Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

the College and for maintaining and promoting its efficiency, good order and
development in such a manner as to further the objects expressed in the
Memorandum of Association, and for that purpose he may make such provision as
he thinks fit in all cases not provided for by these Articles or by Ordinances or
Resolutions made by the Association”. Article 11(i).
In this capacity he exercises a general oversight of the manner in which other officers
discharge their duties and is entitled to ask for explanations of, and to caution them
about, matters within their sphere of action about which he feels any concern, to be
informed and consulted, and to offer advice on novel or problematic matters. The
Master has not, and has never claimed, power to dismiss any Fellow or Officer
without the authority of the Association.
At present there is no specific mechanism for dealing with the early stage of warning
as required under current employment legislation. It is proposed to recommend to
the Association that in future in any case where the Master is concerned about the
performance of an Officer, the Master after consultation with the Nominations
Committee is able to issue a warning letter.
The Association has not delegated the ordinary day-to-day management of the
College to the Master not has the Master sought to assume this. The Association
may, however, specifically seek to delegate day-to-day management to the Master in
relation to any particular matter. The Master or any Officer may incur expenditure
up to respective delegated limits to be set by the Association. This includes the
amount in the budget head for expenses incurred by the Master in the exercise of his
duties. Above these delegated limits the Master or any other College Officer may, as
has always been done, in consultation with the Treasurer and Bursar, or either of
them, authorise or incur expenditure without prior approval of the Finance and
General Purposes Committee in circumstances where such prior approval is not
possible, but approval in retrospect should be sought from that Committee at the first
opportunity.
The past division in the Fellowship is deeply regretted and it is agreed that in the
future Fellows should bring any matter of concern or grievance to the Association
and exhaust all that body’s procedures before taking such matters outside the
College. In a collegiate body the aim should be to achieve consensus but there may
be occasions when it is necessary for Fellows to accept the result of a majority vote of
the Association even if they disagree with it."
The Resolution was passed unanimously. "The Association thanked Dr Luzio for
acting as mediator and the Master for his co-operation." (Minute A372). The
Association also formally and unanimously agreed the job description for the new
Bursar. Unfortunately David Lehmann then went home and wrote me a very short
letter resigning his Fellowship; he gave no explanation and everyone was very
surprised, since the outcome was marred by this action. In fact I viewed it (and still
do) as rather underhanded to have negotiated the statement essentially under false
pretences. However, I hoped that that was the end of this sorry matter, although
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