Somerville College

University of Oxford

Breadcrumbs

Publication Scheme

Freedom of Information

The following publication scheme is for Somerville College, University of Oxford.

It follows the standard format required by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) from January 2009. It sets out what information the College publishes or intends to publish, how the information can be accessed and whether or not a charge will be made for it.

The Information Officer is responsible for maintaining the scheme on behalf of the College.

The purpose of the scheme is to give a clear indication of which College publications are routinely accessible, so that the public can be informed as far as reasonably possible of the purpose and nature of College activities, and to assist in developing a greater culture of openness in general.

Through the scheme, the College endeavours to be as transparent as possible about its activities, while at the same time recognising that there are exemptions within the Act.

All material associated with the definitions in the classes contained in the scheme are available either in hard copy, electronically or via the College website.

It is important to us that this Publication Scheme meets your needs. If you find the scheme difficult to understand, please let us know. We also welcome suggestions as to how the scheme might be improved. Any questions, comments, or complaints about this scheme should be sent in writing to:

Information Officer: Senior Tutor, Somerville College, Woodstock Road, OX2 6HD, or via email: senior.tutor@some.ox.ac.uk

The College reserves the right to make a charge for printed copies of some documents to cover administrative costs.

Information which falls into the following categories is not published as part of the scheme:

the College does not hold the information;
the information is exempt under one of the FOI exemptions or Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) exceptions, or its release is prohibited under another statute;
the information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible;
it would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release.

Where documents are linked to, the information is available from this website directly. All other materials mentioned are available in hard copy from the Information Officer.

1. Who we are and what we do

Organisational structure, locations and contacts

History

Location

Somerville is lcoated within the City Centre on the Woodstock Road, close to the junction with St Giles'. The site is next to the new Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, where the University is undertaking one of its most significant development projects for more than a century. This ten-acre site, bound by Somerville College, Woodstock Road, Walton Street, Observatory Street, and Green-Templeton College, will provide new teaching and learning space for the University over the next twenty years. For further details, please click here.

Somerville will also benefit by the opportunity to build 68 new student study bedrooms, on which work has already begun.

Services we offer: The College exists to promote scholarship through teaching and research. We offer places to undergraduates in line with the University's agreed code of practice and to graduates admitted by the University . Information about student life is available here, and about Fellows' research interests here.

Subsidiary Companies: Information available on request

Contacts

Fellows and staff

Development and alumni

Conferences, Summer Schools and other related activities

2. What we spend and how we spend it

Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurements, contracts, and financial audit.

College Accounts

Salaries and Benefits (Academic and Support staff posts are aligned to the HE national pay spine which can be found on the University of Oxford salary scales.)

Contracting goods and services (the College normally follow University policy on such matters)

Annual Fees - available on request

Annual Charges - available on request

3. What our priorities are and how we are doing

Somerville is a College for women and men. It was founded (as Somerville Hall) in 1879 to provide an opportunity for women, who at that date were excluded from membership of the University, to enter higher education in Oxford. The founders' insistence that students should be subjected to no religious tests or obligations distinguished Somerville from its Anglican counterpart, Lady Margaret Hall, and set the ethos of cultural diversity which has characterised the College to this day.

Somerville's aims are:

To provide opportunities to pursue learning at the highest level to all those capable of making good use of them, recruited through an equitable process based on achievement and potential
To encourage the intellectual maturation of individual students by encouraging them to engage their critical faculties and intellectual curiosity, develop their analytical, and articulate their views
To support the research of its Fellows and to foster disciplinary and inter-disciplinary diversity
To safeguard the security of the College's academic provision through increased endowment funds
To work wholeheardtedly within the collegiate University
To be a good employer for all staff

University Administration Services

Conference of Colleges

4. How we make decisions

Decision making processes and records of decisions

Governance: the Principal and Fellows form the Governing Body of the College. Somerville is constituted and regulated in accordance with the College Statutes, which are made from time to time by order of Her Majesty in Council in accordance with the Royal Charter and the Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923. The College By-laws are additional rules made by Governing Body. The College Statutes and Charter are available to view online.

Organizational and Committee Structure: the College has a number of committees, described in the College by-laws. See the link below for a copy of our Organisation Chart.

Decision-making process

The Governing Body of Somerville College comprises the Prinicpals and Fellows. It is constituted and regulated in accordance with the College Statutes and By-Laws. The Governing Body has responsibility for the directions and management of the affairs of the College. Decisions are made in the context of intercollegiate policy decisions agreed amongst the Conference of Colleges, and of the overall structure and governance of the University.

The Handbook for Undergraduates, the Handbook for Graduates, and the Employee Handbook (available on request) explain how decisions concerning those members of the college community are made.

Record of decisions

The College's annual accounts record financial decisions.

Key decisions about the operation of the College are recorded in the Minutes of Governing Body.

Conference of Colleges

Governance structure of the University