Glasgow School of Art | Board of Governors

Glasgow School of Art | Committee of Management

The Board of Governors was established in 1892 to replace the Committee of Management, following the Glasgow School of Art's incorporation under the companies acts in that year.

The Board was responsible for the whole management and direction of the affairs of the institution, and the appointment of all officers and servants with the exception of those appointed by the Government Council at Somerset House. An annual general meeting was held at which the Board presented a report of proceedings and audited financial statements for the past year. Special general meetings could also be called . The Treasurer dealt with all the income and expenditure of the School and was responsible for keeping accounts of all receipts and payments. The Board also had the power to fix the terms of admission of students, and to make bye-laws, regulations and orders as necessary and to appoint subcommittees.

The Board of Governors comprised a chairman, two vice chairmen, a treasurer, a secretary and other members elected from the principal public bodies of the city of Glasgow by the School's subscribers at annual general meetings. Meetings of the Board were held once a month or more often if necessary. Three members of the Board were required to retire each year. An annual meeting was held in April at which three new members were elected to replace the three retiring and the office bearers for the next year were appointed. At all general meetings each member had one vote and the chairman had a deliberative and casting vote. In 1974 two statutory instruments were passed that affected the constitution of the Board. Statutory Instrument 1974 No. 1410 (S124) resulted in the rule that two governors should be elected by the Secretary of State and that members of the academic staff be elected. Statutory Instrument 1974 No. 102 (S.3) required that the president of the Students' Representative Council become a governor of the School ex-officio and that students were given the right to appoint a governor from their own number. Following Statutory Instrument 1988 No. 1715 (S163) from 1 January 1989 the Board was reconstructed with a core membership and co-opted members. The core membership was the Director, the president of the Students' Representative Council and Deputy Director as ex-officio members. Other core members were three staff governors, one appointed by the Academic Council, one by the academic staff and one by the non-academic staff. The rest of the core consisted of thirteen governors initially appointed by the Secretary of State; thereafter these governors would appoint their own successors. Further to this up to six more members could be co-opted. Following the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992 in 1993 it was decided that all governors should be on an equal footing thus removing the distinction between core and co-opted members. On 14 February 1996 'The Glasgow School of Art (Scotland) Order of Council 1996' came into force, making new provisions regarding the constitutional functions and powers of the governors. In 2002, the Board met five times a year and had six committees all formally constituted with terms of reference and comprising mainly lay members of the Board. The committees were finance, estates management, chairman's, audit, personnel and museum management.

GB 1694 GSAA GOV

Authority record created according to the National Council on ArchivesRules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names (NCA Rules)1997 and International Council on Archives: Ad Hoc Committee on Descriptive StandardsInternational Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (ISAAR)CPF1995.

Corporate name authority record compiled by Victoria Peters, research archivist, 18 December 2003.