in regard to the students registered on postgraduate programmes within their area.

It shall be for the Students' Association to decide how best its representatives on Senate should iterate with the student body in general and the various student constituencies in regard to Senate business.

There are four Senate Assessors on the University Court.

Nominations for Senate Assessors are sought from, and elected by, the Senate members within each constituency. There are two separate constituencies:

• two of the Senate assessors shall represent and be elected by the elected members of academic staff of Senate from the: School of Engineering, School of Geosciences School of Natural & Computing Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition and School of Psychology; and
• two of the Senate assessors shall represent and be elected by members of academic staff of Senate from the: Business School, the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, the School of Education, School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, School of Law and the School of Social Science.

There shall be an equal gender balance among the Senate Assessors. There shall be one male and one female Assessor elected to represent each constituency. Where a Senate Assessor's term of office on Senate ends before the conclusion of their term of office as a Senate Assessor, in accordance with Ordinance 111 their period of Senate membership is extended for the remainder of that period. The usual term of office shall be four years. Senate Assessor appointments are limited to two terms of four years.

The remit of the Senate Assessors is summarised below:

• to attend meetings of the University Court (and, where appointed, any sub-committees of Court) and to provide an academic viewpoint at these meetings;
• to report back to the Senate on items discussed at the University Court, subject to careful caveats concerning boundaries e.g. in regard to confidentiality or other sensitive issues.

[Note: Minutes of Court will be published after they have been approved at the following Court meeting and will be accessible by all staff].

[*6 Senate Members, 1 of which requires to be an Assessor on Court]