Section III.2 of the University Bylaws describes the Advisory Councils with relation to the Board of Trustees:
III.2. Advisory Councils.
a) The Board may, from time to time on nomination of the President, designate advisory councils ("Councils") for University divisions, schools, or other units to help advance the units' goals. For the sake of consistency and clarity, the name of all such Councils shall consist of the name of the unit followed by "Council" (e.g. the "Humanities Division Council," the "Law School Council").
b) Members of the Councils shall be appointed by the Board, upon recommendation of the President and the Secretary of the University, in consultation with the dean or director of the relevant unit. In making such recommendations, the President and the Secretary of the University, shall be guided by the current needs and functions of the particular Council, and where possible each Council shall have in its membership persons who are particularly qualified to deal with the area covered by the unit they are serving, as well as persons whose general experience qualifies them to be of assistance.
The Councils shall report periodically to the Board either in writing or through their Council Chairs. Upon the recommendation of the President, the Board may dissolve a Council.
c) Councils are charged with providing advice, advocacy, and philanthropy to the units they serve and, through their work and reporting, increasing the understanding of the Board of Trustees and other friends of the University regarding the respective unit they serve. The members' ability to perform this function is facilitated by the active participation of the deans and directors, the President, and the administration, who provide the members of the Councils with the information they need to carry out their responsibilities.
d) Members of the Councils shall be appointed for such terms as the Board shall provide. The normal term shall be three years, but to maintain continuity of members, the Board may, when deemed advisable, appoint one or more members of each Council to a term or terms of less than three years so that the number of terms expiring in one year is not more than about one-third of the membership.
A member of a Council may be appointed to more than one term but shall ordinarily be considered ineligible for reappointment for one year following the expiration of three successive terms.
The Chair of a Council shall be appointed by the Board for a term of three years, and may be reappointed as Chair or as a member of the Council.
In order to encourage broad participation, but at the same time provide flexibility for special circumstances, the chairship of any Council normally shall be rotated after two successive terms.
For more information on the Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation of the University of Chicago, please visit:
https://trustees.uchicago.edu/governing-documents/