Keele University
Corporate Governance
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Statement
The following statement is provided to enable readers of the Annual Review and Statement of Accounts of Keele University to obtain a better understanding of its governance and legal structure . It covers the period 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021 and up to the date of approval of the audited financial statements .
The effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Corporate Governance in 2020 / 21
The Covid-19 pandemic continued to have a significant impact on the operation of the University in 2020 / 21 . The vast majority of staff were home working and students learning online . The University rapidly had to make fundamental changes to its governance processes to ensure that decision-making was both agile and transparent and responsive to the fast pace of change in 2019 / 20 and these remained in place until the end of 2020 .
The Council had delegated its authority to a group of senior Council members ( the Senior Council Members Group , SCM ) which included the Chair , Deputy Chairs and Honorary Treasurer . The Business Review Committee and Nominations & Governance Committee also delegated authority to the SCM . The Council was assured that excessive use would not be made of the delegated powers and that continued , valued input from full Council including staff and student members was ensured . The SCM met virtually on a fortnightly basis and all decisions of the SCM were reported to the Council . In this way , the overuse of Chair ’ s Powers by the Chair of Council was avoided .
At the same time as establishing the SCM , the Council appointed the Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and Deputy Pro-Chancellor to the role of Senior Independent Member to provide scrutiny and oversight of decision-making .
The delegation was originally put in place until 1 September 2020 , but a virtual meeting of full Council was convened on 18 August 2020 , and it was agreed that the delegation would continue until 1 January 2021 due to the continued turbulent and unpredictable times and need for swift action . The Council was mindful that the delegation should not continue for longer than was necessary and kept the position under regular review .
The Council remained fully informed of developments throughout the pandemic in the following ways :
• Monthly Webinars on key topics , for example , finance , staff and student welfare , risk management , the effect of Covid-19 on education and research
• Monthly virtual drop-in sessions with the Vice-Chancellor
• Fortnightly reports from the Secretary to Council
• Minutes of the meetings of the SCM
• Copies of all communications sent to staff and students
The Audit & Risk Committee and Senior Remuneration Committee continued to meet throughout but held virtual meetings focussed on essential business .
The Senate initially dealt with some essential business by correspondence , with the Chair taking Chair ’ s action on the final decision , taking into account the comments and feedback received from members and then progressed to virtual meetings of the full Senate .
During this period , the University developed good practice regarding the effective operation of ‘ e-governance ’ processes , which will also inform approaches to effective governance during the coming year .
22
The delegation to the SCM came to an end on 1 January 2021 and the Council , the Business Review Committee and the Nominations & Governance Committee resumed meeting in full , albeit online .