The COUNCIL begs leave to report to the University as follows:
1. The Tennant Fund and Studentship (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 901) was established in 1946 in memory of Mr W. A. Tennant for the encouragement of study in Norway by students of the University through the award of a Studentship. The Department of Scandinavian Studies closed in the late 1980s. Since then it has proved difficult to attract candidates for the Studentship and although awards have been made to students from a range of University Departments to study in Norway, income has accumulated.
2. In order to address this difficulty, the Managers of the Tennant Fund proposed that the provisions in the regulations for the Fund that students be required to spend at least eight months in Norway and that grants from unexpended income may only be awarded to students be relaxed; the regulations for the Fund were accordingly amended under Statute E, I, 8 by Grace 6 of 18 April 2007, since when the Fund Managers report that it has proved possible to distribute the full annual income of the permanent capital of the Fund.
3. As regards the income which had previously been accumulated, the Council has received a proposal from the Fund Managers and the Faculty Board of English that this accumulated income of about £400,000 as at July 2007 should be used to establish a new Fund to support a University Lectureship in Medieval Scandinavian History in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic. The General Board have been consulted and have supported the proposal. The Charity Commission has also been consulted and has indicated that it is prepared to approve the proposal.
4. The Council has been advised that the necessary amendment cannot be made under Statute E, I, 8 and that it would be appropriate to proceed by way of a Statute made under the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923, and accordingly it proposes that an appropriate Statute should be put forward in order to effect the Fund Managers' proposal.
5. The Council also proposes submitting Graces for the approval of the regulations for the new Fund and for the necessary amendment to the regulations for Endowed University Lectureships. A minor amendment to the regulations for the Tennant Fund to remove a redundant provision is also proposed.
6. The Council is taking the opportunity to introduce a minor change in the procedure prescribed by Statute E, VI for the election of the Hulsean Preacher and the Hulsean Lecturer. Section 6 of this Statute provides that the electors to these two offices are to be the Vice-Chancellor, the Masters of Trinity and St John's Colleges, and the Professors of Divinity. The Vice-Chancellor and the Masters of Trinity and St John's have power under Statute E, VI, 6 to appoint deputies to act on their behalf; with the concurrence of the present electors it is proposed to introduce such provision for the Professors of Divinity so other Professors in the Faculty of Divinity may be appointed as deputies if necessary.
7. The Council accordingly recommends:
I. That, subject to the approval of Her Majesty in Council, the Statutes of the University be amended as set out below and that these amendments be submitted under the Common Seal of the University to Her Majesty in Council for approval;
Section 6.
By amending the section so as read:
6. The electors to the Preachership and Lectureship shall be the Vice-Chancellor, the Masters of Trinity and St John's Colleges, and the Professors of Divinity; provided that the Vice-Chancellor, the Master of Trinity, and the Master of St John's shall each have power to appoint a deputy to act on her or his behalf, and that the Professors of Divinity shall each have power to appoint a deputy who is another Professor in the Faculty of Divinity to act on her or his behalf.
By adding the following Chapter as Chapter XLVII so as read:
The income of the Tennant Fund that has been accrued up to 31 July 2007, together with any interest earned on such income after 31 July 2007, shall be used to establish a separate fund to support a Lectureship in Medieval Scandinavian History in the University (the accrued income up to 31 July 2007 constituting permanent endowment and the interest earned after 31 July 2007 constituting expendable income within the new fund).
II. That the regulations for the Tennant Fund and Studentship (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 901) be amended as follows:
Regulation 10.
By deleting from the end of the regulation the words 'and have informed the Treasurer that they have approved the same'.
III. That, subject to the approval of Recommendation I, regulations for a Medieval Scandinavian History Fund be approved as follows, with effect from the date on which the amendment of Statute contained in Recommendation I takes effect:
1. The sums available under Statute E, Chapter XLVII, together with other funds that may be donated for the same purpose, shall be used to establish a fund to support a University Lectureship in Medieval Scandinavian History in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic.
2. The Managers of the Fund shall be the Faculty Board of English, who may delegate any of their functions concerning the Fund to a Committee not necessarily composed wholly of members of the Board.
3. The income of the Fund shall be used to contribute towards the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs payable by the University in respect of the Lecturer in Medieval Scandinavian History.
4. Any unexpended income of the Fund in a financial year may be either added to the capital of the Fund or accumulated for use as income in future years, as the Managers may determine.
IV. That, subject to the approval of Recommendation I, the regulations for Endowed University Lectureships (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 715) be amended by adding the following entry, with effect from the date on which the amendment of Statute contained in Recommendation I takes effect:
Fund |
Subject |
Faculty or Department |
Medieval Scandinavian History Fund | Medieval Scandinavian History | Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic |
| 6 October 2008 | ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor | WILLIAM BROWN | F. MORRISSEY |
| DAVID ABULAFIA | M. CLARK | G. A. REID | |
| TONY BADGER | S. J. COWLEY | DAVID SIMON | |
| A. P. BAGSHAW | BOB DOWLING | LIBA TAUB | |
| NICK BAMPOS | F. P. KELLY | JOAN M. WHITEHEAD | |
| W. BORTRICK | DEBBIE LOWTHER | RICHARD WILSON | |
| NIGEL BROWN | D. W. B. MACDONALD | S. J. YOUNG |