The current office of Rector, sometimes termed "Lord Rector", was instituted by the Universities (Scotland) Act 1858, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. With the Universities (Scotland) Act 1889 requiring an election for the Rector every 3 years in the ancient universities. The rector is the third-ranking official of university governance and chairs meetings of the university court, the governing body of the university, and is elected every three years by matriculated students at Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and St Andrews, and by the students "and" staff at Edinburgh.