Commission of Inquiry into UCL governance publishes important report + AB tomorrow

After a crisis in governance leading to informal votes of no confidence, the Visitors report, and the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), the Commission has issued its Final Report plus Draft Recommendations.

Some of the findings of the report are quite shocking in what has been allowed to occur at UCL as an academic community.

The report’s forward-looking recommendations are simply remarkable, and seek to put the academic voice (of the UCL academic community) back at the heart of decision-making, reversing the path of recent years!

Key recommendations (from page 17) include:

• Increasing the academic voice in the selection, appointment, and reappointment of Deans and Heads of Department
• The bringing in of key decision-making committees, such as Education Committee, directly under the Academic Board/academic community, to reduce decision-making that is distant and alienated from the scrutiny of those who are affected by the decisions
• The creation of an Executive Committee of the Academic Board (still accountable to the Board) to influence and test all proposals and initiatives according to ‘Academic Impact Statements’
• The creation of an internal ombudsman, independent of Senior Management and HR, that can have oversight of due process in UCL’s internal disciplinary and grievance processes.

We strongly encourage members of the Academic Board to support the Final Report of the CoI at the Board’s meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 12 February, and at its final reading in May (other members will have opportunities to feed into this process after Wednesday).

UCL UCU Executive Committee