Good governance has been recognized as vital if countries are to pursue and meet the sustainable development goals. They will require strong leadership, transparent and evidence-based decision making, democratic and open justice and the willingness to transfer power out of central government to local centers.
The same is true at an institutional level. For a university to meet the same challenges, they also require good leadership, a democratic process of appointing their leadership, open and documented decision making, and power not only in the hands of the executive, but across the institution and including the students that they serve. The following metrics of the good governance lens take different elements of best practice in this area - the centrality of ethics, good hiring practices, open decision making, a student's union and so forth, and aggregate them to form the overall score for this lens.
| Code | Metric | Weight (In Lens / Overall) |
| GG1 | Ethics Culture | - |
| GG2 | Open-Access Publishing | - |
| GG3 | Dedicated staff / team for Sustainable Development | - |
| GG4 | Transparent financial reporting | - |
| GG5 | Student's Union | - |
| GG6 | Student Representation in Governance | |
| GG7 | Published governance minutes | |
| GG8 | National Signatory to UN charter against torture |
GG1. Ethics Culture
Does your organisation support and facilitate a holistic ethical organisational culture?
Conducting research, teaching and employment with an established ethics policy is a key part of good governance. Scores are awarded to each of the four items below where evidence has been provided and validated by the QS team.
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG1.1 | The university develops clear ethical values (e.g., diversity, honesty, respect, fairness) and these are enshrined in a publicly available strategic document | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.2 | The university provides training based on those values at all levels of the organization | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.3 | There is an office for ethical compliance within our institution, with a designated official with oversight on ethical matters across the institution | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.4 | Our organization has an internal reporting system to assure the confidentiality of whistleblowers or a grievance procedure for staff concerning an employment matter | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.5 | Existence of anti-bribery and corruption policy or equivalent | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.6 | Policy has been updated in the past 3 years | 0 or 100 |
| GG1.7 | Do you have an equality, diversity and inclusion committee, office or officer (or the equivalent) tasked by the administration or governing body to advise on and implement policies, programmes and trainings related to diversity, equity, inclusion and human rights on campus? | 0 or 100 |
GG2. Open-Access Publishing
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
|
GG2.1
|
Open-access research papers (5 year period)
The proportion of your overall research output that is published in open-access journals. We collect this data through our Elsevier Scopus extract, which we also use for all of our other research metrics in our World and Regional rankings. |
A scaled score of the proportion between 0 and 100 |
Open access is a growing global trend that seeks to grant free and open online access to academic information, such as publications (e.g., journal articles, books) and data. A publication is defined 'open access' when there are no financial, legal or technical barriers to accessing it – in other words when anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for and search within the information, or use it for educational purposes or in any other way within the legal agreements. The principles of open access are set out in the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003).
GG3. Dedicated Staff for Sustainable Development
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG3.1 | Evidence that the university has a dedicated staff member or team whose sole responsibility is to advance sustainable development at the institution. | 0 or 100 |
GG4. Transparent Financial Reporting
Financial transparency is integral to good governance. It allows both internal and external stakeholders an insight into the financial health of the institution, its responsibility with those finances, its income dependencies and its spending priorities. For examples of good practice in this area, you may wish to look at the annual reports of the University of Auckland, University of Glasgow and University of New South Wales, all of which publish comprehensive financial statements.
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG4.1 |
A public financial report (which may be included in the annual report) that lists, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:
This should be for the last full financial year. If this is not yet available, we will accept reports up to a maximum of 3 years old. |
0 or 100 |
GG5. Student's Union
The ability of students to organize themselves into a union with elected representatives is a sign that a university is committed to the democratic voice of their student population. Student unions come in different names and structures. Scores are awarded for each of the three items below where evidence has been provided and validated by the QS team.
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG5.1 | The university has a recognized student union that represents both undergraduate and postgraduate students at university level. Its activities would include: representing the interests of students, acting as a liaison between students and university management, organizing students events, and other student support functions. | 0 or 100 |
| GG5.2 | The student union is connected/affiliated to a wider national student union body | 0 or 100 |
| GG5.3 | The student union elects its leadership, allowing students to vote. | 0 or 100 |
GG6. Student Representation on Governing Body
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG6.1 | Does the university's governing body (senate / court /equivalent) have a seat for a student member. | 0 or 100 |
GG7. Published governance minutes.
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG7.1 |
Does the university publish the minutes of its annual (or equivalent) governance meetings?
Note: these minutes do not need to reveal confidential information or be exhaustive, but should provide readers with a sense of who attended those meetings, the topics for discussion, and any major action points. |
0 or 100 |
GG8. National Signatory to UN treaty against torture
| Data Point | Information Sought | Scoring |
| GG8.1 |
A signatory to this list *
*In certain cases, we have looked towards national legislation which meets the UN treaty's aims, without being an explicit signatory. |
0 or 100 |