| Description | Minutes of University of Birmingham Nominations committee. There is an almost complete set of minutes from 29 January 1958 to 4 May 2016. Minutes for the meeting held on 21 May 1998 are missing, though there are meeting papers. Minutes for the meeting held on 24 November 2003 are missing, though there are meeting papers
Minutes of meetings held after 4 May 2016 have not yet been transferred to the University archives.
The Nominations committee was established in 1958 to consider nominations to Honorary Degrees. Nominations were made by member of Senate, and additional nominations were also submitted to, or proposed by, the committee. The Nominations committee made recommendations to Senate for approval, but did not have to approve all nominations proposed by Senate members. Senate then submitted recommendations to Council. The Chancellor and other University officers could also suggest names for consideration. Membership of the committee consisted of the Vice-Chancellor, Vice-Principal, and Professors who were also members of Senate
Changes to the terms of reference of the committee were proposed in 1974 in view of proposals for a revision of the Charter and Statutes which would include the abolition of the Honorary Degrees committee of Council [no minutes for this committee survive in the University archives]. It would then be the duty of the Senate to determine the award of Honorary Degrees, and it was recommended that the Nominations committee would become the Honorary Degrees committee of the Senate. At this time, the Nominations committee was formally appointed by the Senate and composed of Faculty representatives. There were three representatives from the Faculty of Science and Engineering, two from each of the Faculties of Arts, Medicine and Dentistry, and one from each of the Faculties of Commerce and Social Science, and Law. All members of the committee were members of the Senate and, given the composition of the Senate at this time, all were professors, though there was nothing to prevent non-professorial members of the Senate from being appointed.
As the composition of the new Senate was to be different, it was thought desirable that composition of the Honorary Degrees committee should be amended to reflect these changes, and should therefore include a number of non-professorial staff. It was intended that the committee should be able to obtain a cross-section of viewpoints and backgrounds, but it was decided that, under existing reserved business regulations, it would not be possible to appoint student members to a new Honorary Degrees committee. It was agreed that Senate should be directly represented on the committee, since Honorary Degrees were a means by which the whole University recognised outstanding distinction or service. Faculty interests would also be taken into account since the Academic Executive, on which Faculties were represented, would recommend the membership of the new committee to Senate for consideration and approval. At this time, the Nominations committee had no formal terms of reference. After discussion, it was decided that the Nominations committee would continue to function as before. It was agreed that nominations would be made by any two members of academic staff, one of whom must be a professor. Nominations were submitted to the Registrar by 31 October each year, to be considered by the Nominations committee, which forwarded to the Senate only those nominations which it recommended for acceptance. Membership of the committee in 1976, after the Senate had been reconstituted, consisted of the Vice-Chancellor, who chaired the committee, the Vice-Principal, the Public Orator, and members of the Senate nominated by the Faculties. Senate considered nominations recommended by the Nominations committee under reserved business, and copies of Senate reserved business minutes are included with minutes of the Nominations committee from this date onwards. Nominations are kept confidential at all times.
The terms of reference of the Nominations committee were reviewed in 1997 by a working group which considered the revision of the nominations process to widen the number of those eligible to nominate individuals for honorary degrees. Nominations could now be made by any two people who were either employees or honorary staff, or lay members of Council or Court, one of whom should be a Professor or member of Senate. Nominations still had to be proposed and seconded, submitted to the Registrar and Secretary, and then considered by the Nominations committee. Membership remained largely unchanged, though as there was now more than one Public Orator the committee was larger, and the Pro-Vice Chancellor with responsibility for Academic Affairs and Faculty representatives who were members of Senate also attended |