U. of Oxford Proposes Governance Changes.

This article reports that the University of Oxford, Oxford, England, outlined proposed changes in May 2006 that would transform how the 900-year-old institution is run and, for the first time, give outsiders a leading role in its governance. Oxford is under increasing fiscal pressure. It is organized on a decentralized collegiate system, and its 39 colleges enjoy considerable autonomy. Ultimate decision-making responsibility at Oxford resides with Congregation, a body made up of faculty members, researchers and other administrative staff members. Practical policy-making responsibility resides with Oxford's much smaller Council. Another body, the Conference of Colleges, represents the common interests of the 39 colleges and seven other academic units, known as permanent private halls, in their relations with the central university. The white-paper proposals would leave the composition of Congregation unchanged but alter the size and composition of Council, reducing it from 26 to 15 members and specifying that eight of those individuals, including its chair, be from outside the university. The report also envisions the creation of a new Academic Board, which would have responsibility for the academic administration of the university. Oxford's Congregation is expected to debate the report's proposed reforms this fall.