Governors - Why, What and Who?

Why?

The college cannot operate without a Governing Body – this is set out in law. Technically (legally) the college is a Corporation and governors are members of the Corporation. Details of who can serve as a governor, how many governors (or ‘members’) there can be and how they are appointed are all set out in statute (the Instrument and Articles of Government). A committee of governors, called the ‘Search Committee’, advises the Corporation about who should be appointed. It is chaired by someone who is not a governor to make it more independent. A term of office is a maximum of 4 years. Search Committee looks at the contribution a governor has made and decides whether it will recommend that a governor is reappointed when his or her term of office has come to an end. It also recommends new governors when needed. The minutes of the committee are open for anyone to read.

Stockton Riverside College has 20 governors, 15 are from outside the college and then there are 2 staff governors, 2 student governors and the Principal. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Corporation are elected each year by the governors.

Governors are ordinary people who volunteer to do the job. They do not receive any payment for being governors. The usual reason people state for becoming a governor is to ‘give something back’. Governors think the college does good work in helping people live better and more fulfilled lives and by becoming a governor they are able to support the community and the area they live in.

Governors are interested in the views of staff and students and in their welfare. They meet senior staff regularly at meetings and get the chance to talk to other staff at events like the student awards ceremony and student performances. The Clerk (who organises the business of the Corporation and takes minutes or notes of meetings) will help you if you need to contact a governor, perhaps because you think that you can make use of a governor’s expertise or contacts in a particular area.

What?

The Corporation is not responsible for the management of the college. The college has a Principal and managers to carry out that function. The day to day operation of the college is the responsibility of the Principal who is ultimately responsible to the Corporation for putting its plans and directions into operation.

You will often hear it said that the Corporation operates at a ‘strategic’ level – this means that it looks towards the future and makes its decisions based on a good understanding of external and internal trends and data. It has some goals it wants to achieve and these are set out in documents like the Strategic Plan.

Governing Body meetings involving all governors are held five times a year, but in addition there are several committees that meet regularly and most governors serve on one or more of these. Governors rarely need to take a formal vote with a show of hands. Instead, an issue is debated and governors move towards agreement.

The Corporation has a special relationship with some senior managers. The Corporation decides which positions will be ‘senior post holders’ and it interviews and directly appoints these people. There are currently four senior post holders - the Principal and three Deputy Principals and only the Corporation has the power (authority) to appoint, discipline or dismiss them. This gives senior post holders some independence. The Corporation decides the pay and conditions of service of the senior post holders and also of the Clerk to the Corporation.

Other responsibilities of the Corporation are:

Deciding what kind of educational services the college offers, setting the college’s aims and watching over its activities;
Approving the college’s quality strategy;
Making sure that the college’s resources are used efficiently and effectively and that means not only how it spends and invests its money, but also applies to its staff, buildings and equipment. The Corporation must make sure the college does not become bankrupt and that its money and property are looked after properly;
Governors must approve the budget plan that sets out how much the college will earn in income and how much it will spend in one year;
Setting a framework of general rules for the pay and conditions of service for staff.

Who?

The current membership of the governing body and backgrounds of members are set out below:
(there are two vacancies)

Governors	Category	Current Occupation	Committee membership
Mr Hashim Ahmad	Governor, originally nominated by Ahmadiyya Muslim Association	Customer Service Manager, Teesside Barclays Bank	Curriculum Standards
Councillor Mrs Jennie Beaumont	Governor	Councillor, Stockton Borough Council	Finance & Emp Search
Mr Chris Coombs	Governor	Former Councillor, Stockton Borough Council, now works with the Police Authority	Curric Standards, Search
Mr Steve Cossins (Vice-Chair)	Governor	Partner, Chipchase Manners & Co Accountants	Chair of I&DC Curric Standards Audit
Mr David Craig	Governor	Assistant Director, Financial Governance, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland Primary Care Trusts, was member of Bede College Governing Body	Audit
Mr David Eagle	Governor	Academic Developer / Principal Lecturer in the School of Computing, University of Teesside	Audit I&DC Remuneration
Mr Daniel Johnson	Student	BTEC National Award: Business	Co-president of the Students’ Union
Dr Frank King (Chair)	Governor	Retired from position as Research Associate, Johnson Matthey Catalysts	Chair of Fin & Employment Remuneration I&DC, Search
Ms Susan Menzies	Governor	Teaching Assistant at Billingham secondary school and was parent governor of Bede College
Mr Trevor Mitchell	Staff Governor	Teacher of History and Politics with responsibility for General Studies at Bede
Ms Val Northcombe	Governor, originally nominated by Linthorpe Road Methodist Church	Librarian, Stockton Library	Curriculum Standards
Mr Tony Pattison	Staff Governor	Director of Quality: Learning and Teaching	Curriculum Standards
Mr David Procter	Governor	Director, Touchstone Management Consultancy (self employed – previously senior position with British Steel)	Finance & Emp Curric Standards Remuneration
Mr Sujinder Sangha Principal	Has chosen to be a governor	Principal and Chief Executive	Finance & Emp Curric Standards IDC Search
Mrs Maureen Taylor	Governor, nominated by St Vincent de Paul Society	Lifetime in local politics and was a member of Bede College’s Governing Body	Chair of Audit IDC Curric Standards Remuneration Search
Mr David Waters	Governor	Retired from a senior position in the electricity supply industry	Curric Standards
Mr Mark White	Governor	Head of Vice Chancellor’s Office, University of Teesside and was Chair of Bede College Governing Body	Finance & Emp I&DC Remuneration
Mr Kevin Williams	Governor	Williams and Company Industrial and Commercial Finance (self employed finance broker with banking background.)	Chair of Curric Standards Finance & Emp

Stockton Riverside College Harvard Avenue Stockton-On-Tees TS17 6FB United Kingdom