Controversial proposed reforms that would transform how the University of Oxford is governed have stumbled over an important hurdle. Members of Oxford’s supreme governing body, the parliament of dons known as Congregation, voted against the measures after nearly three hours of debate today in the university’s Sheldonian Theater.

The result is a blow to Oxford’s vice chancellor, John Hood, an outsider with a business background who took up the post in 2004. He has campaigned hard for the proposed measures, which include changes in the size and composition of Oxford’s Council, which runs the university day to day. Proposals to reconfigure the Council so it includes a majority of outsiders have provoked fierce opposition from many both inside and outside the university.

In Tuesday’s balloting, 1,186 members of Congregation took part, with 730 voting against the reforms and 456 voting in favor. University procedures allow for a postal ballot of Congregation’s full membership of nearly 4,000, a process that is likely to occur over the next few weeks.

“We are engaged in a lengthy and complex democratic process which has clearly reached an important stage,” Mr. Hood said in a written statement after Tuesday’s vote. “That process permits a postal vote, and a decision about that will have to be taken in the next few days.”