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University Council Member

This is a hugely exciting time for the University of Gloucestershire, and we are looking for four exceptional individuals to join our Council.

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The University of Gloucestershire is the anchor higher education institution in the county and has a rich history dating back to 1847. The institution achieved degree-awarding powers in 1992 and University title in 2001.

With campuses in the beautiful spa town of Cheltenham and historic cathedral city of Gloucester, we are home to a diverse and vibrant community which offers an outstanding education for our students where they can thrive and make lasting connections, and a welcoming and professional environment for our staff to fulfil their personal and professional goals.

With campuses in the beautiful spa town of Cheltenham and historic cathedral city of Gloucester, we are home to a diverse and vibrant community which offers an outstanding education for our students where they can thrive and make lasting connections, and a welcoming and professional environment for our staff to fulfil their personal and professional goals.

We are a widening participation institution with a strong focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, and being a place where everyone is treated fairly and with respect, feels valued and has a sense of belonging.

The higher education sector in the UK faces a changing and increasingly challenging landscape and in 2023 we appointed a new Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer, Dame Clare Marchant DBE, to lead the University through this time of transformation. Our refreshed strategy is focused on driving knowledge and careers through excellence in education. We enrol around 12,000 students every year on programmes delivered in Gloucestershire and through our partners in the UK and overseas.

We see ourselves as an institution deeply embedded in our place, working for the long-term good of society and our local community. The University offers a diverse academic portfolio at undergraduate and postgraduate level, including degree apprenticeships and continuing professional development. We have exciting programmes underway to transform our spaces, including our transformational new City Campus in Gloucester which opened in summer 2025, new facilities designed in collaboration with cyber partners at our Creative and Computing Park Campus in Cheltenham, and the recent announcement of a £2.5 million grant to create an technology-drive, immersive simulation suite at our Oxstalls Campus.

The University Council and Committees

The University Council is the governing body of the University, responsible for setting the strategic direction of the institution; monitoring institutional performance; and providing strategic oversight of its finances, property and investments.

We seek council members from a wide range of backgrounds to ensure that the Council is reflective of the diversity of the University community and to benefit from the heritage and life experiences of individuals from our local communities and the wider region. We are committed to improving the gender balance on the Council, and the membership from among Black and Asian people and minority ethnic groups.

The objectives of the University, which is an exempt charity, are the advancement of education in the UK for public benefit including the provision of teaching and the undertaking of research activities. We are committed to widening access and participation in higher education through inclusive teaching and learning.

The Council has twenty members, including two student members, two staff members, a member from the University’s Academic Board, the Vice-Chancellor, and fourteen non-executive external members. Council members provide guidance and scrutiny, ensuring proper accountability and strategic oversight of the University’s finances, property and investments and the general business of the University.

Council is supported by a number of formally constituted committees with delegated powers, including the Finance and General Purposes Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee.

Council Members are selected and appointed based on their specific skills, experience and expertise, including: finance, audit and legal; cyber and digital; human resources, people and change management; education and public sector policy; property and estates development; strategic planning and senior leadership.

The opportunity

The University is seeking to appoint new non-executive external members to join the University Council.

New members of Council will be successful strategic thinkers, with an exceptional record of achievement in one of the following areas:

• Human Resources, People and Change Management
• Finance, Legal, Audit and Governance
• Digital Transformation and Technology, or
• Estates Development, Property and Commercial Growth

Applications are therefore invited from individuals who share our passion for higher education and who can help us strengthen our connections with businesses, employers, and communities locally and nationally by acting as ambassadors for the University.

We positively encourage and particularly welcome applications from groups that are under-represented.

Council members will serve for a four-year term, with a further option to be re-appointed for one additional term. They will also be expected to join one of the committees supporting the work of Council, dependent upon their area of expertise.

The role is not remunerated, although reasonable expenses are reimbursed.

Person specification

Commitment to the University and to higher education: Ability to demonstrate a commitment to the University’s mission, vision and values, to higher education and to ensuring an outstanding student learning experience.

Previous Experience: Ability to think and act strategically, to take a broad view of issues and events and to see long-term impacts and bring to bear personal expertise in an area relevant to the responsibilities of Council.

Training and Specialist Skills: High levels of written and oral communication skills. Able to listen and engage with others.  Analytical skills. 

Disposition: Ability and willingness to be an ambassador for the University. Ability to work in effective teams with other Members of Council. Ability to work in effective teams with the Vice-Chancellor and other members of the University Executive. Ability to challenge and join in constructively with debate of competing viewpoints while taking responsibility for the group decision. Good under pressure. Diplomatic but firm. Prepared to give University business a high priority. Commitment to the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and to application of the public sector equality duty.

Circumstances: Available to attend University related activities on at least 12 full or part days per year, both online and in person. In addition, University business is likely to punctuate other days (e.g. telephone conversations, preparation for meetings etc.).

Further information

More information about the University, including more details about the Council, can be viewed on the University’s Governance and structure page.

Members of Council (as well as members of the University Executive) are only appointed after demonstration that they satisfy the definition of ‘fit and proper persons’ as articulated by the Office for Students (OfS) in the ‘Regulatory framework for higher education in England’.

Role description: Member of Council