Student Welfare
A wide variety of options are available to Mansfield students seeking welfare support. Please see below for further advice on different aspects of welfare provision.
Respect for your privacy is at the heart of Mansfield’s welfare policy, and consultation with College post-holders on welfare matters will be treated in confidence wherever possible, following the University Guidance on Confidentiality in Student Health and Welfare and the Data Protection Act. If you are concerned that a welfare-related issue may affect your academic work, you are advised to notify your College tutor (undergraduates) or your College advisor (graduates). Undergraduates seeking advice and guidance may also contact the Senior Tutor, Visiting Students may contact the Senior Tutor or the Director of the Visiting Students Programme and graduates may contact the Tutor for Graduates.
The College has an Equal Opportunities Policy and Monitoring Group (EOPMG) which meets twice a year, and is chaired by the Tutor for Women. The group consists of the Principal, Bursar, Senior Tutor, Tutor for Graduates, Tutor for Welfare, Tutor for Women, Disability Officer, BME Officer, Academic Registrar, Junior Deans and representatives of the MCR and the JCR. The EOPMG has overall responsibility for coordination of Equal Opportunities policy development and the identification of priorities. The college Equal Opportunities Policies can be found here.
Gail Leckie is the college's Tutor for Welfare. This role is a first point of contact for any students who would like to talk over any welfare issues (broadly conceived) with a member of staff.
If you would like to arrange a meeting, please contact gail.leckie@mansfield.ox.ac.uk. She is able to meet at a wide variety of times. In HT21, her ‘drop-in’ hours are online on Teams 4.30-5.30 on Mondays and 12-1 on Tuesday. In these times, you can ring Gail on Teams or if she is already in a call, send a message on Teams and she'll ring you back.
Gail Leckie is also Tutor for Academic Support.
Kathryn Gleadle (telephone (2) 82896) can be approached by women students with concerns or issues they feel would best be communicated to a woman tutor. The Tutor for Women also organises social and academic events focussing on the achievements of Mansfield women.
"Women remain minority within the University. Most colleges therefore designate one female tutor the 'tutor for women' with special responsibility to think about and represent the needs or concerns of that minority. I am very happy to take on this role at Mansfield and extend a warm invitation to all women students who have concerns or issues they feel would be best communicated to a woman tutor to knock on my door. Also, if you feel that you personally or (a group of) female students more generally suffer from discrimination in any way in college then you should seek to address this first through me as tutor for women.
I think it is important that we celebrate the energy and success among our female members so - in conjunction with the elected representatives for women from the MCR and JCR bench - I also organise social, academic and alumni events with a focus on Mansfield women's achievement.
It is best to arrange to see me by appointment through email but you can find my office in college (Room 6, 8 Mansfield Road) in normal office hours and I will arrange to meet you at a more convenient time if you should call by when I am engaged in teaching or meetings."
Andrew Higgins is the College's Disability Lead and is available for advice on disability-related matters or disability-related welfare issues. If you have academic needs related to disability, please contact the College's Disability Coordinator (see below). The University also runs a comprehensive Disability Advisory Service (DAS). Students wishing to contact the Disability Advisory Service are advised in the first instance to contact Mansfield's link advisors, Mathew Williams (Disability Advisor) or Shelly Jenkin (Disability Advisor (Mental Health)).
The College's Disability Coordinator is happy to speak to any students who wish to discuss their academic needs in relation to a disability or medical condition. The Disability Coordinator is also the first point of contact for students who wish to apply for alternative arrangements for examinations on the grounds of a disability or medical condition. Please email college.office@mansfield.ox.ac.uk.
The College's Harassment Policy can be found here. If you are concerned that you or a fellow student are the victim of harassment or bullying please contact the Harassment Officers, Derek McCormack and Katherine Morris.
Helen Mountfield is the College's Tutor for racial inclusion and is available to be contacted by any students with any issues or concerns.
Ros Ballaster can be approached by any students experiencing issues or concerns.
Mansfield commits:
'to give support and understanding to those individuals who wish to take, or have
taken steps, to present themselves as a gender different to the gender assigned at
birth';
'to create an inclusive trans-friendly culture, workplace and learning environment';
and
‘that no prospective or actual student or member of staff will be treated less favourably than any other… on the grounds of gender identity or reassignment’
Mansfield has adopted the University of Oxford Transgender Policy and follows the University of Oxford Transgender Guidance.
The Point of Contact for transitioning students is the Senior Tutor, who is well-informed on Trans Policy and has supervised students’ transitions in the past.
The College Office has guidance on the administrative process involved when students change their name and gender.
Welfare and academic concerns are closely related in the Oxford environment. Academic support includes study skills and supplementary tuition such as revision or maths skills alongside your core tutorials and classes. But it also includes confidential welfare support for those worried about their academic progress.
The Tutor for Academic Support, Gail Leckie, is available to talk through concerns you have about your academic work, providing a space to work out how to address your difficulties and to sign post you to study support resources within and beyond college. Please email Gail.leckie@mansfield.ox.ac.uk to make an appointment. In MT20 study support meetings take place online unless there are pressing disability or welfare reasons to meet in person.
In MT20, my drop-in hour for Academic Support is online on Teams at 1-2pm on Mondays (except week 3). You can ring me on Teams or if I'm already in a call, send a message on Teams and I'll ring you back
Oana Gurau is Junior Dean for the Main Site and Yashua Bhatti is the off-site Junior Dean. They are available to offer support and advice to students on general welfare matters.
The Junior Common Room (JCR) and Middle Common Room (MCR) Benches operate a peer support network and have a number of elected officers whose role involves student welfare. The JCR and MCR pages have more information.
JCR Bench:
President: Beth Gilmour
Vice President (Welfare) & Chair of the Welfare Committee: Katherine Hunter
Women's Officer: Sara Dalzell
Men's Officer: Joel While
LQBTQ+ Officer: Jenny Scoones
Disabilities & Mental Health Officer: Grace Beresford-Boon
BME Officer - Mustaqim Mohammad Iqbal
International Students' Officer: Leyton Zhang
Visiting Student Rep: Jacob Kaufhold
MCR Bench:
President: Oliwier Melon
Vice-President: Amirmohammad Farzaneh
Treasurer: Franziska Brandmaan
Welfare Officer: Daria Jensen
Women's and BAME Representative: Zobia Haq
Equality Officer and Environment, Ethics and Charity Representative: Mahati Garimella
Environment, Ethics and Charity Representative: Robert (Bobby) Edge-Partington
Sports and Societies Representative: Alexander Cliffe
Please find here, the JCR list of Peer Supporters.
The medical practice with which the College is associated has both male and female doctors who are available during their normal surgery hours to any student registered with them and at any time in an emergency.
St Clements Surgery
39 Temple Street
Oxford
Tel: 01865 248550
Opening hours for the surgery, as well as details of how to make an appointment, can be found on the surgery website.
The University has a professionally-staffed, confidential Student Counselling Service for assistance with personal, emotional, social and academic problems. The Service is available free to all matriculated undergraduate and graduate members of the University.
Please see 'Counselling and mental health' on the university website for further details.
The Student Advice Service is an advice, information and advocacy service for Oxford University students.
More details can be found on the Oxford University Student Union website.
Nightline is a listening service run by students for students. The Nightline Centre is at 16 Wellington Square (Oxford 270270), and is open from 8.00pm - 8.00am every night during term and during the weeks immediately before and after each term. Further information can be found on the Nightline website.
The College has an Equal Opportunities Policy and Monitoring Group (EOPMG) which meets twice a year, and is chaired by the Tutor for Women. The group consists of the Principal, Bursar, Senior Tutor, Tutor for Graduates, Tutor for Welfare, Tutor for Women, Disability Officer, BME Officer, Academic Administrator, Junior Deans and representatives of the MCR and the JCR. The EOPMG has overall responsibility for coordination of Equal Opportunities policy development and the identification of priorities. The College's Equal Opportunities Policies can be found here.
The most useful place to check for the University's student-related policies is the 'A to Z of policies and guidance' on the university website.
The following are particularly germane to student welfare. Please click the topic below on which you would like more information.
Data Protection (see also the College's GDPR Framework and Privacy Notices)
Factors affecting performance in examinations (see below, Mitigating Circumstances in Examinations)
Fieldwork (see also the Safety Office main page)
Harassment and Bullying (see also the University's student advice page, as well as the College's Harassment Policy)
(Also the Counselling Service, and the Oxford Student Mental Health Network)
Mitigating Circumstances in Examinations
Reasonable adjustments in examinations
Sexual Violence: prevention and support (see also Oxford Against Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment and Violence Support Service)
University Transgender Policy (see also the university Equality and Diversity Unit transgender page, as well as the College's Trans Policy, above)
University Transgender Guidance