College Advisors
All students are assigned a College Advisor by the College. Kellogg College Advisors are usually Fellows or other postdoctoral members of College. Your College Advisor can provide personal support for you, or simply be a friendly form of contact while studying in Oxford. College Advisors do not have an academic role, so your College Advisor may not have knowledge relating to your programme’s subject area, but they can offer an insight into getting the most out of your course and Oxford more generally.
Your College Advisor will be able to:
- provide pastoral support, including on any health, personal or coping issues, and / or direct you to appropriate persons for assistance;
- monitor your progress by discussing your University supervision reports (GSR) with you and being available for consultation either in person, online, or by email;
- discuss with you any problems or difficulties you may be experiencing in your department or faculty, and / or with your Supervisor;
- consult the Senior Tutor if there are concerns about your academic progress and if you appear to be experiencing difficulties with your academic work;
- offer guidance on sources of support and opportunities that are available within the College and the wider University.
Your College Advisor is not only there for you to contact if you encounter difficulties. There are many ways in which they can enrich your time at Oxford and help you make the most of your time here. They may be able to offer you advice on academic-related matters such as: applications for research funding, conferences and seminar attendance, publication and career plans. College Advisors would not normally be expected to provide academic references, as others are better placed to do so. However, they might agree to provide a reference for other purposes, such as Junior Deanship applications, or a character reference.
The role of your College Advisor should not be confused with that of your department, faculty or school Supervisor who is responsible for directing your academic progress. Your College Advisor is not responsible for supervising your academic work or for giving detailed academic guidance or commenting on written work.
You will be notified via email by the Academic Office at the start of your first term with the details of the College Advisor that you have been assigned. You can expect them to contact you shortly after this to make an introduction and invite you to meet up with them in person or remotely. You are strongly encouraged to take up these invitations and also to contact them outside of previously arranged meetings as and when you need advice or help.
You can expect your College Advisor to introduce themselves to you and do please follow up opportunities to meet with your College Advisor whether remotely by MS Teams or for lunch or coffee, or at other events.
College Advisors will view copies of your termly academic supervision reports via the Graduate Supervision Reporting (GSR) platform and may contact you if concerns have been indicated in these reports by either yourself, your Supervisor or your Director of Graduate Studies. The Senior Tutor in consultation with the Academic Office will review GSR reports which have flagged a concern on a termly basis. It is particularly important that you consult your College Advisor if you are experiencing any difficulty with your Supervisor or for matters that you would prefer not to discuss with your department or faculty in the first instance.
If, for any reason, you are unable to contact your College Advisor then you should feel free to contact the Senior Tutor or Academic Registrar. You are also welcome to consult other College Officers and members of College as necessary. Their main areas of responsibility are set out on the College website, with their contact details. Details of some College Officers whom you may wish to contact during the course of your studies are listed here.
Your College Advisor may change due to periods of sabbatical or if they leave their post with the College. Under exceptional circumstances students may seek a change of College Advisor through application to the Senior Tutor.