The Council

• to hold, control and administer the property and funds of the University;
• to select a coat of arms for the University, determine its form, keep the common seal safe, and direct how the University uses it;
• to regulate and determine all matters concerning the University in accordance with the Act and any appropriate Instrument;
• in addition, to administer any funds that the University receives for specific purposes;
• to receive and accept bequests, donations and grants of property to the University, with the concurrence of the Commission;
• to consider, and if necessary amend and adopt, the University’s annual report and annual accounts, and then submit both to the Commission;
• similarly, to prepare the University’s financial estimates and submit them to the Commission;
• to make By-laws on any matter for which the Act authorizes By-laws;
• to make any Regulations that no other Authority of the University has the power to make;
• furthermore, to provide the buildings, premises, furniture, equipment and other material that the University needs to carry on its work;
• to appoint, suspend, dismiss or otherwise punish persons in the University’s employment. However, except for Officers and teachers, the Council may delegate these powers to the Vice-Chancellor;
• after considering the Senate’s recommendations, to appoint examiners, whether from the University staff or elsewhere, and to determine any fees that the University pays them;
• to appoint a Board of Welfare to promote the general well-being of the University’s students. This Board must also include student representatives, and an Ordinance prescribes its composition, powers, duties and functions;
• to enter into, carry out or cancel contracts on behalf of the University. In addition, the Council may invest any money that belongs to the University, including any unapplied income, in any security in which Section 20 of the Trusts Ordinance or any other written law lawfully permits trust money to be invested. Alternatively, with the Commission’s approval, it may invest such money in immovable property in Sri Lanka or vary those investments. It may also place on fixed deposit, in any bank the Commission approves, any portion of the money that the University does not need for immediate expenditure;
• after consulting the Senate, to determine the academic dress or insignia, or both, of the Chancellor, the Officers, the graduates and the students of the University;
• finally, to advise the Commission on:
  • the institution, abolition or suspension of Professorships, Associate Professorships, Lectureships and any other academic post, in consultation with the Senate;
  • the institution, abolition or suspension of any non-academic post; and
  • the qualifications of teachers, officers and other employees of the University; and
• to exercise all other powers of the University that this Act or any appropriate Instrument does not otherwise provide for.

However, the Council may not pass a resolution on any academic matter until the Senate has had an opportunity to record its opinion and transmit it to the Council.