Current position:
- A Nomination Board nominates a candidate for election as Chancellor, to ensure that there is at least one nomination. Once the Board has published its nomination, members of the Senate are invited to make their own nominations
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Reasons for changes: - The
Board’s nominee is likely to be seen as the establishment candidate, which
could be a disadvantage to that candidate
- Unlike all other nominees, the Board’s candidate might not necessarily have the support of 50 members of the Senate
- See
also (b) below; the University Council makes a nomination if there are no candidates
- See also (c) below on changes to the election timetable
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(b) Election of a University Council nominee if no candidate is nominated
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Current position:
- The nomination process starts again if there are no candidates by the close of the nomination period
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Details of changes:
- If no candidate is nominated by the deadline, the University Council[1] nominates one candidate, who is automatically declared elected as Chancellor
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Reasons for changes:
- To conclude the process without the need to rerun the nomination process, and to provide a nominee in the absence of the Nomination Board
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(c) Changes to the election timetable
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Current position:- The Nomination Board cannot formally meet until 70 days in term before the vacancy is due to occur (even if it has advance notice), but it has to publish the name of its nominee by the end of the 70-day period
- Members of the Senate have 28 days of term to submit nominations after the announcement of the Board’s nominee
- Candidates cannot withdraw from the election if only 7 days remain before the first of the days appointed for voting. If a candidate withdraws, nominations reopen for a further 28 days and any days appointed for voting within those 28 days are automatically cancelled
- The process starts again from the beginning following the death of a candidate
- The Vice-Chancellor determines the days for voting in person and online
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Details of changes:
- The University Council determines the timetable for the election, including the days for voting and the latest day on nominations of candidates must be received
- Elections will normally take place in Full Term and the University Council will give at least 40 days’ notice of every election
- The deadline for the receipt of formal nominations is at least 17 days after the Council has published the election timetable and at least 14 days before the first day of voting in the election
- No timetable changes are automatically triggered by the death or withdrawal of a candidate. If at the close of the nomination period there is more than one candidate, there will be an election. If there is only one candidate remaining, the Council will reopen nominations and publish a new election timetable. As noted above, if there is no candidate, the University Council makes a nomination
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Reasons for changes:- To provide a simpler timetable that is easier to follow and more flexible but within parameters in Ordinance to ensure fairness
- If the Chancellor resigns, the changes will allow the University Council to start the nomination process as soon as there is notice of resignation, enabling better transition planning
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(d) No change to the voting system used in Senate elections, which remains STV
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Current position:- The Single Transferable Vote (STV) system is used in all elections
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Reasons for changes:
- No change will be made in these proposals at the present time. Instead, the Council will call a vote on the voting system used in Senate elections when the next Senate election (or ballot) takes place. In advance of voting, the Council will publish more detailed information on the advantages and disadvantages of STV and the alternative, drawing on relevant expertise, so that members of the Senate are in a better position to make a decision either to affirm the choice of STV or change to the alternative.
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(e) The Vice-Chancellor makes a choice if there is an equality of votes
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Current position:- The election process starts again if the candidates with the highest number of votes have the same number of votes
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Reasons for changes: - To conclude the process without the need to rerun the election
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(f) The Registrary or a deputy is the returning officer
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Current position:- There is no explicit reference to the identity of the returning officer, who is responsible for the conduct of votes
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Reasons for changes: - To bring the process into line with other University elections and votes (in most University elections and votes, the Vice-Chancellor is formally the returning officer, but has delegated this responsibility to the Registrary; the proposals now avoid any possible conflict of interest by making the Registrary or a deputy the returning officer)
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(g) Changes to align arrangements where there is no reason for them to be different
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Current position:- There are differences between the arrangements for Senate elections and for votes on changes to Senate procedures
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Details of changes:
- The election framework remains broadly the same, except:
- the University Council determines the ballot timetable instead of the Vice-Chancellor
- ballots normally take place in Full Term, and
- the authority to postpone elections for up to 80 days is replaced with the authority to postpone a ballot so that an election can take place first
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Reasons for changes:
- To make the
arrangements easier to follow
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(h) Additional publicity for Senate matters through alumni channels
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Current position:- All announcements about voting and other matters of interest to members of the Senate are published in the Reporter and on the University website
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Reasons for changes: - To make sure matters of interest to the Senate are brought to the attention of all members who wish to receive this information
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