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17 July 2007 HEFCE logo
To  Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions
Direct Line 0117 931 7300
Direct Fax 0117 931 7203

Circular letter number 17 July 2007

For further information contact Alison Johns, tel 0117 931 7069, e-mail a.johns@hefce.ac.uk, or Kath Thompson, tel 0117 931 7393, e-mail k.thompson@hefce.ac.uk

Dear Vice-Chancellor or Principal

HEFCE Communications with governors

1.   At the 2006 HEFCE annual meeting, chairs of HE governing bodies expressed a desire for improved communications between themselves and HEFCE. This letter sets out our proposals for doing so, and provides a summary of other support for governors provided by us and our partners. No action is required in response.

Existing support for governors

2.   Our relationship with each HEI, as set out in the HEFCE Financial Memorandum, is with the governing body of that institution, which then delegates authority to a principal officer - normally the vice-chancellor. For this reason our communications to date have been routed through the vice-chancellor. However, members of governing bodies are important stakeholders for us and chairs of governing bodies at our 2006 annual meeting expressed a wish for more direct communication by us of our key published documents; therefore we will work with them to develop appropriate direct communications.

3.   Current support for the development of governance in the HE sector includes:

  • the Committee of University Chairmen (CUC) produced a Guide for Governors and a Code of Practice (HEFCE 2004/40) in 2004, with funding and support from HEFCE
  • GuildHE (then SCOP) undertook work on governance in the HEFCE-funded Good Governance project (GMP141), producing a web-site and a guide for new governors - 'Getting to Grips with Being a Governor: Making Sense of Governance in Higher Education'
  • CUC initiated a development programme for governors, and SCOP created a governance network for chairs and clerks to the board. As a consequence, there is now a range of provision tailored to support governor development, delivered by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE).

4.   HEFCE's Leadership, Governance and Management Fund (LGMF) has supported the following projects that relate to governance:

  • LGMF 085: Key performance indicators to aid effective governance in higher education (CUC project)
  • LGMF 061: A guide to governance in church higher education institutions to supplement the CUC guide to governors (Council of Church Colleges and Universities project).

5.   In autumn 2007 the CUC and GuildHE governance network will begin a major project on governance in partnership with the LFHE. All four UK funding bodies are contributing funding. It includes:

  • a research project on governor effectiveness
  • market research on governors' induction and continuing development needs
  • developing learning resources and updating the governors' web-site.

CUC will also lead work on an initiative to develop audit committee expertise within the sector. We will liaise with CUC and GuildHE to develop initiatives that support diversity within the higher education sector and the contribution good governance can make to institutional sustainability.

Improving communications with governing bodies

6.   We will send a letter to all chairs of governing bodies to raise awareness of what we already offer, such as the admin-hefce electronic mail list which provides notification of all HEFCE publications and announcements. We would like to discuss with chairs of governing bodies whether they would value a new e-mail alert service for governors, which would filter information of interest to them. We will also meet with CUC and GuildHE to develop our approach.

7.   In this way we aim to address governors' request for additional and appropriate information that will enable them to carry out their role without recourse to the more detailed material required for the executive function of vice-chancellors and senior management teams. We will report the development of this approach at our annual meeting in November 2007 and will review the approach after 12 months of operation.

Yours sincerely

Professor David Eastwood
Chief Executive