SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE
A NATFHE Manifesto

Introduction
NATFHE endorses the Nolan Committee’s ‘Seven principles of public life’.  The principles set out:

•	the demands on those serving in a range of public capacities
•	expectations of how public bodies should be run
•	the values that should underpin work undertaken in the public interest.

Since the post-92 higher education institutions (new universities and colleges of higher education) were taken out of local authority control, NATFHE has campaigned for their governance to reflect the interests of:

•	the academic community
•	everyone who participates directly in and benefits from higher education
•	the wider public.

We have looked to the best in the governance of the pre-92 universities, the post-92 universities and HE colleges, and to contemporary models of best practice in public sector governance.  In recent years the emphasis on the centrality of business interests, and the marginalising of contributions from staff, students and local community representatives, has begun to wane.  Reports from the Committee on Standards in Public Life have set out ways in which higher education might improve its governance, and issues such as openness and inclusivity have begun to be addressed. 

But in many institutions, and on certain issues across the sector as a whole, much remains to be done.  

NATFHE continues to:

•	identify and disseminate good practice
•	campaign for a system of independent review of disputes that includes both staff and student complaints
•	campaign for statutory changes to open up the composition of post-92 governing bodies and academic boards and allow staff and student governors to play a full part in all governing body business Higher education institutions, and their staff, engage in for the public good -  and academic decision making.

As part of this commitment to fully participatory governance we are launching a manifesto, ‘Seven principles of higher education governance’ to use as a measure in scrutinising institutional and sectoral practice. 

     

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF HIGHER EDUCATION GOVERNANCE
A NATFHE Manifesto

The structures and practice of governance of all higher education institutions should be based on the following principles:

1 Public service
Research, teaching and the support of learning, and the development and application of knowledge are activities that higher education institutions, and their staff, engage in for the public good. They are not primarily profit-making institutions, nor institutions engaged in competition with one another. 

2 Academic freedom
The principle of academic freedom enshrined in the Education Reform Act (1988), is that ‘academic staff have freedom within the law to question and test received wisdom and put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions without placing themselves in jeopardy of losing their jobs.’ Governance structures should actively encourage academic freedom of expression, and should incorporate adequate internal and external mechanisms to deal with complaints that academic freedom has been abused or denied.

3 Representativeness
Governing bodies should seek to be as representative as possible of the diverse communities which higher education institutions serve.  Open and inclusive governance will actively seek to represent diversity both in areas such as  gender, age, ethnicity and disability, and in terms of communities such as staff, students, local and regional users of HE, business and the professions, and other educational partners.  Academic boards should be fully representative of the academic community
.
4 Inclusivity
All governors should have equal rights and status, including staff and student governors.  There should be no exclusion from key committees.  Ways should be found to involve the staff and student community - including support staff, part-time staff and students - in the way the institution is run and decisions made.  Independent governors should have access to staff and student opinion, beyond their contact with senior management teams and the chief executive.

5 Openness
Governing bodies, academic boards and other key decision making bodies should conduct themselves with the maximum openness consistent with such confidentiality as is genuinely necessary.  Meetings at all levels should be open to observers whenever possible, including meetings of governing body sub-committees.  Those charged with decision-making must have access to all necessary and relevant information.

6 Fairness
All HE institutions should have in place structures and procedures capable of dealing with complaints made in good faith at any level, by both staff and students, and which meet institutional obligations under the Human Rights Act. These should include provision for complaints to be made to an external body when other avenues have been exhausted or are not appropriate.

7 Accountability
Those governing HE institutions must be accountable both as publicly funded institutions, and as academic institutions to the academic community and the principles of academic freedom and integrity. The establishment of real accountability must also mean transparency about where and how decisions are made, where responsibility lies, and clarity about how decisions may be questioned or challenged.

Nolan’s ‘seven principles of public life’
selflessness  integrity  objectivity  accountability  openness  honesty  leadership

Published by NATFHE, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP. June 2002.