Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees

From 1 January 2016, the governing body of the University (formerly known as ‘Council’) was renamed ‘the Board of Trustees’. The composition of the Board of Trustees also changed with effect from 1 January 2016. These changes were made in response to a review of the effectiveness of the Board of Trustees.

There are 20 members of the Board of Trustees, with a lay majority.  The members are the Vice-Chancellor, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Treasurer, up to 15 lay members elected by Court upon the nomination of Court’s Nominations Committee, a member formally nominated by Convocation, 3 members of the academic staff, 2 members of non-academic staff and 2 students. Elected and appointed members serve for renewable three-year terms, with the exception of student members who serve one year terms.

Powers of the Board of Trustees

Under the Charter, the Board of Trustees is the governing body of the University. Members of the Board of Trustees are charity trustees and accept ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of the University by ensuring that it is solvent, well-run and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it was established.

The primary responsibilities of the Board of Trustees are set out in its Statement of Primary Responsibilities (PDF, 20kB), and were approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting on 5 July 2019.

All Board members are expected to comply with the following Role Description & Code of Conduct for BoT updated May 2019 (PDF, 128kB). 

Statutes relating to the Board of Trustees

• Statute 15 - Membership of the Board of Trustees 
• Statute 16 - Meetings of the Board of Trustees 
• Statute 17 - Powers of the Board of Trustees 
• Statute 33 - Validity of Acts of Court, the Board of Trustees and Senate 

Please download the University of Bristol Statutes for further details.

Board of Trustees - attendance

• Council and Council committee attendance record 2014/15 (PDF, 106kB)
• Council and Council Committee attendance 2013/14 (PDF, 47kB)
• Council and Council Committee attendance 2012-13 (PDF, 42kB)

Committees of the Board of Trustees

• Audit & Risk Committee
• Finance & Infrastructure Committee
• Remuneration Committee
• Nominations Committee of the Board

Each Committee is bound by the Terms of Reference for Committees of the Board of Trustees (PDF, 870kB) .

Joint Committees of the Board of Trustees and Senate

• Honorary Degrees Committee

Each Committee is bound by the Terms of Reference for Committees of the Board of Trustees (PDF, 870kB) .

Secretariat

The Board of Trustees is serviced by the Governance team.