Welfare and wellbeing

Student life is great fun but can be challenging. Magdalen offers several different kinds of help to anyone experiencing personal difficulties, but whoever you choose to talk to will treat what you have to say professionally, and do their best to help. The College takes the welfare and wellbeing of its students very seriously, and wishes to ensure that all those studying here are well supported and cared for.

A team of tutors, staff, and students work together to provide welfare support, and you may contact any of the individuals below with any concerns that you may have. You may be struggling with a specific, well-defined problem, or you may not have any idea what the problem is, but just have a sense that something isn’t right – we are here to support you and the earlier you speak to someone the more support we can offer. Do get in touch.

For emergencies, always contact the Porters (01865 276000) who provide 24-hour security oversight of the whole College and who will be able to put you in touch with someone to deal with confidential welfare support issues at any time. If you need urgent medical assistance and dial 999, then please also let the Porters know if you can.

College Welfare and Student Wellbeing Team 

Student Support Administrators – Katie Taylor-O’Connor (Mon-Weds) and Holly Finn (Weds-Fri)

Email: studentsupport@magd.ox.ac.uk

Office Hours:

A Student Support Administrator (SSA) is available each weekday in their office on the ground floor of the Grammar Hall and supports the Senior Dean, Dean for Welfare and the wider Welfare team with their work. If you are unsure who to approach, one of the SSAs should be your first port of call. They can help you with any confidential matter. You can also speak to an SSA about:

Dean for Welfare – Lauren Phillips (dean.welfare@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Lauren has overall responsibility for welfare provision in the College. She is available to listen to the concerns of junior members and direct them to the most appropriate source of support; she also works alongside the Senior Dean to help any junior member who requires financial assistance. She holds regular drop-in sessions (known as Deans’ Hour) in the Deans’ Office in the Grammar Hall on Tuesday 10:00am-11:00am from weeks 0 to 8 inclusive. No appointments are necessary. At other times she can be reached on dean.welfare@magd.ox.ac.uk.

Senior Dean – Chris Garland (senior.dean@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Chris maintains oversight of Magdalen’s decanal system as a whole, and offers general advice to junior members on non-academic College and University matters. He is also responsible for helping junior members who require financial assistance, working alongside the Welfare Dean to offer pastoral support and advice, and giving permission for parties and other large social gatherings. He holds regular Deans’ hours in the Deans’ Office on Fridays 11:30am – 12:30pm from weeks 0 to 8 inclusive. No appointments are necessary. At other times he can be reached on senior.dean@magd.ox.ac.uk.

The Sub-Deans – Calum Haggett, Justin Clarke, Mr Raghul Ravichandran and Ms Simple Rajrah (subdeans@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Calum, Justin, Raghul and Simple are postgraduate students who are resident in College and are especially important in providing welfare support out of normal working hours, along with the Porters. They are friendly faces around the College, so do get to know them. They are always happy to have a chat and are on duty on a rota basis from 5pm-8am Monday-Friday and at the weekends.

Other sources of College welfare support:

College Counsellor – Jane Enticott (counsellor@magd.ox.ac.uk) 

Jane is a professionally qualified counsellor and is part of the University Counselling Service. Contact Jane by email to discuss:

Tutors for Equality and Diversity – Jennie Castle (jennifer.castle@magd.ox.ac.uk) and Andrew Bowyer (andrew.bowyer@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Jennie and Andrew are the Tutors for Equality and Diversity and any student is very welcome to contact them with concerns about equality, diversity and inclusion at Magdalen. They work with other members of the Welfare team in providing workshops, and other opportunities for learning and discussion.

Dean of Divinity (Chaplain) – Andrew Bowyer (andrew.bowyer@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Andrew is available as appropriate to all students irrespective of their beliefs. He can be called on for advice or help without appointment in his room in Cloisters IV:2.

College Mentor for Students – Alix Hibble (alexandra.hibble@magd.ox.ac.uk)

Alix works part time in college. If you would like to discuss anything to do with your wellbeing, anxiety, study skills, budgeting and any other concerns email Alix for an appointment or visit her in St Swithun’s Quad, Staircase VII, Room 2. Tel: 01865 286689.

Personal Tutors

Undergraduates may wish to have a Personal Tutor assigned to them. These are Magdalen tutors who can provide general welfare and wellbeing advice from an academic perspective but who are not in a student’s own subject area and so are independent of the oversight of their own studies. In the current academic year the Personal Tutors are Tim Barraclough, Mark Williams, Raphaële Garrod, and Christian Leitmeir.

Please get in touch with a student support administrator if you think you would find a Personal Tutor helpful, and one will be assigned to you.

Medical Support

College Doctors

Northgate Health Centre, 15 Market Street, Oxford, OX1 3EF. If you need to make an appointment, please contact 01865 311811.

College Nurse – Mrs Victoria Manellari

Please email Victoria on v.manellari@nhs.net to arrange an appointment with her. Her clinic hours are:

Tuesday 12:30-15:30

Wednesday 09:00-12:00

Thursday 09:00-12:30

At:
St Swithun’s Quad, Staircase VI, Room 3.

JCR and MCR Support Services

Several students each year are trained in Peer Support and the JCR and MCR have their own welfare teams. The team of tutors and staff with welfare responsibility work closely and meet regularly with their colleagues from the JCR and MCR. For more details see the JCR and MCR web pages.

Further information:

The Information and Regulations Handbook which is issued to all members of College at the beginning of the academic year contains further details and can also be found on the internal pages of this website.

Any harassment issues are dealt with by the College’s two Harassment Officers:

Prof. Jennifer Castle (New Buildings II:4; telephone 276067)

Prof. Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (St Swithuns VII:5; 276058)

On academic matters students usually consult their own Tutors, another Tutor who teaches their subject, or the Senior Tutor.