Elections to Council

Elections

Eligibility

Academic Staff Members of Senate

To be eligible to stand for election, you must:

• be a Head of Department or School, and an academic member of Senate, until at least 31 July 2025
• have a contract of employment that commenced at least 20 working days prior to 7 May 2024 and the call for nominations, and which runs to at least 31 July 2025
• be free from any conflicts of interest that might preclude you from serving as a governor and trustee of the University and meet the Office for Students' test of being a 'fit and proper' person
• if you have not already done so, agree to complete all of the How We Work at Essex essential training modules and additional modules for University Committee members, within four weeks of being appointed or prior to attending your first Council meeting or event, whichever occurs first
• agree that you will on appointment you would accept the Governor Code of Conduct

Nominations

Please download an Applicant Pack and our guidance for applicants, which includes instructions, guidance and further information on the short forms that need to be completed as part of the pre-appointment process.

Submission

You will need to complete and submit the following forms by midday on 21 May 2024:

• Nomination form, within the applicant pack (.docx)
• Fit and Proper declaration (.docx)
• Register of Interest form (.docx)
• Equality and diversity monitoring form (.docx)

Next steps

All completed forms must submitted to the Governance Office by midday on 21 May 2024,  via a secure Box folder. Please email elections@essex.ac.uk to confirm your nomination has been submitted. All nominations will be acknowledged.

Upon receipt of nominations, applicants will receive a link to complete an online tool that will allow Council to demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that all members of the governing body are in good standing and meet the regulatory test of being a 'Fit and Proper' person.

Fit and Proper Persons declaration forms will be subsequently reviewed by the Registrar and Secretary, or their nominee, and assurance provided to Nominations Committee.

Election

Should it be necessary to hold an election for the appointment of academic members of staff to Senate, eligible members will receive an email confirming this, sent to their Essex email address.

Further information

Council normally meets in-person, four times a year (plus at least one away day), and holds an additional joint meeting with the Senate each July.

You can find out more about Council, the role description (.pdf), the members of Council (.pdf), Council’s primary responsibilities (.pdf), the Standing Orders for Council (.pdf), Council agenda, minutes and meeting dates, and the Committees of Council (.pdf) on the Governance webpages.   

Informal queries can also be submitted to the Governance Office, email elections@essex.ac.uk

Meeting dates

2024-25

• Monday 25 November 2024, 10.30 - 16.30
• Monday 13 January 2025, 10.30 - 16.00
• Monday 17 March 2025, 09.00 - 15.00
• Monday 19 May 2024, 09.00 - 15.00

Council meeting and Joint meeting of Senate and Council

• Thursday 10 July 2025, 09.00 - 16.00

Find out the meetings dates of Council and Council committees on the diary of meetings, which is published annually.