The OIA is overseen by an independent Board of Directors.
The Board is made up of a majority of Independent Directors, including the Chair, appointed by fair and open competition on the basis of their skills and experience, and of Directors nominated by six representative bodies in higher education in England and Wales. These bodies may also appoint Alternate Directors, to attend Board meetings if their Nominated Director is not available.
Directors are normally appointed for a term of three years and serve up to two terms. No Director can serve for longer than nine consecutive years.
Board members are not involved in the review of individual complaints. The Board’s responsibilities include:
- preserving the independence of the Scheme and the role of the Independent Adjudicator
- oversight of the performance and effectiveness of the Independent Adjudicator, the Chief Executive and the OIA Scheme
- setting the budget for the OIA and the level of subscriptions payable by providers each year
- approving the Rules of the Scheme.
During the year we progressed work towards our planned new governance arrangements, following a review completed by the Board in 2022. Under the new arrangements, all new Trustees would be appointed through an open recruitment process within a framework that sets out the skills, experience and perspectives required to achieve a balanced, independent and effective Board.
In 2023 we said goodbye to some long-serving Trustees including the Chair, Dame Suzi Leather and the Deputy Chair, Andy Mack. We thank them for their exceptional contribution to the Board and the OIA. We were pleased to welcome Sim Scavazza as our new Chair from 1 October 2023, and to appoint Martin Kirke as Deputy Chair from 1 July 2023.
Trustees/Directors
The Trustees/Directors of the charitable company, who served throughout 2023 unless otherwise stated, were as follows:
Independent Trustees/Directors
- Chair: Dame Suzi Leather (to 30 September 2023) | Sim Scavazza (from 1 October 2023)
- Deputy Chair: Andy Mack (to 30 June 2023) | Martin Kirke (Deputy Chair from 1 July 2023)
- Adesewa Adebisi
- Andrew Chandler
- Dr Wendy Finlay
- Nicola Flint (from 1 July 2023)
- Jonathan Rees
- Sophie Williams
Nominated and Alternate Trustees/Directors
- Nominated by the Association of Heads of University Administration: Dave Hall (to 30 June 2023) - Nominated Director | Vacant (from 1 July 2023; no appointment made due to governance review)
- Nominated by the Committee of University Chairs: Vacant (no appointment made due to governance review)
- Nominated by GuildHE: Jon Renyard - Nominated Director
- Nominated by the National Union of Students: Orla Tarn - Nominated Director | Chloe Field - Alternate Director
- Nominated by Universities UK: Professor Alistair Fitt - Nominated Director
- Nominated by Universities Wales: William Callaway - Nominated Director | Dr Kevin Mundy - Alternate Director
