senior tutor

Further Particulars of the Job

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Senior Tutor

Department: College Officers, Governing Body

Main Purpose of Job:

The Senior Tutor is responsible, on a day-to-day basis, for all academic matters; welfare and pastoral issues; and for co-ordinating strategic planning of all aspects of the College’s academic activities. This includes consulting with the Academic Committee about planned academic developments or substantive changes to current practice or policy.

The Senior Tutor at Wolfson College also acts as Tutor for Admissions, and is responsible for deciding whether students should be admitted to membership of the College.

Finally, the Senior Tutor oversees the College’s Communications Department, Library, Archives and the administration of Wolfson Common Room.

As a College Officer the Senior Tutor is a member of the Governing Body and a Trustee of the College.

Relationships:

  1. Responsible to: President
  2. Responsible for: Academic Registrar, Admissions Officer, Common Room Administrator, Communications Officer, Communications Assistant, Archivist, Librarian, Assistant Librarian, Welfare Officers.
  3. Liaison with: All other College offices, the Governing Body, University Departments, University Central Administration services.

Main Tasks of Job:

1.Governance

  1. Serving ex-officio member on most College Committees; the University Conference of Colleges Graduate Committee and the Senior Tutors’ Committee; the College Heads of Department Meeting. Attend other University committees as required
  2. Chair of College Academic Committee
  3. Working closely with the President on the College’s academic affairs

2.Academic

  1. Overall responsibility for admissions policy and managing student admissions
  2. Planning student numbers and providing an annual return to the University of proposed numbers for the next academic year
  3. Arranging an induction programme for newly admitted students
  4. Organising matriculation & graduation ceremonies
  5. Allocating each student to a College Advisor
  6. Monitoring the progress of students by reviewing their termly Graduate Supervision Reports and, in cases of unsatisfactory progress, meeting with them and taking such action as required
  7. Managing College Scholarships and annual College Fee Bursaries awards
  8. Administering and maintaining records of College Conference and Fieldwork Grants, together with endowed & non-recurrent named travel grants
  9. Reviewing applications to the Academic Support Fund for the support of Workshops, Conferences, Colloquia, Lectures and Seminars organised by Fellows
  10. Assisting with recruitment for the College’s Fellowship appointments, including attending interview boards for Research Fellows and JRFs
  11. Arranging the annual programme of College Named Lectures in consultation with the President and College Secretary, and the termly pre-Governing Body meeting lecture
  12. Overall responsibility for the College Research Clusters
  13. Completing the annual Graduate Quality Assurance working Group audit
  14. Overseeing the digitised electronic Academic Office records and student files
  15. Co-ordinating with the President the returns for the Research Excellence Framework
  16. Consulting with the Research Fellows’ Liaison Officer and the Visiting Scholars’ Liaison Officer ensuring that the Academic Office provides them with administrative support
  17. Working with the Vicegerent, co-ordinating the College’s Prevent strategy

3.Welfare and pastoral

  1. Responding to students’ concerns relating to academic progress, problems with supervisors, etc., liaising with appropriate offices and services, as required
  2. Arranging with the Accommodation Officer suitable accommodation for students with limited accessibility or with other disability related problems
  3. Administering the College Hardship Awards and agreeing the amount of awards with the Bursar
  4. Overall responsibility for welfare services in the College, including management of the College student Welfare Officers and the Peer Support scheme
  5. Conducting the annual College Student Survey and analysing the results
  6. Acting as the Disability Lead for Wolfson
  7. Annually updating and distributing the college document on Managing Tragedies and Emergencies

4.Finance

  1. Ensuring that the Accounts Office has all relevant funding and scholarship information in order for the College to bill students
  2. Working with the Bursar to deal with student debt (where there are academic considerations)
  3. Preparing with the Bursar and College Accountant for preparation of the Academic Budget at the beginning of Trinity Term

5.Archives, Library & College Offices

  1. Allocating library carrels & academic offices and reviewing annually the allocation and criteria used for allocation, in liaison with Accommodation Officer who administers the carrel allocation

6.Management and personnel

  1. Line manager for the Academic Registrar, Common Room Administrator, Communications Officer, Archivist, Librarian, and Welfare Officers

7.Planning

  1. Co-ordinating strategic planning of all aspects of the College’s academic activities
  2. Developing links with faculties for matched graduate scholarships
  3. Participating, where relevant, in development planning

8.Examination & Disciplinary Matters

  1. Presenting requests to the Proctors or Education Committee on behalf of students for remarking of examinations and appeals against academic decisions or apparent failure of departments or academic staff to comply with the Examination Regulations
  2. Representing students and liaising with the Proctors in student disciplinary matters, taking action as appropriate
  3. Submitting applications for alternative examination arrangements, ensuring that the appropriate medical evidence is submitted where necessary
  4. Applying for candidates to be allowed an extension of time for submitted examination work
  5. Applying for a student to migrate from one college to another & applications to live outside the residence limit

9.Communications

  1. Working with the President and Communications Officer to agree a Communications strategy for Wolfson.
  2. Overseeing the activities of the Communications Office

10.The above is not an exhaustive list of duties and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the College and the overall objectives of the organisation.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications /
  • A good Honours degree (2:I or above)
/ A higher degree
Knowledge /
  • Knowledge of graduate issues
  • Experience of or understanding of the requirements of research
  • Knowledge of committee work
  • The ability to work within democratic rather than managerial structures
/
  • Knowledge of Oxford University and its administrative systems

Skills /
  • Oral and written skills of high order, and an ability to present information and arguments clearly
  • IT skills appropriate for efficient administration
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and sensitivity to different points of view
  • Excellent management skills
  • Good negotiation skills
  • Excellent organisational skills
/
  • Advanced IT skills, particularly in use of databases, admin systems and websites

Work Experience /
  • Experience of administrative responsibility in an academic institution
  • Proven administrative ability
  • Experience in a welfare or pastoral role
/
  • Experience of effecting change in an organisation and managing that process

Personal Qualities /
  • Sympathy with the aims and values of an educational body, and the traditions of the Collegiate University
  • An interest in the current trends and changes in Higher Education in a wider context
  • An interest in the pastoral care of students and staff
  • Enthusiasm for developing relationships
  • The ability to take the initiative appropriately

Terms and Conditions:

Appointment: / The post is availablefrom 3 April 2017or as soon as possible thereafter. It is full-time and permanent with a 12months’ probation.
Hours: / Working hours are36.5 hours per week and such hours as are necessary for the proper performance of duties,normally Monday to Thursday 9.00am to 5.00pm and 9.00am to 4.00pm on Friday.
Annual Leave Entitlement: / 39 days paincluding Bank Holidays.
Salary and Benefits: / The salary is £55,000 pa., a higher salary may be considered for exceptional candidates. If eligible, the person appointed will be enrolled into the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Details are available on the website at
Benefits include: pension scheme, common table rights, academic stipend, free parking.
Notice period: / 30 days during probation, 13 weeks after probation.
Other conditions / The post is subject to submitting satisfactory evidence of your right to work in the UK, obtaining satisfactory references, completion of the health questionnaire and signing the contract of employment.

Equality of opportunity

The Equal Opportunities policy of the College requires that all staff are offered equal opportunities within employment. Entry into employment will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria related to the post. Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant will be treated less favourably than another because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Data Protection

All data supplied by candidates will be used only for the purposes of determining their suitability for the post and will be held in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the College Data Protection Policy (available on the website at

Application:

Applications should be sent by email to HR Manager at and should include:

-an application form (overleaf)

-a detailedcurriculum vitae

-a covering letter, addressed to the President of Wolfson College

Please put the reference: ‘ST-SURNAME’ in the subject of your email.

The closing date isWednesday 8th February 2017. Interviews will be held on Tuesday 28th February 2017.

APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT / PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
PLEASE COMPLETE ALL PARTS and return together with other required documents to HR Manager at Wolfson Collegeat
POSITION APPLIED FOR: Senior Tutor / Ref. ST170208
Surname / Forename(s) / Title
Address: / e-mail:
Postcode / Telephone number:
NI No. / Are there any restrictions on you taking up employment in the UK? Please circle or delete below as appropriate
Yes (If yes, please provide details in the adjacent box)) / Details of restrictions / No

REFERENCES

Please note here the name and contact details of your referees. We will contact your referees at the shortlisting stage if possible. Should you not wish us to do this please tick this here:
Referee 1 / Referee 2
Name of referee
Relationship to you
Institution name
and address
Email address
Telephone number

CRIMINAL RECORD

Please note any criminal convictions except those 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. If none please state. In certain circumstances employment is dependent upon obtaining a satisfactory basic disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

DECLARATION (Please read carefully before signing this application)

  1. I confirm that the above information is complete and correct and that any untrue or misleading information will give my employer the right to terminate any employment contract offered.
  2. Should we require further information and wish to contact your doctor with a view to obtaining a medical report, the law requires us to inform you of our intention and obtain your permission prior to contacting your doctor. I agree that Wolfson College reserves the right to require me to undergo a medical examination. In addition, I agree that this information will be retained in my personnel file during employment and for up to six years thereafter and understand that information will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
  3. I agree that should I be successful in this application, I will, if required, apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service for a basic disclosure. I understand that should I fail to do so, or should the disclosure not be to the satisfaction of the College any offer of employment may be withdrawn or my employment terminated.

SIGNATURE / DATE