Annual reports 1847-2000
Minute books 1854-1985
Minutes of general meetings 1986-1990
Register of attendance 1946-1982
Building Committee records 1883-1949
School Committee and Finance Committee requirements book 1899-1911
Reports of assessors' inspections of the School 1890-1950
Includes department correspondence and various minutes and agendas.
Committee papers held within this department - First Year Coordinating Committee, First Year Exam Board.
The School was originally governed by a Committee of Management. This comprised a president, two vice presidents, a treasurer, a secretary and ten other members, all of whom were elected by the School's subscribers at annual general meetings. The Committee 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 . Meetings of the Committee were held once a month or more often if necessary. Three members of the Committee 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, the office bearers for the next year were appointed, and the Committee presented a report of proceedings and audited financial statements for the past year. The first annual general meeting was held in April 1846 . At all general meetings each member had one vote and the chairman had a deliberative and casting vote. 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 Committee 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.
In 1892 , following the School's incorporation under the Companies Acts in that year, a Board of Governors replaced the Committee of Management and the President was replaced by a Chairman. In addition, representatives were now elected from the principal public bodies of the city of Glasgow.
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.
At the present time, the Board meets five times a year and has six committees all formally constituted with terms of reference and comprising mainly of lay members of the Board. The committees are Finance, Estates Management, Chairman's, Audit, Personnel and Museum Management.
Some records are arranged in series in the order described in the description above. The remaining records are awaiting arrangement.
Most records which are over 30 years old are available for public consultation. Records which are less than 30 years old can be accessed with the permission of the Head of the relevant department of the School.
A fully searchable series level list is available via the Gateway to Scottish Higher Education (GASHE) web site at http://www.gashe.ac.uk
This material has been appraised in line with Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections standard procedures.
