Candidate Statements: 6 June 2013

Council (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Teresa Morgan

Council (Non-Divisional, 3 vacancies)

H R Dorkins
Frances Lannon
Chris Wickham

Curators of the University Libraries

Lesley Smith

Back to Nominations

Council (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Teresa Morgan, MA PhD Camb, MA Oxf, Fellow of Oriel, Faculty of Classics

Having acted as Assessor two years ago, I should value the opportunity to contribute further to the everyday governance of the University and discussions about the future. In addition to pursuing world-leading research and teaching, I am keen that we actively consider ways to exercise leadership in the sector and engage with public debate and government policy. I am particularly interested in issues of access and equality, and hope to explore, with colleges, divisions and the University's admissions offices, the scope for new web-based access initiatives which would have the potential to reach and inspire large numbers of prospective students.

The 'Idea of a University' project, which I ran as Assessor, generated some fascinating cross-disciplinary discussions about our intellectual and educational values and practices. Such discussions, I believe, inform our processes of governance as well as our teaching and research, and I hope to develop them further as a member of Council.

[152 words]

Council (Non-Divisional)

H R Dorkins, BM BCh MA Oxf, MSc Lond, Fellow of St Peter's, Faculty of Physiological Sciences

Over the past decade, the University has enjoyed a period of remarkable growth - in student numbers, income and estate. Even if it were thought desirable, it is unlikely that continued growth at this rate could be sustained. In the next few years, we need to manage the move to a more steady state. We shall need to balance competing claims on limited resources.

Different pressures are faced by different divisions and each has developed its own strategies to tackle these. Many perceive the establishment of divisions as a success, but this structure brings its own problems, both within and between divisions. Further effort is needed to facilitate teaching and research across divisional boundaries.

Oxford undergraduates continue to benefit from an excellent education, but the experience of their postgraduate colleagues is more mixed. There is scope for improvement of what is offered at postgraduate level, particularly in taught courses. Colleges should continue have a central role in the work of the University. The growth in the number of postgraduates has generated further pressures on the colleges in terms of funding and accommodation. These considerations will be important in discussions on the future size and shape of the University.

As Senior Proctor in 2012/13, I have gained some understanding of the workings of Council and all of its major committees. I am a medical geneticist. I have been Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at St Peter's College since 1991 and Deputy Director of the University's graduate entry medical course since 2009.

[249 words]

Frances Lannon, MA DPhil Oxf, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Faculty of History

I have been Principal of LMH since October 2002. In 2008-2011 I served as Deputy Chair and then Chair of Conference of Colleges, in which roles I was also a member of Council and several of Council's committees. Through these responsibilities in my own College, in Conference, on Council and on other university and intercollegiate bodies, I have gained a pretty broad understanding of the challenges facing Oxford. I have also learned that across the whole collegiate university we have exceptional opportunities to excel in teaching and research, and extraordinary resources to deploy wisely and develop energetically. I hope that I would bring to Council, if elected, a well-informed but undimmed commitment to seek collectively the most effective ways of furthering and communicating our shared mission at this particular moment of Oxford's history.

[133 words]

Chris Wickham, MA DPhil Oxf, Fellow of All Souls, Faculty of History

I am standing for Council because I wish to help maintain the continued success of Oxford University and its members during yet another period of major change in higher education, and I would welcome the opportunity to use my experience and knowledge of higher education nationally and internationally to help ensure that we make the right decisions about our strategy and future direction.

I have always wanted to help develop the highest standards of academic achievement possible, and I try to do so both through my individual research and by bringing on others inside and outside my discipline, in this country and abroad. I hold the History Faculty's Chichele Chair of Medieval History at All Souls, and, among other things, am chair of the History sub-panel for the 2014 REF. I am committed to humanising the challenges we all face, however menacing they seem.

I also have had experience of strategic planning, budgets and fundraising, most recently in my three years as Chair of the History Faculty Board. I would know what I was doing when dealing here, in this major area of concern for Council, and would use my critical sense constructively.

From an early stage in my career, I have been actively engaged in personnel issues, and had twenty years as an AUT (now UCU) case-worker; most recently, I have joined the University's Equality and Diversity committee. I believe strongly that it is possible both to manage the University strategically, and to help people improve their daily lives.

[250 words]

Curators of the University Libraries

Lesley Smith, BSc MSc LSE, MA DPhil Oxf, Fellow of Harris Manchester, Faculty of History, Faculty of Social Studies

I teach politics at Harris Manchester and also do some teaching for the History and Theology faculties; my research is in the area of medieval intellectual history. I am also Senior Tutor of my college.

The interdisciplinary nature of my work takes me to various parts of the Bodleian Libraries, but my research is highly dependent on their collections of unique manuscripts and early printed books. The Bodleian's Special Collections are my equivalent of a laboratory: without them, I could not do my work.

I see myself as a critical friend of the Library. Money is tight, and in that context it's inevitable that there are hard choices to be made. In some subjects, electronic provision to the desktop may be the only way forward; in others, packed reading rooms show the continuing central role of well-organized subject provision and library work space, in conjunction with digital materials. Knowledgeable, accessible staff remain irreplaceable.

Major developments, including the opening of the Weston Library, the reconsideration of the ROQ and the advent of electronic legal deposit make this a critical period in the history of the Bodleian. That is why I believe ordinary users need to take a constructive role in the oversight of the Libraries.

[204 words]