The Regent House is the name given to the governing body of the University of Cambridge. It consists of the academic staff of both the colleges and the University's departments, and currently comprises over 3000 members.
Meetings of the Regent House are known as Congregations, and are chaired by the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, or Master of one of the colleges. In recent times, very few Congregations are actually held, with most important business conducted by postal ballot of its members. The main exceptions are those to award degrees, with the largest being held at the end of Easter term when undergraduates receive their degrees in a session known as General Admission.
Such Congregations are held in the University's Senate House, which was designed by James Gibbs in the neo-classical style, and built in Portland Stone between 1722 and 1730.
