"The Governor View" - The role of staff and student governors

Staff and student governors have a crucial part to play on university boards, giving other members and the executive the opportunity to hear the perspectives of arguably the most important constituents in higher education.

Inclusion on the board was flagged up as one of the most important tasks of the student union (SU) presidency to one former student governor at a Russell Group university in Scotland.

“It was one of the first things my predecessor and the SU chief executive talked about when I became president,” he said. “It was important not only to get to grips with the mechanics of it but to understand that the people around court had power and influence. I needed to work out what their agendas were, what was important to them and how to work with them.”

Central to getting to grips with procedural nuts and bolts is the induction, generally involving the clerk or secretary to the board, the chair and other key governors and members of the executive.

“I think the induction is really important,” said the chair of governors at a new university in the north of England. “We do our own internal induction for all new governors. Key members of the executive give them background about their roles and key issues in the HE sector. They also have specific sessions on finance. Our students also do the Advance HE student induction programme.”

An academic at a London university who has been a staff governor for two years, also highlighted the importance of the internal induction, as well as the Advance HE course for new governors that she attended. Her suggestion is that more regular training would be beneficial and build confidence.

“I’m on the governing board of two schools and I’ve had more training for that, for instance on understanding the budget and data, than for the university governor role,” she said.

On the one hand, the governor had faith that members of sub-committees were on top of their topics and had real expertise, so not all board members needed to be “absolute experts” on everything. On the other, she felt short sessions covering some briefs could improve the effectiveness of all governors. To this end, she organised a meeting with the chief finance officer (CFO) for herself and a colleague.

“The CFO wrote this two-pager and talked us through it and that was so helpful,” she said.  “I’m a lecture in social sciences; I don’t have a finance background. In the first couple of board meetings, I felt really anxious that I was giving my approval to the budget without understanding the full financial picture.”

Concerns about the extent to which staff and student governors were contributing to discussions led to the introduction at one new university of a pre-board meeting, where these governors and the chair and head of governance could run through the agenda.

Feeling like a useful and respected member of the board helps develop the confidence to present the staff/student perspective in meetings, according to staff/student governors. They also recognised the dual responsibility of the role – being a voice for their constituencies but also a member of a board with the wider university’s interests at its heart.

“I felt like a respected voice, but you had to earn the respect,” said a former student governor. “Obviously I was keen to uphold students views but I would also show an interest in wider university business - one, because it is interesting and two, because it does affect students, even indirectly.”

Appreciating both elements of the role is important in maintaining good relationships with other members and the board more generally.

“I think it’s important to take a role that is not just solely combative,” said a student governor. “Obviously you are a board member and you are representing students, but you are thinking about the wider university because those things are aligned. It’s about have challenging conversations but also trying to be collegiate and work together on the wider issues of the university and avoid ‘them against us’ narratives.”

A staff governor at a Russell Group university makes the same point: “I am a staff governor but I am not just a representative for the staff. We all have our governor hats on and the task is to think strategically. In that position, you can bring the perspective of being a staff member but I’m not there to lobby or represent only staff issues.”

One board chair said that after experiences in the past, she makes sure to emphasise to new governors the difference between providing the staff/student voice and acting as a representative.

“It has varied a bit over the years, so we have been much clearer to governors that they are not a staff rep, they are a staff voice,” she said.

The chair gives the example of board discussions about the recent strike action impacting the sector.

“Most of our staff didn’t strike so I would expect to hear the staff voice of that side, as well as that of those that are striking, because that is what is going on,” she said.

At the same time, occasionally using “rep language” demonstrates governors have the confidence to speak up.

“They need to feel supported and able to tell us what we need to hear or to give the counter view, even when that might contradict what senior management might be saying, because otherwise the board is not getting all the information it needs,” said the chair.

Strike action by University and College Union members was also mentioned by a staff governor as an “area of tension”.

“I’m a union member and I found that a little bit difficult,” she said. “In some ways being on the board has made me more sympathetic to the position of management because I have more understanding. On the other hand, there are times when I see some documents and numbers and council members are downplaying their significance – ‘it’s only on one campus’ or ‘it only affects this amount of people’ - and I am able to bring a fuller picture.”

One staff governor mentioned that on a recent away day, another member of the board questioned whether there should be staff governors at all because “how can you speak to power when your management is in the room?”.

“I respect everybody, but I don’t feel their opinion counts more than mine; I’m not one to see hierarchy,” she said. “The court member who questioned it said that in the past, a staff governor had said to him ‘I’m glad you raised that point as I didn’t feel I could’. But that is not something I have felt. I think having the staff perspective is so important. Management are not student facing. I’m an early career lecturer, I’m international and two years ago I was precarious; I have a very different perspective to bring.”

This governor used the example of hi-flex teaching – where students in the room and online are taught at the same time.

“It is the kind of thing that sounds great if it comes to the governing board – everyone is going to get access to learning, no one misses out,” she said. “But when you are in the room teaching, it is so stressful and you are not giving the people online or in the room the full experience. These are the kind of things that, if you are not on the ground, you don’t know.”

Having experience at the “chalk face” may be part of what makes an effective staff governor, but one board member warns against getting “too operational”.

“That can be a challenge because I want to fix things that are annoying me in my day-to-day job,” she said. “But it is navigable as long as I keep reminding myself ‘big picture’. That is why you have management, to do management stuff.”

All governors cited the importance of good relationships among board members.

According to a former student governor, working with other members made it more likely that “your agenda would become their agenda”.

“A lot of that important work would happen outside the court in meetings with individual members,” he said. “It is then that you would find out if there are things that you align on. Do they feel strong about an issue? You will always find someone who shares the same goals as you.”

Providing informal opportunities for board members to meet was part of this relationship building. At one new university, a lunch is held before each board meeting. Two dinners and two away days are also on the annual calendar.

Explaining and promoting the work of the board enhances transparency and accountability and helps with the pipeline of new governors. The board at one northern university regularly meets informally with groups of students, facilitated by the student union, and also arranges faculty visits, putting a face to what can be seen as a remote body.

A staff governor in London was asked by her university to feature in a video explaining the role of governor and the routes to governorship.

“I think there is a communications piece to do around the work of governance boards,” she said. “A lot of people don’t really understand governance structures and what all these bodies do.”

Being a board member has brought unexpected benefits, she added.

“I’ve found that my role on the board has helped me in my role as a staff member, especially as an early career lecturer. It has helped my understanding of how different parts of the university fit together and my network is much wider. It has also helped my own personal ambitions as I’ve realised I’m really interested in governance!”