Call for Council change

Oxford University academics who rejected governance reforms proposed by the vice-chancellor in December are pushing for changes of their own.

John Hood, Oxford's vice-chancellor, wanted the council to be made up of a majority of members from outside the university, but dons rejected the plan.

Now a group of 48 key academics have called for a series of smaller changes, including the appointment of an external chair to help "ensure objective scrutiny by Council of the management's proposals" and a Nominations Committee, with a majority of elected internal members, to propose external Council members.