The University has announced the latest additions to its Board of Governors, with two appointments to fill the position of student representatives on the group that carries ultimate responsibility for our University.
The two new student members of the Board are Melody Stephen and Miguel Gonzalez-Valdes Tejero. As elected General Secretary of the Students’ Union, Melody is automatically a member of the Board. The Students’ Union nominates an additional member of the Board from its elected sabbatical officers and has chosen Miguel to carry out this role in his capacity as Education Officer.
Melody and Miguel join two other new staff members of the Board of Governors who are Professor Paul Mativenga and Dr Eric Lybeck. Paul and Eric were elected by the University’s Senate.
We also have new lay members joining the Board (lay members are like independent non-executive directors and are not employed by the University). Joining this group is Philippa Hird (the Chair of the NHS Pay Review Body, Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees at AQA and a non-executive Director of the Board at Ordnance Survey), Raoul Shah who was nominated by our Alumni Association (an alumnus and founder of communications agency Exposure) and Jatin Patel (who is Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer of insurer, Hastings Direct).
Natasha Traynor has also been appointed as our first associate member of the Board: associate membership provides a mechanism to extend the skills and experience available to the Board and enable aspiring non-executive directors to gain Board level experience. Natasha brings more than ten years of experience of marketing programmes for some of the UK’s largest commercial education companies.
What does the Board of Governors do?
The Board of Governors is The University of Manchester’s governing body and has ultimate responsibility for the University’s overall strategic direction. After an extensive consultative process, the Board approved Our future, the University’s strategic vision and plan, and holds management to account for its delivery. The Board scrutinises and approves our Financial Statements and appoints the most senior staff, including the President and Vice-Chancellor.
The Board of Governors has 23 members, with a majority of lay, independent members with a variety of relevant experience, together with members elected by Senate and General Assembly to provide staff, and student representation.
President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell also sits on the Board. The Board Chair is Edward Astle who is currently a non-executive director of Openreach and chair of the social mobility charity UpReach.
You can find the full list of Board members, including detailed biographies for each on the University website.