Magdalen College Welfare Support
Student life is great fun but can be hard and 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.
Posters are on display around the College to remind you of the welfare contacts available to you. Please find also a number of useful welfare leaflets in digital form.
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)
Office Hours:
- 8.00am-12.30pm & 2pm-4pm, Monday-Tuesday
- 8.00am-12.30pm & 1.30pm-5pm, Wednesday-Thursday
- 8.40am-12.30pm & 2.30pm-5pm, Friday
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:
- General welfare concerns
- Student Support Fund applications
- Hardship applications, through the Junior Members Fund, which can provide rapid emergency help
- Making appointments with the Senior Dean or Dean for Welfare
- Organising room bookings during term-time
- Bodleian card queries
- Personal tutors for undergraduates
Dean for Welfare – Rob Gilbert (dean.welfare@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Rob has overall responsibility for welfare provision in the College. He is available to listen to the concerns of junior members and direct them to the most appropriate source of support; he also works alongside the Senior Dean to help any junior member who requires financial assistance. He holds regular drop-in sessions (known as Deans’ Hour) in the Deans’ office in the Grammar Hall on Mondays 8am-9am and Thursdays 1pm-2pm from weeks 0 to 8 inclusive. No appointments are necessary. At other times he can be reached on dean.welfare@magd.ox.ac.uk.
Senior Dean – Robert Douglas-Fairhurst (senior.dean@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Robert 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 Tuesdays 8am-9am and Fridays 1pm-2pm 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 – Ananya Malhotra, Calum Haggett, Aneyn O’Grady and Claudia Paul (subdeans@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Ananya, Calum, Aneyn and Claudia 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 – Sophie López-Welsch (counsellor@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Sophie is a professionally qualified counsellor and is part of the University Counselling Service. She will be available on Fridays. Contact Sophie to discuss:
- One-to-One Counselling
- The services and workshops that the University Counselling Service provide
Tutors for Equality and Diversity – Laura Fortunato (laura.fortunato@magd.ox.ac.uk) and Andrew Bowyer (andrew.bowyer@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Laura 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 – Netta Jennison (netta.jennison@magd.ox.ac.uk)
Netta works part time Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. If you would like to discuss anything to do with your wellbeing, anxiety, study skills, budgeting and any other concerns email Netta 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, Andrew Bowyer, Kate Bennett and Mark Williams.
Please get in touch with an SSA is you think you would find a Personal Tutor helpful, and one will be assigned to you.
Graduate Student College Advisors
For graduate students a similar provision to the Personal Tutor scheme operating for undergraduates is provided by the network of College Advisors. Each graduate student has a College Advisor assigned. Please get in touch with an SSA if you need to contact your College Advisor and don’t know who they are.
Medical Support
College Doctors
The College Doctors are based at 27 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2NR. If you need to make an appointment, please contact 01865 311500.
College Nurse – Mrs Victoria Manellari
Please email Victoria on MagdalenNurse@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk to arrange an appointment with her.
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:
Dr 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.
The College’s Confidentiality Policy can be found here.
