Congregation

Information about Congregation, including the legislative structure, and material for recent and forthcoming meetings

Congregation is the sovereign body of the University. It consists of about 5,000 members, comprising academic staff, heads and other members of governing bodies of colleges and societies and senior research, computing, library and administrative staff. The official register of Congregation is published annually in the Gazette each HT and additions to the register are published weekly (for example, the 2022-23 Register of Congregation). The electronic register of Congregation is managed by the Congregation Membership Administrator, Planning and Council Secretariat.

 

Changes to Congregation membership application process

Please apply for membership of Congregation applications using our web-form. There is also a separate MA by Resolution form for those who are already members of Congregation. As previously advertised, our processes have changed and we are no longer able to accept PDF versions of the form. 

 
Functions and procedures

For the functions and procedures of Congregation and other related matters, see Statute IV and Congregation Regulations 2 of 2002.

For queries relating to Congregation elections, please contact the Elections Office or visit the Elections pages.

For queries relating to Congregation membership, please contact the Congregation Membership Administrator or click on the Membership tab above.

For all other queries, please contact the Council Secretariat.

 

 

Membership

For the membership of Congregation, see Statute IV and Congregation Regulations 1 of 2002.

Congregation is the supreme governing body of the University, essentially consisting of all Oxford academic staff, and more senior academic-related staff.

Membership queries should be raised with college or departmental/faculty administrators in the first instance.

You should use the web form, and accompanying notes of guidance, to submit your application. We ask that either a Head of Department/Faculty Chair/College Head or a relevant administrator sends an email to congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk confirming that they authorise the application.

Relevant administrators include: for a salary grade based application, we can accept confirmation from an HR official, for a governing body/faculty related application we can accept confirmation from a secretary/administrator of that body.

If your application for Congregation is successful, a University card stating 'Congregation' will be issued by the Card Office in due course. Should there be a meeting of Congregation, you will be asked to show your card on entrance. Please note that if there is a meeting of Congregation before you receive your card, you may pre-register for the meeting as an alternative to presenting a card stating 'Congregation'.  Full details of the pre-registration process will be provided when the details of a meeting are advertised. Please contact the Card Office with any card related questions: university.card@admin.ox.ac.uk. 

Meetings

Items placed on the agenda for Congregation are published in the University Gazette. Stated meetings of Congregation are held, if there is relevant business, at 2pm on the Tuesday of the first, second, fourth, sixth, and eighth weeks of Full Term, and of the second week after Full Term (‘Tenth Week’). Meetings are usually held either in the Sheldonian Theatre in Broad Street or in the nearby Convocation House (part of the Bodleian Library complex). If there is no opposed business or any other reason to hold a meeting, any items on the agenda are declared by the Vice-Chancellor to have been approved without the meeting being held.

The scheduled meeting dates for the 24/25 academic year are as follows:

MT24: 15 October, 22 October, 5 November, 19 November, 3 December, 17 December

HT25: 21 January, 28 January, 11 February, 25 February, 11 March, 25 March.

TT25: 29 April, 6 May, 20 May, 3 June, 17 June, 1 July.

Congregation Meeting, 25 June 2024

 

The outcome of both votes held at the meeting of 25 June 2024 is published under 'MEETINGS' below.  The transcript of the meeting is published here. Postal votes have been requested in respect of both resolutions.  In line with contemporary practice, these will be delivered electronically by Civica.  Voting will open on 18 July and close on 1 August; the outcome of the votes will be publicised in the week beginning 5 August, at the latest. In the meantime, neither resolution shall be deemed to be operative nor to have been carried or rejected.

Only people who are members of Congregation as of 7 July will be able to vote on the resolutions.  Every member of Congregation may vote, regardless of whether they voted at the meeting on 25 June. Civica will email all members of Congregation with a link through which to vote on both resolutions. As well as publishing a notice in the Gazette on 18 July, the Congregation Team will also email members of Congregation to publicise the electronic ballots.  Flysheets approved by the Proctors and Vice-Chancellor will be published in the Gazette on 18 July. They are also available here.

 

 

MEETINGS

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Further information

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