Elections FAQs

Current elections and eligibility requirements are published on the Elections website.

First, decide which vacancy you want to stand for and check that you are eligible – current elections and eligibility requirements are published on the Elections website. If you are unsure as to your eligibility, please contact the Elections Office. For most positions, but not all, nominees will need to be members of Congregation. If you are unsure whether you are a member of Congregation, please contact the Congregation Membership Administrator.

Download and complete the nomination form. You will need a minimum of four, and a maximum of ten, nominators (all members of Congregation). Once complete, send the form as an email attachment to elections.office@admin.ox.ac.uk by the advertised deadline.  Please ensure that your nominators are also copied into the email when the nomination form is submitted, as this will act as verification of the nomination in lieu of supplying original signatures.

First, check that they want to be nominated and that they are eligible. To nominate someone for election you will need to be a member of Congregation. If you are unsure whether you are a member of Congregation, please contact the Congregation Membership Administrator.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Elections website. Nominators will need a minimum of four, and a maximum of ten, nominators (all members of Congregation). Once completed, the form should be sent as an email attachment to elections.office@admin.ox.ac.uk by the advertised deadline.  Please ensure that all nominators (and the candidate) are copied into the email when the nomination form is submitted, as this will act as verification of the nomination in lieu of supplying original signatures.

Where an election is ‘contested’ (i.e. more candidates have been nominated than there are vacancies), an electronic ballot will be held. Members of Congregation will receive an e-mail with instructions on how to vote.

There are lots of other ways you can get involved in the University’s governance at a divisional and departmental level. Let your head of division or head of department know that you are interested in becoming a member of a committee, especially if you have an interest in the remit covered by a particular committee. Alternatively, look at the list of University committees and contact committee secretaries directly to ask about current and forthcoming opportunities.

Information is available on the University’s website at: https://governance.admin.ox.ac.uk/committees

Contact individual committee secretaries for more information on current vacancies.

That depends on the committee. In many cases, no specialist skills or experience will be required, although it will be helpful to have an interest in the remit covered by the committee. For most positions, you will simply need to be able to work collaboratively with the other members of the committee, have good listening skills and be willing to contribute to discussions and decision-making with a balanced, open-minded approach.

If you would like to have an informal conversation with a current or former member of the committee, do get in touch with the committee secretary.

No – now the election process is electronic, it is even easier. Forms are completed electronically and submitted by e-mail before the advertised deadline. If you have any questions about the process, please contact the Elections Office as soon as you can, so they can guide you through the process.

That depends on the committee – most committees usually meet at least once per term, often twice or sometimes more. The length of meetings will also vary depending on the committee. Most committee work involves reading papers in advance of the meeting, attending meetings, and contributing to discussions.

Getting involved in the University’s governance processes has many benefits for you as an individual –in learning more about how the University operates and how its governance structure works, you will be involved in University decisions and able to help shape University policy. This can have benefits for your personal and professional development, in terms of increasing your knowledge of the University and enhancing important skills, including your ability to lead and influence and to see issues from different angles. Service on University and/or college committees can also be taken into account as evidence of ‘good citizenship’, one of the criteria used in the Recognition of Distinction Scheme.

In most cases, it is possible to serve on more than one committee at the same time – it depends on the eligibility requirements of each committee. There are a small number of cases where serving on one committee means you cannot serve on another – for example a member of the Finance Committee or the Planning and Resource Allocation Committee cannot also serve on the Audit and Scrutiny Committee.