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Academic senate

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An academic senate , sometimes termed faculty senate , academic board or simply senate , is a governing body in some universities and colleges , typically with responsibility for academic matters and primarily drawing its membership from the academic staff of the institution.

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103-430: Models of university governance can be unitary (also called unicameral) or dual (also called bicameral). Unicameral models may involve leadership by either an academic senate-type body or, more commonly, a lay-led board/council-type body. In this arrangement, a senate-type body may still exist but in an advisory role to the board-type body that has full responsibility for governance. Bicameral models almost always involve both

206-481: A "College, with the style and privileges of an University", in 1827. The college was reconstituted as the University of New Brunswick by an act of the provincial parliament in 1859. The University of Toronto was founded by royal charter in 1827, under the name of King's College , as a "College, with the style and privileges of an University", but did not open until 1843. The charter was subsequently revoked and

309-639: A charter in 1446, although this was not recorded in the rolls of chancery and was lost in the 18th century. A later charter united the barbers with the (previously unincorporated) surgeons in 1577. The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland was established by royal charter in 1667 and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland , which evolved from the Barbers' Guild in Dublin, in 1784. The Royal Society

412-508: A condition of registration with the Office for Students include academic governance, with the expectation that the institution will have a senate, academic board or equivalent to provide academic governance to the institution. This imposes the responsibility on the governing body (council, board of trustees, etc.) that: "The governing body receives and tests assurance that academic governance is adequate and effective through explicit protocols with

515-579: A few years later, as did Dartmouth's charter. The charter of Rutger uses quite different words, specifying that it may "confer all such honorary degrees as usually are granted and conferred in any of our colleges in any of our colonies in America". Of the other colleges founded prior to the American Revolution, Harvard College was established in 1636 by Act of the Great and General Court of

618-501: A mark of distinction". The use of royal charters to incorporate organisations gave rise to the concept of the "corporation by prescription". This enabled corporations that had existed from time immemorial to be recognised as incorporated via the legal fiction of a "lost charter". Examples of corporations by prescription include Oxford and Cambridge universities. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia , of

721-566: A mission to London by college representatives, these were either provincial charters granted by local governors (acting in the name of the king) or charters granted by legislative acts from local assemblies. The first charters to be issued by a colonial governor on the consent of their council (rather than by an act of legislation) were those granted to Princeton University (as the College of New Jersey) in 1746 (from acting governor John Hamilton ) and 1748 (from Governor Jonathan Belcher ). There

824-734: A monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent . Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws , the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but since the 14th century have only been used in place of private acts to grant a right or power to an individual or a body corporate . They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as boroughs (with municipal charters ), universities and learned societies . Charters should be distinguished from royal warrants of appointment , grants of arms and other forms of letters patent, such as those granting an organisation

927-403: A number of supplemental charters, London was reconstituted by Act of Parliament in 1898. The Queen's Colleges in Ireland, at Belfast , Cork , and Galway , were established by royal charter in 1845, as colleges without degree awarding powers. The Queens University of Ireland received its royal charter in 1850, stating "We do will, order, constitute, ordain and found an University ... and

1030-436: A rise in the power of the executive at universities, linked to the increase in the importance of the 'higher education market'. As a result, senates, which tend to be large bodies that meet infrequently, have lost power relative to councils and executives in the pre-1992 universities. However, there are large differences between institutions in this regard, with some senates still retaining a large amount of power. In Scotland ,

1133-566: A royal charter in 1802, naming it, like Trinity College, Dublin, "the Mother of an University" and granting it the power to award degrees. The charter remains in force. McGill University was established under the name of McGill College in 1821, by a provincial royal charter issued by Governor General of British North America the Earl of Dalhousie ; the charter stating that the "College shall be deemed and taken to be an University" and should have

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1236-806: A senate and a board; these can be 'traditional' with the two bodies have distinct but equally important portfolios, typically a senate-type body having responsibility for academic matters and a board-type body having responsibility for finance and strategy, or 'asymmetric' with one body (typically the board) being dominant in the decision-making process. Within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), there are some countries where universities are governed exclusively by senates. Analysis of systems in EHEA countries by E. Pruvot and T. Estermann, published in 2018, found that universities in Ireland, Estonia, Latvia and Poland had unitary governance with

1339-720: A senate-type governing body. As of 2022, of university systems in Europe analysed for the European University Association (EUA) by the same authors and N. Popkhadze, only the Brandenburg region of Germany (not included in the earlier analysis) retained this system, with Poland being classified as dual-asymmetric and Latvia and Estonia as traditional dual governance systems, having previously been considered unitary-senate models in analysis published in 2017, prior to governance reforms in those countries; there

1442-654: A senate. Additionally, the Netherlands has a dual government system with two boards rather than a board and a senate. The 2022 analysis includes Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels) and Turkey (neither of which was included in Pruvot and Esterman (2018)'s analysis) as having unitary governance models. Asymmetric dual governance models with both a board and a senate are found in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg and France. Boards tend to be dominant, with

1545-700: A subsequent charter in 1408. Royal charters gave the first regulation of medicine in Great Britain and Ireland. The Barbers Company of London in 1462, received the earliest recorded charters concerning medicine or surgery, charging them with the superintendence, scrutiny, correction and governance of surgery. A further charter in 1540 to the London Guild – renamed the Company of Barber-Surgeons – specified separate classes of surgeons, barber-surgeons, and barbers. The London Company of Surgeons separated from

1648-541: A unicameral structure with little academic representation on their board their academic board being merely advisory to the vice-chancellor and the board. Government reviews, particularly the Dearing Review in 1997, pushed older universities towards this more corporate style of management. The Committee of University Chairs' code of best practice also reinforced that councils should have ultimate responsibility, with little concept of shared governance. There has also been

1751-577: Is also humbly submitted that although our Royal Assent to the Act of Legislature of New South Wales hereinbefore recited fully satisfies the principle of our law that the power of granting degrees should flow from the Crown, yet that as that assent was conveyed through an Act which has effect only in the territory of New South Wales, the Memorialists believe that the degrees granted by the said University under

1854-520: Is based, not on the comparison of the content of the programs, but on the definition and validation of the targeted learning outcomes. From its origin, the need for a common quality assurance system arose in the EHEA. The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) was responsible for defining the standards and guidelines, which are broken down into 3 chapters: The Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus Programs are initiatives of

1957-573: Is hereby constituted and founded a University" and granted an explicit power of awarding degrees (except in medicine, added by supplemental charter in 1883). From then until 1992, all universities in the United Kingdom were created by royal charter except for Newcastle University , which was separated from Durham via an Act of Parliament. Following the independence of the Republic of Ireland , new universities there have been created by Acts of

2060-558: Is no noted reform for Ireland but it is also re-classified as dual-asymmetric. In some EHEA countries, senates either do not exist or, where they do, they are an advisory body with no real power. Pruvot and Estermann found that Belgium (Flanders), Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Portugal all have board-based unitary models, although Denmark, Iceland and Portugal mandate the existence of an advisory senate without decision-making powers, and some older universities in Sweden have also retained

2163-623: The European Union to promote the mobility of students and teachers. They therefore primarily concern the 27 countries of the Union, with which other countries such as Norway, Iceland and Turkey have joined forces. Strictly speaking, these are not programs of the European Area, but they largely contribute to its development. In 2017, the European Union launched the "European Universities" initiative, aimed at "strengthening, throughout

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2266-573: The Jagiellonian University (1364; papal confirmation the same year) by Casimir III of Poland ; the University of Vienna (1365; Papal confirmation the same year) by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria ; the University of Caen (1432; Papal confirmation 1437) by Henry VI of England ; the University of Girona (1446; no confirmation) and the University of Barcelona (1450; papal confirmation the same year), both by Alfonso V of Aragon ;

2369-847: The Oireachtas (Irish Parliament). Since 1992, most new universities in the UK have been created by Orders of Council as secondary legislation under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 , although granting degree-awarding powers and university status to colleges incorporated by royal charter is done via an amendment to their charter. Several of the colonial colleges that predate the American Revolution are described as having been established by royal charter. Except for The College of William & Mary , which received its charter from King William III and Queen Mary II in 1693 following

2472-604: The Privy Council before going into effect (see Universities in the United Kingdom § Governance ). In general, the constitutional documents define the existence of the senate (in universities that have a senate), but whether the powers of the senate are defined in the constitutional documents or left to ordinances passed by the governing body differs between institutions. The "public interest governance principles" that apply to all higher education providers in England as

2575-681: The University of Aberdeen ) in 1494. Following the Reformation, establishment of universities and colleges by royal charter became the norm. The University of Edinburgh was founded under the authority of a royal charter granted to the Edinburgh town council in 1582 by James VI as the "town's college". Trinity College Dublin was established by a royal charter of Elizabeth I (as Queen of Ireland ) in 1593. Both of these charters were given in Latin . The Edinburgh charter gave permission for

2678-620: The University of Glasgow , the Clerk of Senate (whose office is equivalent to that of a vice-principal) and Secretary of Court are also ex officio members of the Senate. In the United States of America the academic senate, also known as the faculty senate , is a governing body for a university made up of members of the faculty of the university. It was estimated in the 1980s that 60 to 80 per cent of university and college campuses in

2781-472: The University of Valence (1452; papal confirmation 1459) by the Dauphin Louis (later Louis XI of France ); and the University of Palma (1483; no confirmation) by Ferdinand II of Aragon . Both Oxford and Cambridge received royal charters during the 13th century. However, these charters were not concerned with academic matters or their status as universities but rather about the exclusive right of

2884-833: The Worshipful Company of Weavers in England in 1150 and to the town of Tain in Scotland in 1066. Charters continue to be issued by the British Crown , a recent example being that awarded to the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX), and the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors , in 2014. Charters have been used in Europe since medieval times to grant rights and privileges to towns, boroughs and cities. During

2987-642: The former British colonies on the North American mainland , City livery companies , the Bank of England and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC; see BBC Charter ). Between the 14th and 19th centuries, royal charters were used to create chartered companies – for-profit ventures with shareholders, used for exploration, trade and colonisation. Early charters to such companies often granted trade monopolies, but this power

3090-405: The president of the university and the provost of the university . Other officers are academic senate members who are elected to officer posts by the members of the senate. Deans of colleges as well as department chairs may be ex officio members of the academic senate. Motions, recommendations, or actions that are generated by the academic senate through discussion and which are passed by

3193-464: The senatus academicus is the supreme academic body of an ancient university , given legal authority by the Universities (Scotland) Acts . The senatus is responsible for authorising degree programmes, issuing degrees to graduands and honorary recipients , and for the discipline of students. Membership includes ex officio and elected members, and generally comprises: Ex officio At

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3296-414: The senatus academicus under the 1858 act. When St David's College, Lampeter , University College London , King's College London and Durham University were established in the 1820s and early 1830s, academics were not initially involved in their governance. However, the situation did not last, with the first academic senates in England being established in the 1830s. Complaints of poor teaching against

3399-457: The 14th and 15th century the concept of incorporation of a municipality by royal charter evolved. Royal charters were used in England to make the most formal grants of various rights, titles, etc. until the reign of Henry VIII , with letters patent being used for less solemn grants. After the eighth year of Henry VIII, all grants under the Great Seal were issued as letters patent. Among

3502-476: The 81 universities established in pre-Reformation Europe, 13 were established ex consuetudine without any form of charter, 33 by Papal bull alone, 20 by both Papal bull and imperial or royal charter, and 15 by imperial or royal charter alone. Universities established solely by royal (as distinct from imperial) charter did not have the same international recognition – their degrees were only valid within that kingdom. The first university to be founded by charter

3605-622: The British Empire. The University of Sydney obtained a royal charter in 1858. This stated that (emphasis in the original): the Memorialists confidently hope that the Graduates of the University of Sydney will not be inferior in scholastic requirements to the majority of Graduates of British Universities, and that it is desirable to have the degrees of the University of Sydney generally recognised throughout our dominions; and it

3708-573: The British Isles until the 19th century. The 1820s saw two colleges receive royal charters: St David's College, Lampeter in 1828 and King's College London in 1829. Neither of these were granted degree-awarding powers or university status in their original charters. The 1830s saw an attempt by University College London to gain a charter as a university and the creation by Act of Parliament of Durham University , but without incorporating it or granting any specific powers. These led to debate about

3811-553: The Czech Republic, which is reclassified from dual-asymmetric, and Hesse (Germany), Cyprus and Lithuania that were not previously included. Senates in the US tend to be larger and to have more sub-committees than senates in England or Australia, while very small senates (few than 30 members) are most common in Australia (where they are typically termed academic boards). US and Australian senates normally have elected chairs, while in England

3914-476: The EU, strategic partnerships between higher education institutions and encouraging the emergence, by 2024, of some twenty European universities"; in fact, 64 European Universities alliances are now active all across Europe. These alliances are networks of diverse types of higher education institutions, which will allow students to obtain a diploma by combining studies in several EU countries and which will contribute to

4017-654: The European Higher Education Area, which became reality with the Budapest-Vienna Declaration of March 2010. In order to join the EHEA, a country must sign and ratify the European Cultural Convention treaty. Denmark was the first country outside the UK and the US to introduce the 3+2+3 system. The key objectives are promoting the mobility of students and staff, the employability of graduates and

4120-469: The European dimension in higher education. Coping with the diversity of their national systems, the EHEA members agree to adopt: Student mobility implies a coherent system of studies and diplomas: The European area does not aim to standardize national higher education systems, but to make them more readable and to build mutual trust between higher education institutions. The mutual recognition of diplomas

4223-643: The Massachusetts Bay Colony and incorporated in 1650 by a charter from the same body, Yale University was established in 1701 by Act of the General Assembly of Connecticut, the University of Pennsylvania received a charter from the proprietors of the colony in 1753, Brown University was established in 1764 (as the College of Rhode Island) by an Act of the Governor and General Assembly of Rhode Island, and Hampden-Sydney College

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4326-643: The Senate and the Board of Governors. The Senate typically has oversight over the academic mission, strategy, educational policy and programming. The Board of Governors contributes to the overall strategic direction and oversees financial and operational decisions. There are some parallels between university governance structures and other public sector models however university governance differs in four fundamental areas: publicly funded universities in Canada are created and governed by an act of legislation which establishes

4429-467: The UK is at the University of Cambridge (see University of Cambridge § Senate and the Regent House ). However, this is the assembly of all MA graduates, similar to convocation at Oxford and Durham (and formerly at London), rather than an academic body. The senatus academicus at Edinburgh emerged at the start of the 17th century as the senior body within the university itself (then governed by

4532-542: The US had some form of senate, and it is generally considered to be the standard form by which faculty participate in university governance. The academic senate normally creates university academic policy that applies to the university. The policy created by the academic senate is restricted to and must be congruent with policy by the university system of which the university is a member institution, any accreditation bodies, state laws and regulations, federal laws and regulations, and changes derived from judicial decisions at

4635-429: The US, just under half (48%) of senates are statutory bodies, while in England two thirds (67%) have this status. The low percentage of senates that are statutory bodies in Australia has been driven, at least in part, by state legislation imposing unicameral governance similar to that found in England's post-1992 universities on their institutions. This similarity extends to the relatively narrow scope of responsibilities of

4738-641: The United Kingdom under a Royal Charter or an Imperial enactment. The charter went on to (emphasis in the original): will, grant and declare that the Degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, Bachelor of Laws, Doctor of Laws, Bachelor of Medicine, and Doctor of Medicine, already granted or conferred or hereafter to be granted or conferred by the Senate of the said University of Sydney shall be recognised as Academic distinctions and rewards of merit and be entitled to rank, precedence, and consideration in our United Kingdom and in our Colonies and possessions throughout

4841-414: The University of Toronto, Trinity College , was incorporated by an act of the legislature in 1851 and received a royal charter in 1852, stating that it, "shall be a University and shall have and enjoy all such and the like privileges as are enjoyed by our Universities of our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". Queen's University was established by royal charter in 1841. This remains in force as

4944-543: The assembly rather than risking it rejecting the charter. Rutgers University received its (as Queen's College) in 1766 (and a second charter in 1770) from Governor William Franklin of New Jersey, and Dartmouth College received its in 1769 from Governor John Wentworth of New Hampshire. The case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward , heard before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1818, centred on

5047-500: The authorities in London did not wish to allow this. A further petition for the power to award degrees to women was rejected in 1878 – the same year that London was granted that authority. A charter was finally granted – admitting women to degrees – in 1881. The last of Australia's 19th century universities, the University of Tasmania , was established in 1890 and obtained a royal charter in 1915. Guilds and livery companies are among

5150-469: The authority of the said Act, are not legally entitled to recognition beyond the limits of New South Wales ; and the Memorialists are in consequence most desirous to obtain a grant from us of Letters Patent requiring all our subjects to recognise the degrees given under the Act of the Local Legislature in the same manner as if the said University of Sydney had been an University established within

5253-433: The award of qualifications" but formal responsibility for the exercise of degree awarding powers lies with the board of governors. However, some bodies denominated as senates, such as those at Bristol and the University of East Anglia , only hold delegated authority from their university's council rather than having authority in their own right under the university's constitutional documents. The oldest university senate in

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5356-510: The barbers in 1745, eventually leading to the establishment of the Royal College of Surgeons by royal charter in 1800. The Royal College of Physicians of London was established by royal charter in 1518 and charged with regulating the practice of medicine in the City of London and within seven miles of the city. The Barbers Guild (the Gild of St Mary Magdalen ) in Dublin is said to have received

5459-434: The body are never final and will normally be referred to the president of the university for final approval. Depending on the authorizing legislation or statutes and types of recommendations being made, boards of trustees, boards of regents or the equivalent may have to authorize senate recommendations. Academic senates: Other senates: European Higher Education Area The European Higher Education Area ( EHEA )

5562-400: The chapter of Durham Cathedral (the governors of the university under the 1832 act that established it) passed a "fundamental statute" in 1835, passing the normal running of the institution over to an academic senate and a convocation of the members of the university. The senate, consisting initially of the warden, the three professors, the two proctors, and a member of convocation nominated by

5665-508: The college, also named it as "mother of a University", and rather than granting the college degree-awarding powers stated that "the students on this College ... shall have liberty and power to obtain degrees of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor, at a suitable time, in all arts and faculties". Thus the University of Dublin was also brought into existence by this charter, as the body that awards the degrees earned by students at Trinity College. Following this, no surviving universities were created in

5768-470: The course of the 20th century, with the model charter issued by the Privy Council in 1963 giving rights to senates to initiate and be consulted on legislation and on staff appointments, while still retaining a list of powers reserved to councils, including full control of financial matters. However, the polytechnics, incorporated as Higher Education Corporations, that became universities in 1992 had

5871-428: The dean and chapter, ran the ordinary business of the university and proposed regulations that convocation could confirm our reject. However, the chapter, as governors of the university until 1909, retained the power to overrule the senate and convocation or to take independent action, which they did on four occasions in the 19th century. The former senate of the University of London , established by its charter in 1836,

5974-412: The decentralization of a university in the area of academics. The academic senate meets periodically with a published agenda . Meetings normally use Robert's Rules of Order . The senate will have a set of committees , both standing committees and ad hoc or working committees, which are assigned particular areas of responsibility for policy formation. The officers of the academic senate may include

6077-713: The earliest organisations recorded as receiving royal charters. The Privy Council list has the Saddlers Company in 1272 as the earliest, followed by the Merchant Taylors Company in 1326 and the Skinners Company in 1327. The earliest charter to the Saddlers Company gave them authority over the saddlers trade; it was not until 1395 that they received a charter of incorporation. The Merchant Taylors were similarly incorporated by

6180-448: The governance structure; universities operate within a legislative and regional context; academic freedom; role of president who is appointed by the Board of Governors with consultation with Senate and the university community. Academic governance in the UK is normally defined at the level of individual universities, in their constitutional documents, except for the ancient universities of Scotland (see § Scotland below). Depending on

6283-513: The institution replaced by the University of Toronto in 1849, under provincial legislation. Victoria University , a college of the University of Toronto, opened in 1832 under the name of the Upper Canada Academy , giving "pre-university" classes. and received a royal charter in 1836. In 1841. a provincial act replaced the charter, reconstituted the academy as Victoria College, and granted it degree-awarding powers. Another college of

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6386-487: The international competitiveness of European higher education. Participating member states of the European Higher Education Area are: Countries eligible to join: The two first sections are widely extracted from the French Misplaced Pages page Espace Européen de l'Enseignement Supérieur , with its list of authors Royal charter Philosophers Works A royal charter is a formal grant issued by

6489-530: The papacy an explicit grant of the ius ubique docendi , but it is generally considered that the right is implied in the terms of John XXII's letter of 1318 concerning Cambridge's status as a studium generale." UCL was incorporated by royal charter in 1836, but without university status or degree-awarding powers, which went instead to the University of London , created by royal charter with the explicit power to grant degrees in Arts, Law and Medicine. Durham University

6592-840: The past and present groups formed by royal charter are the Company of Merchants of the Staple of England (13th century), the British East India Company (1600), the Hudson's Bay Company , the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China (since merged into Standard Chartered ), the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), the British South Africa Company , and some of

6695-441: The power of universities, including the power to award specific degrees, had always been explicitly granted historically, thus creating a university did not implicitly grant degree-awarding powers. Other historians, however, disagree with Hamilton on the point of whether implicit grants of privileges were made, particularly with regard to the ius ubique docendi – the important privilege of granting universally-recognised degrees that

6798-433: The power to award degrees in theology due to the secular nature of the institute. Sir Charles Wetherell , arguing against the grant of a royal charter to UCL before the Privy Council in 1835, argued for degree-awarding powers being an essential part of a university that could not be limited by charter. Sir William Hamilton , wrote a response to Wetherell in the Edinburgh Review , drawing in Durham University and arguing that

6901-427: The power to grant degrees. It was reconstituted by a royal charter issued in 1852 by Queen Victoria , which remains in force. The University of New Brunswick was founded in 1785 as the Academy of Liberal Arts and Sciences and received a provincial charter as the College of New Brunswick in 1800. In the 1820s, it began giving university-level instruction and received a royal charter under the name King's College as

7004-412: The powers of royal charters and what was implicit to a university. The essence of the debate was firstly whether the power to award degrees was incidental to the creation of a university or needed to be explicitly granted and secondly whether a royal charter could, if the power to award degrees was incidental, limit that power – UCL wishing to be granted a royal charter as "London University" but excluding

7107-413: The professor of anatomy at UCL in 1829 (only a year after its opening) led to him being sacked, causing splits in the council (appointed by the shareholders) and a loss of confidence in the warden on the part of the college's professors. The warden resigned in 1831 and his office was abolished, and in 1832 the senate was established to give the professors more autonomy, although under a lay chair. This became

7210-424: The professorial board in 1907, when UCL was merged into the University of London. It is now the academic board of UCL, and is an exception to the normal modern practice of the senate being a representative body (see below), including all professors as well as elected representatives of other academic and non-academic staff. Proposals to replace the academic board with a smaller senate were rejected in 2020. At Durham,

7313-404: The rector, dean of faculties and the professors, also emerged in the early 17th century and was responsible for conferring degrees and other matters internal to the university. It operated alongside the 'faculty', a committee consisting of the principal and the holders of the thirteen oldest chairs, which had the management of the revenue and property of the university. Both of these were merged into

7416-745: The right to award degrees. However, the Latin text of the charter uses studium generale – the technical term used in the Middle Ages for a university –where the English text has "place of universal study"; it has been argued that this granted William and Mary the rights and status of a university. The Princeton charter, however, specified that the college could "give and grant any such degree and degrees ... as are usually granted in either of our universities or any other college in our realm of Great Britain". Columbia's charter used very similar language

7519-422: The right to use the word "royal" in their name or granting city status , which do not have legislative effect. The British monarchy has issued over 1,000 royal charters . Of these about 750 remain in existence. The earliest charter recorded on the UK government's list was granted to the University of Cambridge by Henry III of England in 1231, although older charters are known to have existed including to

7622-589: The same shall possess and exercise the full powers of granting all such Degrees as are granted by other Universities or Colleges in the faculties of Arts, Medicine and Law". This served as the degree awarding body for the Queen's Colleges until it was replaced by the Royal University of Ireland . The royal charter of the Victoria University in 1880 started explicitly that "There shall be and

7725-465: The senate defined in the constitutional documents, for example, Durham and Sheffield , and other academic bodies such as the academic board at UCL , which "advises the Council on all academic matters and questions affecting the educational policy of UCL" and which recommends the award of degrees, or at Wolverhampton where the academic board is responsible for academic standards and "procedures for

7828-415: The senate having real but limited decision-making power. The 2022 analysis adds Georgia, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Scotland and Spain (all but Ireland and Poland, which have been re-classified from unitary-senate, were not included in the earlier analysis) as having dual-asymmetric governance, but considers the Czech Republic to be a traditional dual governance model. Traditional dual governance models, where

7931-406: The senate is chaired by the vice-chancellor (the chief executive and chief academic officer of the university). Australian senates are less likely to be statutory bodies than those in the US or England, with only 37% being established as governing boards in their own right in a bicameral system and the others instead being sub-committees of the university council in a unicameral governance system. In

8034-551: The senate typically has responsibility for academic matters and the board for strategic planning and budgets, are found in Austria, North Rhine–Westphalia (Germany), Italy, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. It is also common in the UK, where governance varies between institutions. The 2022 analysis is in agreement, classifying England as traditional dual, although Scotland (not included in 2018) is considered to be dual-asymmetric. It also adds Estonia and Latvia, following governance reforms,

8137-436: The senate/academic board (or equivalent)". With the exception of Oxford and Cambridge and the ancient Scottish universities, most pre-1992 universities follow a bicameral 'civic' model, with responsibilities split between a university council and an academic senate. A difference may be seen, however, between a traditional academic senate, which is the academic authority responsible for the award of degrees under their powers as

8240-458: The senates in Australia and in England's post-1992 universities, which is reflected in Australian senates having fewer sub-committees than their counterparts in England or the US. Bicameral governance systems are common at publicly funded universities in Canada. and are required for accountability and the decision-making process. In bicameral governance systems there are two governing bodies,

8343-436: The state and federal levels of the court systems. While a majority of universities and colleges have some form of an academic senate, the general perception is that the organization has more of a ceremonial role. However some researchers have found a negative correlation between centralization of university administration and the presence of an academic senate indicating that an academic senate acts as an organizational force for

8446-609: The status of the college's royal charter. The court found in 1819 that the charter was a contract under the Contract Clause of the US Constitution, meaning that it could not be impaired by state legislation, and that it had not been dissolved by the revolution. The charter for the College of William and Mary specified it to be a "place of universal study, or perpetual college, for divinity, philosophy, languages and other good arts and sciences", but made no mention of

8549-478: The town council "to build and to repair sufficient houses and places for the reception, habitation and teaching of professors of the schools of grammar, the humanities and languages, philosophy, theology, medicine and law, or whichever liberal arts which we declare detract in no way from the aforesaid mortification" and granted them the right to appoint and remove professors. But, as concluded by Edinburgh's principal, Sir Alexander Grant , in his tercentenary history of

8652-411: The town council), containing the principal and the regents. Disputes between the senatus academicus and the town council on the early 19th century over which body had the authority to make degree regulations led to a royal commission in 1826–30 and eventually the 1858 Universities (Scotland) Act , which removed the governance of the university from the town council. The senate at Glasgow, consisting of

8755-493: The universities to teach, the powers of the chancellors' courts to rule on disputes involving students, and fixing rents and interest rates. The University of Cambridge was confirmed by a papal bull in 1317 or 1318, but despite repeated attempts, the University of Oxford never received such confirmation. The three pre-Reformation Scottish universities were all established by papal bulls: St Andrews in 1413; Glasgow in 1451; and King's College, Aberdeen (which later became

8858-457: The university's educational policy. This was the first time the senate was defined as 'supreme' when it came to academic matters, which would become common in the 1960s. It also introduced the innovation that all professors were not ex officio members of senate but instead formed an electoral constituency that selected representatives on senate, in the same manner as the non-professorial staff. The right of senates to be consulted generally grew over

8961-459: The university's primary constitutional document and was last amended, through the Canadian federal parliament, in 2011. Université Laval was founded by royal charter in 1852, which granted it degree awarding powers and started that it would, "have, possess, and enjoy all such and the like privileges as are enjoyed by our Universities of our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". This

9064-498: The university, "Obviously this is no charter founding a university". Instead, he proposed, citing multiple pieces of evidence, that the surviving charter was original granted alongside a second charter founding the college, which was subsequently lost (possibly deliberately). This would also explain the source of Edinburgh's degree awarding powers, which were used from the foundation of the college. The royal charter of Trinity College Dublin, while being straightforward in incorporating

9167-451: The university, the relevant constitutional documents may be a royal charter and statutes (most pre-1992 universities), statutes made either by ancient right or under an act of parliament (Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, London, Newcastle and Royal Holloway), or the instrument of government or articles of association (post-1992 universities and the LSE). Changes to these must normally be confirmed by

9270-399: The world as fully as if the said Degree had been granted by any University of our said United Kingdom . The University of Melbourne's charter, issued the following year, similarly granted its degrees equivalence with those from British universities. The act that established the University of Adelaide in 1874 included women undergraduates, causing a delay in the granting of its charter as

9373-456: Was Manchester , which (as Owen's College, in 1880) has been identified as the origin of the bicameral civic system. Here, the senate was given the right to be consulted on all legislation and to give opinions on any matter concerning the university. Leeds followed Manchester, while Durham's 1937 statutes went even further, constituting the senate as the supreme academic body and giving it the right to be consulted on financial matters that affected

9476-655: Was concern as to whether a royal charter given by a governor in the King's name was valid without royal approval. An attempt to resolve this in London in 1754 ended inconclusively when Henry Pelham , the prime minister, died. However, Princeton's charter was never challenged in court prior to its ratification by the state legislature in 1780, following the US Declaration of Independence. Columbia University received its royal charter (as King's College) in 1754 from Lieutenant Governor James DeLancey of New York, who bypassed

9579-427: Was considered sufficient for it to award "degrees in all the faculties", but all future university royal charters explicitly stated that they were creating a university and explicitly granted degree-awarding power. Both London (1878) and Durham (1895) later received supplemental charters allowing the granting of degrees to women, which was considered to require explicit authorisation. After going through four charters and

9682-427: Was established in 1660 as Britain's first learned society and received its first royal charter in 1662. It was reincorporated by a second royal charter in 1663, which was then amended by a third royal charter in 1669. These were all in Latin, but a supplemental charter in 2012 gave an English translation to take precedence over the Latin text. The Royal Society of Edinburgh was established by royal charter in 1783 and

9785-479: Was established in 1848 as the College of Bytown. It received a royal charter under the name College of Ottawa , raising it to university status in 1866. The older Australian universities of Sydney (1850) and Melbourne (1853) were founded by acts of the legislatures of the colonies. This gave rise to doubts about whether their degrees would be recognised outside of those colonies, leading to them seeking royal charters from London, which would grant legitimacy across

9888-424: Was established privately in 1775 but not incorporated until 1783. Eight Canadian universities and colleges were founded or reconstituted under royal charters in the 19th century, prior to Confederation in 1867. Most Canadian universities originally established by royal charter were subsequently reincorporated by acts of the relevant parliaments. The University of King's College was founded in 1789 and received

9991-412: Was incorporated by royal charter in 1837 (explicitly not founding the university, which it describes as having been "established under our Royal sanction, and the authority of our Parliament") but although this confirmed that it had "all the property, rights, and privileges which ... are incident to a University established by our Royal Charter" it contained no explicit grant of degree-awarding powers. This

10094-703: Was launched in March 2010, during the Budapest-Vienna Ministerial Conference, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Bologna Process . As the main objective of the Bologna Process since its inception in 1999, the EHEA was meant to ensure more comparable, compatible and coherent higher education systems in Europe . Between 1999 and 2010, all the efforts of the Bologna Process members were targeted to creating

10197-710: Was replaced by a new charter from the National Assembly of Quebec in 1971. Bishop's University was founded, as Bishop's College, by an act of the Parliament of the Province of Canada in 1843 and received a royal charter in 1853, granting it the power to award degrees and stating that, "said College shall be deemed and taken to be a University, and shall have and enjoy all such and the like privileges as are enjoyed by our Universities of our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". The University of Ottawa

10300-504: Was restricted to Parliament from the end of the 17th century. Until the 19th century, royal charters were the only means other than an act of parliament by which a company could be incorporated ; in the UK, the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 opened up a route to incorporation by registration, since when incorporation by royal charter has been, according to the Privy Council , "a special token of Royal favour or ...

10403-460: Was the University of Naples in 1224, founded by an imperial charter of Frederick II . The first university founded by royal charter was the University of Coimbra in 1290, by King Denis of Portugal , which received papal confirmation the same year. Other early universities founded by royal charter include the University of Perpignan (1349; papal confirmation 1379) and the University of Huesca (1354; no confirmation), both by Peter IV of Aragon ;

10506-603: Was the defining mark of the studium generale . Hastings Rashdall states that "the special privilege of the jus ubique docendi ... was usually, but not quite invariably, conferred in express terms by the original foundation-bulls; and was apparently understood to be involved in the mere act of erection even in the rare cases where it is not expressly conceded". Similarly, Patrick Zutshi, Keeper of Manuscripts and University Archives in Cambridge University Library, writes that "Cambridge never received from

10609-414: Was the general governing body of the university, appointed by the government and without any academic staff representation – the university at that time being an examining board that did not have any academic staff. In the universities established in first half of the 20th century, senates were generally only given limited powers while there was little check on the powers of the council. An exception to this

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