The Academic Office

Steve Rayner oversees the College’s academic activities, including admissions and outreach, and supports Fellows and Students in their teaching and learning.

He is responsible for overseeing the work of the College Access and Outreach Team, including Somerville’s regional work as part of the Oxford South-East consortium of colleges (see Oxford for South East | University of Oxford) and is a trustee of Universify Education. As a native of Stoke-on-Trent and a season ticket holder at Stoke City Football club for over twenty years, until that particular mix of joy and suffering was rudely interrupted by the pandemic, he is also particularly interested in access and outreach in Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. As a result, Somerville is a member of the Uni Connect partnership Higher Horizons+ (see Higher Horizons+ – Part of the Uni Connect Programme).

As Senior Tutor, Steve is responsible for the work of the Academic Office, which supports graduate and undergraduate students, along with tutors and Fellows, in their academic activities. This includes supporting Somerville applicants and selectors through the undergraduate admissions process here at Oxford.

Steve’s background is in Physics, specifically Very High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy research, but his work at Somerville encompasses all subjects studied by Somervillians.

Katy oversees the provision of service and support to the College’s undergraduate students.

Katy works with the Academic Office team to support the whole undergraduate journey, from admissions to degree days. She advises students on all processes to do with exams and submissions, and works with the Welfare Officer to support extension requests and dispensations. Katy is also responsible for gathering feedback from students on issues from induction week to tutorial arrangements.

As Information Custodian Katy is responsible for managing student data and Somerville’s academic database.

Jo is Somerville’s Welfare Support and Policy Officer.

She leads on student welfare matters in the college, both providing frontline support to individual students and helping to shape Somerville’s welfare policy.

She is also the college’s Disability Co-ordinator and as such the first point of contact for students with disabilities.

Saphire oversees the provision of service and support to the College’s academic staff and graduate students.

She manages teaching support (college exams, TMS system, Tutor payments etc), provides support to the Senior Tutor in the recruitment of academic staff, and works closely with the Undergraduate Officer and others in the Academic Office on student administration.

Saphire is also responsible for all areas of the graduate admissions process and support for current graduates.

Victoria manages the processes for awarding scholarships and funding to students.

This includes administering grants for travel, personal development, sport and music, as well as academic prizes and scholarships. She co-ordinates the selection process for graduate and undergraduate scholarships, including the Thatcher Scholarships and Oxford India Centre Scholarships. Victoria is also Secretary to the MTST Committee, the OICSD Management Committee and the Travel and Special Project Grants Committee.

Alison Davies is in the office Wednesday – Friday.

Eileen is in the office Monday-Tuesday.