Secretariat
The Secretariat is led by the Deputy Secretary. Its work is organised within five teams - Governance Support, Student Cases, Legal Services, Records Management and Information Governance, and Research Regulatory Compliance. Together, their primary responsibility is assisting the University Secretary in promoting the best standards of corporate governance throughout the institution.
Governance Support:
This team's responsibilities include ensuring that principal decision-making bodies are provided with timely information, analysis and advice. It also oversees the constitutional operation of the University as a whole, by administering:
- Main University committees
- Corporate governance
- Research ethics and integrity
- Research misconduct investigations
- Whistleblowing procedure (a brief guide is available here)
- Constitutional arrangements (Faculty and School) and other regulatory matters
- Company secretariat services
- Obituaries
The team is headed by Catherine Cho (Head of Governance Support) and includes Maxine Brown, Daksha Chavda, Sou Sit Chung, Rachel De Souza, Taylor Haworth, Cathy O'Neill, Helen Pickersgill, Rachel Prinn, Pally Sandhu, Helena Smith and Dawn Thompson.
Student Cases:
This team is responsible for the administration of the University's procedures in relation to the following:
- Academic appeals (by taught and research students)
- The University's Student Complaints Procedure
- Hate crime, sexual assault and online harassment
- Allegations of academic misconduct
- Student discipline cases
- Student progress cases, including the Fitness to Study procedure
- Student Fitness to Practice (Health and Conduct procedure)
- Advice on the regulations for taught programmes of study
View further information about the work of the Student Cases team
The team is led by the Head of Student Cases and includes Kirsty Curwen (Assistant Head, Academic Cases), Carly Griffin (Assistant Head), Laura Britten, Cheryl Cox, Katie Engel, Jenny Foggin, Sarah Hills, Anna Morrissey, Juliet Veevers and Alison Usher.
Legal Services:
The Legal Services team is headed by the University Solicitor, Adrian Slater, who provides the University with in-house legal advice.
The team also includes Caroline Coulsey, Tracey Crombie, Alex Evans, Kelly Simpson and Mark Warner.
Research Regulatory Compliance:
The Research Regulatory Compliance team is headed by Emma Armstrong and is responsible for the regulatory compliance and quality assurance of clinical research.
The team includes Louise Harris, Georgina Hough and Jean Uniacke.
Last updated: 16 May 2023 (HJP)
Records Management and Information Governance:
The Records Management and Information Governance team is headed by Rebecca Messenger-Clark (interim). The team is responsible for matters relating to data protection, data subject access and Freedom of Information requests, and the University's records management policy.
The team also includes Joseph Heffernan.
Other matters:
The Secretariat is also responsible for a number of business planning and outward-facing activities, including:
- Administering the University's protocol on freedom of expression
- Supporting the University's response to the Prevent Duty
- Critical incident and insurance
- Events management (such as honorary degree ceremonies and prominent public lectures)
The Deputy Secretary has overall responsibility for these activities, with support from other members of the Secretariat.