Executive Leadership Team Terms of Reference
Constitution and Purpose
1. The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) was established on 1
st
September 2023
under authority delegated by the Board to the Vice-Chancellor and oversees the
university’s overall performance and delivery in line with its values of Ambition,
Curiosity, Independence and Humanity. It focuses on strategic leadership,
management and direction, ensuring the effective prioritisation of outstanding
student experience, curriculum delivery, digital literacy and a people centred
approach.
Membership
2. The ELT comprises of the Vice-Chancellor (Chair), Deputy Vice-Chancellor &
Provost, Chief Operating Officer, PVC Student Success, Director of People &
Organisational Development and University Secretary and Registrar. A minimum
of three members, must be present for the meeting to be quorate. The Chair can
appoint a deputy chair (usually the DVC Provost) in their absence.
Responsibilities
3. The ELT is responsible for dealing with matters that concern the university as a
whole, including: its strategic direction, organisation; leadership; culture;
governance; management; compliance with legal and other obligations, the
management of the relationship with the Board and Committees; risk
management; people, estate and infrastructure; use of financial resources.
4. The ELT is responsible for ensuring appropriate consultation and reciprocal
communication with the University Leadership Group, which will meet every 6
weeks.
Serviced By: Vice-Chancellor’s Office
Reports To: Board of Governors
Decisions
5. The Executive Leadership Team will, inter alia:
• Develop the strategy for the University and assure the Board of its delivery of
providing exceptional student experience, through monitoring progress and
managing performance.
• Set the University’s operating framework, ensuring effective and efficient
operational delivery.
• Manage a three-year business planning cycle, developing and presenting for
approval the University’s annual budget, allocating and deploying resources
appropriately and ensuring overall institutional sustainability, as part of the longer
term university strategy [Marjon 2030].
• Manage risk and undertake scenario-planning and horizon-scanning, considering
the wider context for strategic opportunity and overseeing compliance with
regulatory requirements.
• Engage with, influence and proactively improve our reputation as part of the
external environment in which the University operates.
• Exemplify values-led leadership behaviours, always striving to improve our culture
and create an inclusive environment for our students, people, and stakeholders.
• Provide a forum for the exchange and challenge of ideas, to actively disrupt for
positive change, express opinions, future proofing, and good practice.
6. The ELT may escalate matters to the Board of Governors as appropriate. Where
the responsibilities referred to above are functions delegated by the Board, any
decisions will be referred to the Board or relevant Committee, as appropriate, in
line with the Articles of Association.
7. The Chair may, where they deem it necessary, request that the ELT take
decisions by correspondence.
8. Chair’s action may be used in exceptional circumstances where a decision is
required urgently and it is not possible to consult ELT members by
correspondence. In such cases, the Chair may take a decision on any matter
within the ELT’s delegated authority.
9. Any decisions made by correspondence or Chair’s action must be reported at the
next ELT meeting, where they shall be noted in the agenda as having been
determined and their resolution recorded in the minutes.
Meetings
10. The ELT will meet regularly. The Chair may convene additional meetings, as
necessary.
11. The Chair may invite other university staff to attend as required to assist with its
discussions on any particular matter.
Secretariat Support
12. The Senior Executive Officer will provide secretariat support to the ELT, or a
member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Support Team in their absence.
13. The Chair will agree the meeting agenda with the support of the Senior
Executive Officer. The agendas and papers will normally be circulated at least
two working days in advance of the meeting.
14. The Secretariat will maintain the minutes, rolling action log and decisions log, to
provide a record of business conducted of the meetings. Action points will be
circulated to members after the meeting has taken place. The minutes will be
circulated to members with papers in advance of the next meeting, where they
will be considered for approval.
Papers
15. The deadline for supplying papers to the Senior Executive Officer is at least 3
working days prior to the committee meeting. Late papers will only be accepted
by the Chair in exceptional circumstances.
16. All papers for consideration by the ELT must be approved by the ELT sponsor
prior to being submitted to the wider group.
17. Papers must be concise (normally no more than three pages plus a cover sheet)
and clearly set out using the provided standard committee cover and report
templates.
18. Papers should have been discussed in advance of coming to ELT, to ensure
that, as far as possible, all relevant factors have been considered.
Transparency, Reporting and Review
19. The ELT will report, as appropriate, to the Board through the Vice-Chancellor, by
sharing information on relevant decisions.
20. The Vice-Chancellor will provide a bulletin with updates from the ELT meetings to
all staff via Antler. Executive Leaders will be responsible for communicating key
messages from the meeting to their staff as appropriate.
21. The Terms of Reference and effectiveness of the ELT will be reviewed annually.
