Council Regulations 21 of 2002

1. As soon as can conveniently be arranged after the election, the newly elected Chancellor shall be admitted at a meeting of Convocation at which the instrument of his or her election under the Common Seal of the University shall be handed to him or her by the Vice-Chancellor and Senior Proctor, together with the insignia of the office of Chancellor, that is, the statutes, the keys, the seal of office, and the staves of the bedels.

2. Subject to regulation 4 below, the Vice-Chancellor shall hold office for seven years, save that, when a Vice-Chancellor vacates the office before the expiry of his or her full term of office and at a time other than the end of the academic year, his or her successor's period shall consist of the remainder of that academic year and seven further years.

3. Any individual shall be eligible for appointment as Vice-Chancellor.

4. The Vice-Chancellor is subject to the provisions concerning retirement age as set out in section 15 of Statute XIV.

5. No individual shall be appointed Vice-Chancellor a second time, save that, if a Vice-Chancellor vacates his or her office before the expiry of a full term of office, an individual who has previously been Vice-Chancellor may be appointed Vice-Chancellor again for one year (or, if the retiring Vice-Chancellor vacates his or her office at a time other than the end of an academic year, for the remainder of that academic year and one further year), and the age-limit in regulation 4 above shall not apply to such a second appointment.

6. The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed in accordance with the following procedure:

(1) Not less than one year before the period of office of a Vice-Chancellor is due to come to an end by lapse of time, a committee consisting of:

(a) the Chancellor, or, if the Chancellor is unable or unwilling to act, one of the members of Council nominated under the provisions of section 4 (7) - (10) of Statute VI, who shall if possible be appointed by the Chancellor for this purpose, or, if the Chancellor is unable or unwilling to make such an appointment, shall be appointed by Council, and who shall chair the committee;

(b) - (e) four persons, not also being members of Council, elected by Congregation;

(f) - (h) three persons appointed by Council, of whom, if the Chancellor is to chair the committee personally, one shall be one of the members of Council nominated under the provisions of section 4 (7) - (10) of Statute VI;

(i) - (l) one person appointed by each of the divisional boards;

(m) the Chairman of the Conference of Colleges or his or her nominee;

(n) a person, not also being a member of Council, elected by the Conference of Colleges

shall report to Council with a recommendation that a named individual be appointed as the next Vice-Chancellor;

(2) (a) The appointed and elected members of the committee at paragraph (1) above shall hold office for seven years and shall not be eligible for a further period of office on the committee in either an appointed or an elected position until the expiry of seven years from the date on which the first period of office expires, except that a member appointed or elected for less than a full period in order to fill a casual vacancy may be appointed or elected for one consecutive period of seven years.

(b) A member of the committee elected under paragraph (1) (b) - (e) or (n) above who becomes a member of Council during his or her period of office shall immediately vacate his or her office; no person shall be appointed or elected under paragraph (1) (b) - (l) or (n) above if the result of his or her appointment or election would be that more than two members of the committee, excluding the chairman, were members of the governing body of any one college, society, or Permanent Private Hall; if this limit is exceeded by reason of persons being appointed or elected simultaneously by different bodies, the person or persons senior in academic standing shall be deemed appointed or elected to the extent permitted by the limit, and the other or others shall be deemed not appointed or elected (in the event of equality in academic standing, appointment or election being made by lot).

(3) Notwithstanding regulation 7.(2) (d) of Council Regulations 13 of 2002, at the discretion of the Chair of the Nominating Committee for the Vice-Chancellorship:

(a) student members shall be represented at meetings of the committee by two individuals nominated by the President of the Oxford University Student Union, to represent the undergraduate and postgraduate communities; and

(b) early career research staff shall be represented at meetings of the committee by one person nominated by the Oxford Research Staff Society.

(4) When Council has considered the committee's report, and any further report on the appointment which it may have requested the committee to make, Council shall submit to Congregation the name of the individual proposed for appointment.

(5) (a) Council's proposal for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor shall be deemed approved unless it is rejected with at least 125 members voting in favour of rejection.

(b) If a proposal for the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor is rejected, Council shall, after consultation with the committee, within two months nominate two individuals to Congregation (of whom one may be the individual previously rejected) and offer Congregation the choice between them.

(6) If for any reason there is no Vice-Chancellor-elect able and willing to take up office on the laying down of office by a Vice-Chancellor, an Acting Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed under the provisions of regulation 8 below, until such time as a new Vice-Chancellor has been appointed under the procedure laid down in paragraphs (1) - (4) above.

7. As nearly as possible at the beginning of the academic year in which he or she takes up office, the Vice-Chancellor shall be admitted at a meeting of Congregation.

8. (1) In the event of the incapacity or the initiation of the removal procedure under Part G of Statute XII or absence from Oxford of the Vice-Chancellor, or in the event of a vacancy in the Vice-Chancellorship, one of the Pro-Vice-Chancellors shall be appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor.

(2) In the event that the Vice-Chancellor's membership of Council is terminated under section 9 (1) of Statute VI, one of the Pro-Vice-Chancellors shall be appointed chairman of Council.

(3) The appointment shall be made:

(a) by the Vice-Chancellor in the event of incapacity or absence, if the incapacity or absence is unlikely to be longer than two months;

(b) by the Chancellor if the incapacity or absence is likely to be for longer than two months, or the removal procedure under Part G of Statute XII has been initiated, or membership of Council has been terminated, or after an appointment under (a) has lasted for two months, or in the event of a vacancy in the Vice-Chancellorship;

(c) by Council in default of an appointment under (a) or (b).

9. An Acting Vice-Chancellor shall have all the functions and powers of the Vice-Chancellor.

10.  (1) There shall be no more than the equivalent of five full-time Pro-Vice-Chancellors who shall be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor subject to the approval of Council and each of whom shall have special responsibility for designated functions as agreed by Council on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor.

(2) The period of the appointment of these Pro-Vice-Chancellors, shall be determined by Council on the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor.

11. The Vice-Chancellor may appoint any members of Congregation as additional Pro-Vice-Chancellors, on condition that the total number of such additional Pro-Vice-Chancellors serving at any one time shall not exceed ten.

12. The Proctors and the Assessor shall be elected annually on the Wednesday in the eighth week of Hilary Full Term and shall hold office from the Wednesday in the week after the end of Hilary Full Term in the year next following, on which day they shall be admitted to office at a meeting of Congregation held for the purpose.

13. The Proctors and Assessor to be admitted to office in the years from 2008 to 2055 inclusive shall be elected by the colleges and societies as shown in the following Schedule.

14. All members of the electing college or society who are members of Congregation (but who are not members of the governing body of another college or society) together with any members of its governing body who are not members of Congregation shall be entitled to take part in the election of a Proctor or Assessor.

15. (1) The candidate who receives the most votes shall be declared elected.

(2) If two or more candidates obtain an equal number of votes, the head of the college or society, or, if the head is absent or the headship is vacant, the vicegerent, shall have a casting vote.

(3) If the election is not completed in one day and the result announced to the Vice-Chancellor by 9 p.m., the Vice-Chancellor shall within a week appoint as Proctor or Assessor a member of any college or society who is qualified under section 17 of Statute IX.

16. (1) If a Proctor or Assessor dies or resigns before the end of his or her year of office, the head of his or her college or society, or, if the head is absent or the headship is vacant, the vicegerent, shall within one week appoint a substitute qualified under section 17 of Statute IX.

(2) If no such appointment is made within a week, the Vice-Chancellor shall appoint a member of any college or society who is so qualified.

17. The Vice-Chancellor shall have power to settle any question concerning the election of a Proctor or Assessor which is not covered by the preceding clauses in consultation with the head of the college or society entitled to make the election and the head of one other college or society; or, if the Vice-Chancellor is himself or herself the head of the college or society making the election, in consultation with the heads of two other colleges or societies.

18. The Proctor in each year who was first admitted to the Degree of Master of Arts shall be the Senior Proctor, and the other the Junior Proctor.

19. The Registrar shall be the secretary of Congregation and of Council, and he or she shall also be responsible for providing the secretary of any committee or body, set up by Congregation or Council under the provisions of any statute or regulation, which has no executive officer.

20. The Registrar shall, under the Vice-Chancellor, be the head of the central administrative services of the University, and shall be responsible for the management and professional development of their staff and for the development of other administrative support.

21. The Registrar may delegate any of his or her functions or powers to any of the University's senior administrative officers, on condition that such delegations are not inconsistent with the due performance of the duties set out in regulation 25 below, that they may be withdrawn (either generally or in respect of a specific item) at any time, and that such delegations shall not relieve the Registrar of general responsibility for the matters delegated.

22. The Registrar shall, under the direction of the Vice-Chancellor, be responsible for overseeing the University's external relations and for communications which express the general policy of the University.

23. The Registrar shall be entitled to receive the papers of every committee or other body set up by or under the authority of the statutes and regulations, and the Registrar or his or her nominee may attend or speak (though not vote) at any meeting.

24. The Registrar shall be responsible, as specified by Council, for ensuring the maintenance and dissemination of university records and registers, for furnishing certificates of matriculation, graduation, and the results of university examinations, and for university publications.

25. The University's senior administrative officers shall be under the general direction of the Registrar and shall be responsible to him or her for the due performance of their duties, save that they shall always have the right to make their views on financial, professional, and technical matters known to the Vice-Chancellor, Council, and the appropriate committees of the University.

26. The University's senior administrative officers shall be appointed by Council, after consultation with the Registrar.

27. In the absence or incapacity of the Registrar, or during a vacancy in the Registrarship until an appointment to the vacant office has been made, the Vice-Chancellor shall designate an Acting Registrar who shall have all the functions, powers, and duties of the Registrar.

28. For the purposes of these regulations, the phrase 'the University's senior administrative officers' shall mean officers who are directly responsible to the Registrar and who hold established posts in the highest administrative grade.

29. (1) The Bedels shall be appointed by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors, and shall be called the Bedels of Divinity, Law, Medicine, and Arts respectively.

(2) They shall be matriculated under the provisions of section 10 (1) of Statute II.

(3) The form of the ceremony for the matriculation and admission to office of the Bedels shall be determined by the Vice-Chancellor.

(4) Each Bedel shall at the time of his or her matriculation be instructed in the statutes, regulations, privileges, and customs of the University so far as they affect him or her.

30. The Bedels shall be in attendance, as required by the Vice-Chancellor, at University Sermons, at meetings of Congregation and Convocation, at the admission of Proctors, on all state occasions, and whenever summoned by the Vice-Chancellor.

31. One of the Bedels shall be selected by the Vice-Chancellor to be the Bedel of Divinity; of the other three, the senior in order of appointment shall be the Bedel of Law, the next the Bedel of Medicine, and the junior the Bedel of Arts.

32. The Bedel of Divinity shall conduct each preacher from his or her college or other society to church and to the pulpit and back.

33. The three senior Bedels carrying gold staves, the junior carrying a silver staff, and all wearing the usual gowns and round caps, shall walk in the customary order before the Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor.

34. All four Bedels shall without reference to their respective special designations, and in addition to the special duties which may be imposed upon each of them, perform, by direction of the Vice-Chancellor, all the statutable and customary duties of bedels.

35. The Bedels shall be constantly resident in the University, and shall not be absent from Oxford without special leave from the Vice-Chancellor.

36. A Bedel may be dismissed at any time by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors for incapacity, for inattention to duty, or for any scandalous or immoral conduct.

37. The Vice-Chancellor may order such payment to be made for the services of the extraordinary Bedels appointed under section 37 of Statute IX as he or she shall think proper.

38. The Verger of the University shall be subject to dismissal by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors at any time for incapacity, for inattention to his or her duties, or for any scandalous or immoral conduct.

39. The Verger's duties shall be:

(1) to attend at all sermons preached before the University and all meetings of Congregation and Convocation;

(2) to provide for the ringing of the bell on the occasion of all such sermons or meetings;

(3) to provide for the cleaning and the arrangement of books and furniture in the University Church, and to have the custody of those books and furniture;

(4) to perform such other reasonable duties connected with his or her office as may be required by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors.

40. The following shall be required to reside within twenty-five miles of Carfax:

(1) the Vice-Chancellor;

(2) the Proctors;

(3) the Director of University Library Services and Bodley's Librarian;

(4) the Officers of the Bodleian Library;

(5) the Director of the Ashmolean Museum;

(6) the Departmental Keepers of the Ashmolean Museum;

(7) the Keeper of the Archives;

(8) the Registrar;

(9) the Librarian of the Taylor Institution;

(10) the holder of any other office or appointment who by any statute or regulation or by the terms of his or her particular appointment is required to reside within the University.