Governance at BCA | Berkshire College of Agriculture

Governance

BCA Corporation

Members of the Corporation (also known as Governors) represent the interests of the local and wider community that the College serves. The Corporation is responsible for the quality of service to its students and their welfare, the financial health of the college, the proper use of public funds and for ensuring effective management. They aim to ensure that the College is successful providing a high quality educational service to its students whilst being financially secure. One of the duties of the Corporation is to determine the mission of the college and to ensure that there are effective means of monitoring whether college management is fulfilling the mission.

Mission Statement

BCA’s mission as reviewed in April 2010 and approved by the Corporation, is:

‘To raise aspirations and career potential through high quality, inclusive, education and training; meeting the skills needs of business and the community.’

The Corporation agrees strategic aims in support of the mission statement and these are as follows:

To support all learners who come to BCA to realise their full potential
To recognise learners for their individuality and to provide a caring environment to support their needs
To maintain high standards in all we do and to focus on continuous quality improvement
To identify new opportunities for groups, individuals and businesses to access further and higher education
To enhance the reputation of the College and to develop its competitive advantage
To engage and support employers in creating a flexible and skilled workforce capable of responding to changing market demands
To provide resources to support the College to achieve its strategic aims
To facilitate and encourage continuous professional development for all staff

Core Values

In April 2010 the Corporation agreed the following four core values which would underpin the Mission Statement at BCA.

BCA – Core Values 2009/2010 and beyond:
Our work will be underpinned by four core values

1. We will put learning at the heart of everything that we do
2. We value the individual
3. We will act with integrity
4. We will strive for excellence

Nolan Committee

The Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Lord Nolan, published a report in May 1996 that identified seven key principles for those serving in public life. These are:

Selflessness
Integrity
Objectivity
Accountability
Openness
Honesty
Leadership

All governors must uphold high standards of public conduct. Governors must ensure that there are no conflicts of interest on any matters being considered by the governing body where a governor’s independent judgement could be affected in any way.

Click here for Code of Conduct of the Corporation

Membership of the Corporation

The Corporation at BCA has 18 members, who were recruited under different categories of membership. The aim of the membership categories was to ensure that the governing body includes people from a range of backgrounds reflecting the community that the college serves. From January 2008, the four categories of ‘external’ membership (ie business, local authority, co-opted and community) were merged into one to give Corporations more flexibility in appointing suitable members. New appointees from 1 January 2008 were classified simply as External Members.

The Corporation at BCA is made up of members within the following categories of membership:

12 External governors
3 Staff governors
2 Student governors
The Principal

There are currently no vacancies on the Corporation.

Click here for Current Corporation Members

Committees

The Corporation has the following committees which meet to focus on specialist areas and make recommendations to the Corporation:

Finance & General Purposes (F&GP)
Teaching and Learning (T&L)
Audit
Search
Remuneration
Employment and Personnel (E&P)

Click here for Committee Structure and Membership

The Search Committee
The search committee advises the governing board on the appointment of governors - and on any other matters relating to membership and appointment that the governing board delegates to it. The committee consists of relevant members of the governing board and also includes an external representative from the local community who can supplement the governors' knowledge and bring an objective view to the membership. Governors cannot be appointed by the governing board until the advice of the search committee has been sought - except in the case of the principal or chief executive and elected governors (staff and student governors). Each governing board is expected to produce terms of reference and to make rules for the conduct of its search committee, and to publish the search committee's advice to the governing board, (see link to Search Committee minutes below).

Click here for Search Committee Terms of Reference

Access to Governing Body Business

Minutes of every meeting of the Corporation and any document, report or other paper considered at these meetings with the exception of confidential items* are available to the public. For full details see Publication Scheme section of website, Section 1 -Governance.

A link to recent minutes from Corporation and Committee meetings is included below. Copies of minutes from earlier meetings can be obtained by contacting the Clerk to the Corporation, Tracy Reeve.

(* In some instances information from Corporation and committee meetings will be exempt from disclosure where it contains personal information; information that may damage the commercial interests of the college or that may threaten the health and safety of specific individuals.)

Public Access to Meetings
The Corporation, or the Chair on its behalf, may at its discretion invite persons who are not members of the Corporation or the Clerk to attend Corporation meetings, Committee meetings or parts of meetings. Any such invitations will be issued through the Clerk who shall stipulate the portion of the meeting which the person may attend. Such persons may only speak if invited to do so by the Chair of the Corporation or the Committee. The presence of such persons, and the point in the meeting at which they left, shall be recorded in the minutes.

Click here for the Policy on Access to Governing Body Business

Minutes from Corporation Meetings
(click on a date to view)

28 March 2007
18 July 2007 Part 1
6 December 2007
29 March 2008, Part 1
16 July 2008 Part 1
9 December 2008 Part 1
27 March 2009 Part 1
21 July 2009 Part 1
9 December 2009 Part 1
24 March 2010, Part 1 and 2
10 June, 2010, Part 1
21 July 2010, Part 1
8 December 2010, Part 1
23 March 2011, Part 1

Minutes from Committee Meetings
(click on a title to view)

Finance and General Purposes 19 March 2008
Finance and General Purposes 28 May 2008
Finance and General Purposes 9 July 2008
Finance and General Purposes 2 Dec 2008 Part 1
Finance and General Purposes 18 March 2009 Part 1
Finance and General Purposes 9 June 2009
Finance and General Purposes 9 July 2009 Part 1
Finance and General Purposes 2 Dec 2009 Part 1
Finance & General Purposes 17 March 2010
Finance & General Purposes 15 July 2010
Finance & General Purposes 30 November 2010
Finance & General Purposes 18 February 2011, Part 1
Finance & General Purposes 16 March 2011, Part 1
Teaching and Learning 27 February 2008
Teaching and Learning 2 July 2008
Teaching and Learning 25 February 2009
Teaching and Learning 1 July 2009
Teaching and Learning 8 July 2010
Teaching and Learning 16 February 2011
Audit 5 March 2008
Audit 2 July 2008
Audit 9 July 2009
Audit 26 November 2009
Audit 31 March 2010
Audit 1 July 2010
Audit 2 December 2010
Search 28 May 2008
Search 18 March 2009
Search 9 December 2009
Search 17 March 2010
Search 21 July 2010
Employment and Personnel 2 July 2008
Employment and Personnel 2 July 2009 Part 1
Employment and Personnel 30 June 2010

Timetable of Corporation & Committee Meetings 2010/11 Academic Year

The full Corporation will meet on the following dates during 2010/11:

CORPORATION MEETINGS 2010/11
September 2010	Wed 29 Sep	4.30pm
December 2010	Wed 8 Dec	4.30pm
March 2011	Wed 23 Mar	4.30pm
May 2011	Wed 25 May	4.30pm
July 2011	Wed 21 July	4.30pm