Alumni Services

Stay involved with our university

Since 1858 the General Council has enabled graduates to be part of the governance of the University of Edinburgh.

Lorimer plaque
James Lorimer (1818-1890) alumnus, jurist, philosopher, Regius Professor of Public Law and central in the formation of the General Council.

You have been fortunate to have experienced one of the world’s great universities. As a graduate you automatically become a member of its General Council; a body set up by far-sighted Victorians who realised that graduates should have an ongoing voice in the governance of the University.

You have a voice

Governance doesn’t always seem like an exciting use of your attention but what it means is that you have a voice and influence in the way the University is organised and run. We also elect some of the key governing figures such as our Chancellor, currently HRH The Princess Royal, and some members of the University Court, its governing body.

We also keep an eye on how the University is being managed, how well it is doing and how it is living up to the ever increasing expectations of its students. We do this mainly by constructive dialogues with key people at the University, including the EUSA Officers.

We also get an in-person report from the Principal once a year, with an open Q&A session, such as the one coming up on Saturday 13th Feb so why not come along and find out what happens here.

Annual elections

Before that we have elections for the annual intake of new members for our Business Committee, that’s the group of people who actually do most of the business of the General Council. We are interested in people from all backgrounds, all they absolutely need is to have an active interest in the wellbeing of our University.

Being part of this group gives you an opportunity to hear first-hand from the University about what it’s doing and to have the opportunity to influence and advise it when we can. The University shows great respect to the views and input from the General Council, we function as a sort of critical friend.

General Council elections 2016
General Council Business Committee election candidates 2016. The images of the candidates appear in random order, as drawn by ballot.

Vote now

It’s too late to stand as a candidate this year but there’s always next year. You can participate now by voting in the February 2016 election, when we are looking to elect five members of the Business Committee.

To vote go to the elections page of the General Council website, find out who the candidates are and follow the instructions under the 'How to Vote' tab. Online voting takes place in the MyEd Alumni Portal.

If you are already a portal user then you can access the voting channel directly by following this link and entering your login details.

This is an opportunity to stay active and involved.

Related links

The General Council