Academic Governance is a term which refers to how the integrity and quality of the core higher education activities, including student learning, teaching and research, are governed.

At the University of Warwick, the Senate has principal responsibility and accountability for academic matters. It has a number of sub-committees, which focus on different aspects of its work, such as education, widening participation, research and ethics, and student learning experience and engagement. Membership of these committees is drawn from across the University community and is made up of a combination of elected and appointed members.

Earlier this year, the Senate commissioned a review of Academic Governance at Warwick led by a Senate Working Group. The aim of the review is to ensure good and effective academic governance with:

• A clear academic committee structure
• A shared understanding of the routes for consideration and decision-making of proposals
• Improved communication of the processes, purpose and outputs of committees
• A clear picture of how and where the staff and student community engage with and contribute to academic governance
• Greater agility and improved timeliness in decision-making, through more effective ways of working
• Committee membership with diversity of thought that represents the needs of our diverse community
• Inclusive and effective ways of working within and around committees
• Improved engagement with the student voice through the decision-making process
• Improved engagement and clarity in faculty and department-level interaction

How to get involved

The first stage of this Academic Governance review is now complete with the findings drawn together into a Green Paper. This is a consultation paper that presents the findings of the review so far, inviting discussion on these initial findings and next steps. You can view the Green Paper here.

Each section of this Green Paper includes consultation questions on which we would especially welcome feedback. However, wider, or more general observations are also welcome.

Feedback will be received through a series of consultation events and exercises. Colleagues are also able to share their feedback directly. For more information on consultation events and to provide named or unnamed feedback directly, visit the Green Paper Consultation page.

Feedback on the Green Paper will be considered by the Senate Working Group and will form a revised set of proposals (a White Paper). This White Paper will incorporate more detail on the implementation of the proposals for our Academic Governance and will again be consulted on ahead of Senate being invited to approve the final set of proposals of the review at its meeting in April 2024.

More information about the Academic Governance Review is available here.