The numbers of staff and student members of governing bodies vary quite widely, although they are always in a minority. In pre-1992 universities numbers have in some cases been as high as approximately 40% of total board membership, but this is reducing and in institutions with small boards there may only be one student member and one or two staff members.
The method and length of appointment vary; some common approaches are:
In those institutions using elections some, probably the majority, use the 'first past the post' system, while others have transferable voting arrangements, with a growing number using on line procedures.
In some institutions nominations committees are involved in the nomination and appointment of staff members (drawing a parallel with external members). One such university is Durham, where staff members are appointed to the council following an application and interview process. In another institution members of the senior management team are full governing members, taking the places previously occupied by elected academic staff members..
In some - not all - institutions there are concerns about aspects of the appointment process, most usually that:
Some of these weaknesses can be addressed through an active induction programme, good handover arrangements by previous internal governors, and on-going support, but the one year period of office for student governors requires a steep learning curve.