The Academic Office

Lucy is Somerville’s Academic Registrar.

She runs the day to day operations of the Academic Office, including the coordination of undergraduate admissions.

You can find her in the Academic Office in House between 8am and 4PM, Monday-Friday.

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.

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.

Alison Davies is in the office Wednesday – Friday.

Eileen is in the office Monday-Tuesday.

Eren studied both his undergraduate degree and PhD in Chemistry at The University of Sheffield. He started in Oxford University Outreach in 2021 and joined Hannah Pack and Órla Lavery to make up one third of the Somerville Access Team in 2022.

Órla is Somerville’s Access and Inreach Support Officer.

Órla read English Language and Literature at Somerville from 2019-22 before returning to Somerville in September as part of the access team. As Inreach Support Officer she is responsible for ensuring that our students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, feel supported throughout their time here at Somerville.

You can find Órla in the Access office upstairs in House, Mon-Fri, 9-5.

My name is Shamsideen, but everyone calls me Shams. I am currently a DPhil student researching how iron deficiency affects immunological memory. I have a mixed background, having lived all over the world: Uzbekistan (Asia), Ghana (Africa), Russia and Ashville, North Carolina (America).

I generally stay physically active (strength training) and enjoy long distance running – one of my goals is to run the original marathon in Athens (Greece). As well as learning about the human body and mind through psychological, neuroscientific and now immunological studies, I’m fascinated by the ‘weird, mysterious and unexplained’ in the world around us, including subjects outside of conventional science. As a result, in my free time I enjoy reading about lost civilizations, ancient history and the most mysterious organ in our body- the brain. I also like painting/drawing and take great interest in art from the 14^th to 18^th centuries. 

I am a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community and a trained Samaritan. Come talk to me anytime! I am very excited to join the Somerville Community and contribute to this historic college.

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.