BRASENOSE COLLEGE, OXFORD FURTHER PARTICULARS FOR THE POST OF SENIOR TUTOR

BRASENOSE COLLEGE, OXFORD FURTHER PARTICULARS FOR THE POST OF SENIOR TUTOR Brasenose College is seeking to appoint a Senior Tutor in succession to Dr Andrew Stockley who is returning to New Zealand to the post of Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Auckland. The post is to be filled with effect from 1 September 2011 or as soon as possible thereafter. 1. Brasenose College Brasenose College celebrated its 500 th anniversary in 2009. The College has approximately 350 undergraduate students, 200 postgraduate students, 70 academic staff, of whom 43 Fellows constitute the Governing Body, and 100 non-academic staff. The College attracts undergraduates and postgraduates from a wide range of backgrounds and provides a welcoming environment with a good balance between academic priorities, cultural, sporting and social activities. The College sets great store by the excellence of the intellectual and pastoral relationship between teacher and student, by its friendly atmosphere and by its sense of being an inclusive community embracing academic and non-academic staff, present and former students. The College values academic excellence and is concerned to promote research as well as high-quality teaching. It has a substantial library, mainly for undergraduate use, including a separate Law Library; and welldeveloped IT provision. The College is a self-governing institution and a charity regulated by the Charity Commission. Ultimate authority for all decisions rests with the Governing Body. The Governing Body is supported by a structure of committees, including the Academic Committee, concerned with academic policy and administration, the Estates and Finance Committee and the General Purposes Committee, concerned with other aspects of the management of the College. The College has recently conducted a thorough review of its governance and is in the process of implementing a first tranche of management changes which are intended to improve the operating efficiency of its committees and officers. Further modifications may follow over the next two years. As one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Brasenose regards its relations with the University s divisions, departments, faculties and administration as crucially important in a period of significant changes which will have major impact on financial management of new fee structures, on mechanisms for resource allocation between the university and the colleges, and on models of academic employment. The objectives of the College are to: - contribute to providing an excellent education for high-ability undergraduates; 1

- encourage the ablest students, both undergraduate and graduate, from the broadest range of backgrounds, to apply for admission to consider them on the basis of academic merit by a fair and transparent admissions procedure; - maintain the strength of the tutorial system with its core of individualised teaching by College Fellows; - support the University s graduate programmes within the College framework; - promote research and scholarship; - provide pastoral care and material support to all its members engaged in education and research; - establish and maintain links with all those interested in supporting its activities; - enhance and pass on to future generations its inherited values and assets. More information about the College is available on its website at www.bnc.ox.ac.uk 2. Job Description The Office of Senior Tutor The post of Senior Tutor is an important position in the academic and administrative structure of the College. It combines three different functions that until 2005 were held for limited periods by tutorial Fellows in conjunction with their academic duties, viz. the Senior Tutorship, Undergraduate Admissions, and Graduate Admissions. The post of Senior Tutor is a major element in the effectiveness of the academic governance of the College and relieves tutorial Fellows of substantial encroachments on their teaching and research. The office of Tutor for Graduates, however, continues to be held by a Fellow who provides intellectual leadership, and represents the interests of graduates on the Governing Body. The Senior Tutor is an Official Fellow and member of the Governing Body and works closely with the Principal, the Bursar, the Dean and the tutorial Fellows. As is the case with all Officers and Fellows, the Senior Tutor is subject to the overriding authority of the Governing Body. S/he convenes and prepares business for two bodies which report directly to the Governing Body: the Academic Committee which makes recommendations on academic policy and administration; and an Executive Council, concerned mainly with matters relating to students academic performance. The College is at present establishing procedures for regular appraisal and review of all Officers and the Senior Tutor will be subject to these. S/he is also expected to respond flexibly to the changes implemented as a result of the governance review. Beyond that the Senior Tutor is expected to be sensitive to the requirements of external agencies, and the wider public in foreseeing problems, and in explaining, presenting and supporting College policies in collaboration with the Bursar, who has in effect the role of press officer. Academic Strategy The Senior Tutor is responsible for co-ordinating strategic planning of all aspects of the College s academic activities and for the presentation of recommendations on policy to the Governing Body for decision. For the committees that deal with academic and related business, mainly the Academic 2

Committee and the Executive Council, the Senior Tutor prepares the agenda, provides papers, including recommendations where appropriate, oversees the production of minutes, and acts on the recommendations, as well as monitoring and reporting on the pattern and deployment of teaching resources in the college. The Senior Tutor serves on College committees as determined by the Governing Body, and represents the College as necessary on intercollegiate and University committees relating to academic matters, including the Senior Tutors Committee and the Admissions Committee. S/he also represents the college in student academic disciplinary and hearings conducted by the university which involve Brasenose students and interests. Undergraduate Admissions The Senior Tutor is responsible for overseeing the smooth running of the admissions procedures in College, which makes significant additional demands on his/her time, although the selection of individual candidates is the responsibility of the tutorial Fellows in the various subjects. The Senior Tutor is assisted by the tutorial Fellows in relations with schools, and is required to give particular emphasis to encouraging access to the College from as wide a constituency as possible across all sectors of secondary education. In these functions the Senior Tutor and Fellows are supported by the Schools and Publications Officer and the Admissions Officer. Tutors and Tutorial Teaching Tutorial Fellows are responsible for arranging teaching in their subject areas. They are expected to deliver a large proportion of this teaching personally; the remainder is done by College Lecturers, by Research Fellows, and by other appropriate tutors mostly from outside the College. The Senior Tutor will supervise the administrative arrangements for the appointment of College Lecturers and, in conjunction with the Principal, the election of Fellows. Tutorial Fellows are typically appointed jointly by the College and the University, and the Senior Tutor will be responsible for overseeing appointment procedures, and for dealing with procedures concerning the College s obligations in probation and re-appointment. The Senior Tutor will, in consultation with the Bursar, be responsible for administering, and monitoring, the College s teaching budget, and for administering the returns made by Tutorial Fellows, College Lecturers and others to record the College teaching they have undertaken. The Senior Tutor will also be responsible for collating tutorial report forms and (in conjunction with Tutorial Fellows and Lecturers) for monitoring the academic progress of undergraduates. S/he will be responsible (in conjunction with the Principal) for administering and monitoring the feedback from undergraduates on tuition received. S/he will be responsible for ensuring that the University s teaching database (OxCORT) records the teaching provided by the college s staff and to the college s undergraduates and that the Bursary has the information needed to deal with payment for external tuition. The Senior Tutor will liaise with subject tutors in reviewing the academic progress of undergraduates and, when appropriate, will make recommendations to the College s Executive Council. In cases of unsatisfactory progress in which disciplinary action is deemed to be appropriate, the Senior Tutor will furnish such evidence and take such action as is laid down in the College s academic disciplinary procedures. Pastoral Care The Senior Tutor s duties require personal contact with students and, sometimes, sensitive and confidential liaison with tutorial Fellows and other individuals with pastoral responsibilities in the 3

College (Dean, Chaplain, Adviser to Women Students, College Doctor and Nurse), and other members of staff and external agencies (including the University Counselling Service). Graduate Students The College is fully committed to the well-being of its postgraduate students and the Senior Tutor plays a key role in supporting the College s graduate community in conjunction with the Fellow holding the post of Tutor for Graduates, who retains overall responsibility for their academic welfare. The Senior Tutor is responsible for the administrative arrangements concerning the admission of graduate students, elections to graduate scholarships, and the award of grants towards the costs of research trips, attendance at academic conferences, etc. The actual teaching and supervision of graduate students is typically not the responsibility of the College, although individual Fellows are appointed to act as Advisers to graduate students. Graduate collections, to monitor the progress of graduate students, are conducted by the Principal and Tutor for Graduates. But the Senior Tutor organizes the circulation to relevant individuals of supervisors reports on graduate students, and takes such action as is appropriate in cases of examination failure or other difficulty. The Senior Tutor represents the interests of the college in negotiations with university and the funding councils on the issue of graduate fees payable to the colleges. Kurti, Golding and other Research Fellowships The College may elect two Senior Kurti and Golding Fellows and up to four Junior Kurti and Golding Fellows each year. These Fellowships are for distinguished individuals who hold research posts elsewhere in the University. The Senior Tutor is responsible for organizing the competitions for these Fellowships and for other Research Fellowships that the College may offer from time to time. College Office The Senior Tutor is supported by the staff in the College Office, for whom s/he is the line manager, at present: - College Secretary (full-time) - Senior Tutor s Secretary and Assistant College Secretary (full-time) - Admissions Officer (full-time) - Schools and Publications Officer (full-time) - College Office Assistant, providing casual help (mostly part-time except during admissions period). The College Secretary is responsible for the administration that supports the provision of teaching, the admission of students and reporting of progress, and the maintenance of records, assisted by the Senior Tutor s Secretary as appropriate; while the Admissions Officer deals with matters concerning the admission of undergraduates and graduates; Open Days and related events such as Teachers Conferences, Access initiatives etc, are managed by the Schools and Publications Officer. 4

Social Role The Senior Tutor takes part, together with the Principal, the Bursar, the Chaplain and the Tutorial Fellows, in the social activities that help to maintain good relations with all members of the College community, academic and non-academic. These include alumni and others who assist the College and its future development, who are the immediate responsibility of the Development Office. The Senior Tutor is expected to attend not only events relating to current students, such as the annual Scholars and Exhibitioners Dinner and the termly Graduate Dinners, but also other social occasions that support the College s network of relations. Many of these take place in the evening and sometimes at the weekend. 3. Personal Qualifications The successful candidate will have: a good Honours degree (2.1 or above). Similar posts in other colleges have attracted candidates with postgraduate degrees, and such a qualification could be an advantage; experience of administrative or managerial responsibility in an academic institution, and understanding or experience of the requirements of teaching and research in a college context; advanced oral and writing skills, and an ability to present information and arguments clearly; excellent interpersonal skills; IT skills appropriate to a modern office environment; experience in dealing with committees and an ability to work consultatively within democratic structures; sympathy with the aims, objectives and academic values of an institution at the highest level of the university educational system, and having a commitment to the highest possible standards; a readiness to work co-operatively within the structures and traditions of the collegiate University as a whole; the ability to take initiatives in developing relationships, initiatives and options for action that might benefit the College. It is anticipated that the successful candidate may be either: - an established academic who wishes to re-focus his/her career to provide strategic thinking, administrative support and all-round service to an academic community, or - an academic administrator who has worked closely with academic staff, endorses the values of a collegiate university with a strong tradition, and seeks a leading role in the service of a high-achieving academic community. Individuals with appropriate qualifications but different kinds of career experience are encouraged to consider applying. 5

4. Terms and Conditions Under the Statutes of the College, the initial period of appointment will be for five years, the first year being a probationary year. Subject to satisfactory performance, the appointment will be extended as prescribed by the Statutes until the retiring age. The remuneration package comprises: salary according to qualifications and experience on Oxford University s Grade 10 scale, 49,539 57,431 p.a. for 2010-11; a housing allowance (currently 7,510 p.a. for 2010-11), payable only if the appointee does not live in single accommodation in College; membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. The College will pay employer s contributions to this scheme and to no other; private medical insurance (free to the person appointed and dependent members of his or her immediate family. This is a taxable benefit.); free breakfast, lunch and dinner at the common table when the College kitchens are open; if living out of College, the appointee might be eligible to benefit from a College scheme to assist with house purchase (details available from the Bursar). This is a full-time position. No other appointments, paid or unpaid, may be undertaken without the approval of the Governing Body. There are five weeks of paid leave per annum, to be taken in negotiation with the Principal, in addition to the usual public holidays. Holidays must be taken outside the academic term and other periods when the Senior Tutor s presence is essential (including the admissions procedure in December, periods of University examinations, the announcement of A-level results in August and Open Days in the summer). There will be no entitlement to sabbatical leave or research support. 5. Applications Candidates should send a curriculum vitae with the names and addresses of three referees and a letter of application explaining how their previous experience, qualifications and skills fit them for this position. Applications should be addressed to the Principal s Secretary, Brasenose College, Oxford, OX1 4AJ to arrive no later than 11 March 2011. Candidates are asked to ensure that their referees write to the Principal s Secretary by the same date. Applications by e-mail to melanie.james@bnc.ox.ac.uk are acceptable. Interviews for short-listed candidates are provisionally planned for Wednesday 14 April 2011 6. Equal Opportunities In relation to staff, the policy and practice of the College require that all staff are afforded equal opportunities within employment and that entry into employment with the College and progression within employment will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria which are related to the duties of each particular post and the relevant salary structure. In all cases, ability to perform the job is the primary consideration. Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant or member of staff will be treated less favourably than another because of his or her sex, marital status, sexual orientation, racial group, religion or belief, disability, age or other irrelevant consideration. 6

7. Nursery facilities There are four university nurseries, providing places for children from four months to five years: a proportion of the places are reserved for nominees of the University Press and certain colleges. Further information about the nurseries and application forms for places may be found at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/childcare/nurseryinformation/. 7