Policies and Guidance

1. This policy applies to all gifts in kind including, but not limited to, the following: art, artefacts such as sculptures, statues, statuettes, books, silver plate, as well as benches and plaques. It does not apply to items which fall under the Archives Collecting Policy. The College must also consider, where appropriate, the University’s Gifts and Hospitality Policy.

2. The College must consider carefully whether to accept an item, including each item offered as part of a collection. An initial acceptance is rendered void by misrepresentation, or failure to disclose any information the College would reasonably wish to know before acceptance, or if the College decides that the item does not match its description.

3. Acceptance of an item must be in line with the Acquisitions and Disposals Policy and must be agreed by the following College body or officer:

a. The Art & Likenesses Committee: all art and artefacts, including but not limited to sculptures, statues, statuettes, benches and plaques;

b. Gardens Committee: all of 3(a) above to the extent it concerns the College Gardens;

c. Keeper of the Plate: all silver plate, including medallions; and

d.  Fellow Librarian, who may delegate decisions to the Librarian: all books and other items related to the Library; and the College, through any of the above bodies or officers or others, may seek information and guarantees about the provenance of all donations, and use that information or its failure to be provided in deciding whether to accept an item.

4. The four guiding principles apply for acceptance of an item by the body or officer in 2 above in as much that the College may wish to preserve items of:

a. significant historical and cultural value;

b. significant financial value where they can be used to support its charitable purposes; or

c. direct relevance to current and future members (such as books by or about the College’s members, books about the College or Oxford) and in all cases of, a kind which can be appropriately cared for and displayed by the College and its agent.

5. The acceptance of an item depends on its condition. Items should not normally require conservation at the point of acceptance, but if they do, the cost of that conservation should be understood before acceptance. If any conservation cost is expected, and not to be paid for by the donor, acceptance is only possible where the College can afford it, particularly in respect of the relevant budget and other items requiring conservation.

6. The College accepts items where it receives valid and unencumbered title. Unless specified otherwise by the College, that title must be evidenced in writing. Only in exceptional circumstances will an item be accepted on a loan basis, and any related costs must be agreed in advance between the owner and the College.

7. All items may be disposed of at the discretion of the College unless otherwise agreed with the donor at the point of donation. Items which are retained will not necessarily be displayed or accessible to the donor.

8. It is the responsibility of the donor to arrange for the delivery of the item(s) to the College.

Reviewed: 30 October 2024

The Admissions and Access Policy can be found here.

Aim

The College acknowledges that its alumni are by default members of the College for life and it maintains a policy of active engagement through continued access to its premises, invitations to events and a range of communications designed to deepen that relationship over the long term. However, such benefits to its Old Members that the College may offer from time to time are to be regarded as a privilege and not conferred as a right. As part of that process of engagement the College may accept donations of money or other gifts, subject to the conditions laid down by the Charities Commission or other regulatory bodies.

Policy Summary

We follow the University of Oxford’s Alumni Code of Conduct.  If an Old Member conducts him- or herself in a manner which could be harmful to the College, its members or its wider reputation, the College may decide to terminate its relationship with the Old Member either permanently or for a fixed period of time. The determination as to whether such conditions have been met will be made by the President, acting with the advice of the Development Director.

Senior members of the College and staff are under an obligation to advise the President if they become aware that a situation has arisen which might give rise to any consideration for action that could be taken under this policy.

If it is determined that relations with an Old Member should be severed (either temporarily or permanently) then the President will write to that individual setting out the grounds for that decision. In such cases any future gifts by the individual to the College during the severance of the relationship shall be refused. The College also reserves the right to return any previous gifts made by the individual.

If the President deems that the behaviour of the Old Member is such that it does not warrant a complete termination of relationship, a suspension (permanent or otherwise) from future College events or exclusion from College premises may be implemented instead.

Where an Old Member has incurred a debt to the College, and no satisfactory arrangement for the settlement has been made, the College may suspend him or her from attendance at College events. The College also reserves the right to take measures to recover monies owed by Old Members to the College, up to and including referral to a third-party collection agency and the use of the County Court where there is no reasonable reason for non-payment.

Code of Conduct

Corpus Christi College and its Development Office is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all members of the College community are respected.

The Development Office aims to provide an environment free from harassment, and all alumni and associates have a role to play in supporting this aim. Harassment will not be tolerated on any platform or service, either in person or online, that is provided by the College, at a College sponsored event, or by someone in their position as an official representative of the College. In addition, all visitors to College property must abide by the College’s Harassment Policy.

Where alcohol is served at events, attendees acknowledge that being under the influence of alcohol, drugs or otherwise intoxicated is not an excuse for lack of courtesy, rudeness, harassment or victimisation of staff, other attendees or guests. All attendees are advised to drink responsibly, and further, are responsible for their own health and behaviour whilst attending an alumni event.

The Development Office will provide a framework of support for alumni and associates, staff and other guests who feel they have been subject to harassment or have encountered a breach of this code of conduct during a College event, through any service provided by the Development Office, or by someone in their position as an official representative of the College, and complaints will be investigated promptly.

Alumni and associates must not represent themselves as official representatives of the College nor use the College name or platforms for personal gain or as a podium for the promotion of political, religious, or personal agendas. In addition, alumni and associates should represent themselves accurately and not falsify information, including job or degree status.

The benefits and services provided to alumni and associates by the Development Office are provided on a discretionary basis. When making use of these services, alumni and associates agree to abide by this Code of Conduct as well as any other stated terms and conditions, and any relevant laws and regulations.

The Development Office reserves the right to remove Development Office benefits and services, including those provided to alumni groups, if it deems that the relevant terms of this code have been breached. Details of incidents may be shared with the wider collegiate University as appropriate and in accordance with the alumni privacy notice.

If an alumnus/a or associate who is convicted of a criminal offence, the Development Office reserves the right to restrict their access to the services provided by the Development Office either until such time as their conviction is spent, or permanently.

Complaints may be directed to the Development Director of Corpus Christi College, Merton Street, Oxford, OX1 4JF or emailed to development@ccc.ox.ac.uk.

Definitions

In this document, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and expressions shall have the following meanings:

‘College’ refers to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. ‘Alumni’ and ‘Associates’ refer to specific relationships with the University. See https://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/eligibility for a full definition. A person subjects another to harassment where they engage in unwanted and unwarranted conduct which has the purpose or effect of:

Offensive comments or body language, including insults, jokes or gestures and malicious rumours, open hostility, verbal or physical threats; these include all forms of harassment and abuse on the grounds of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, cultural differences, abilities or religion (or lack of). Bullying is a form of harassment and may be characterised as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. inappropriate body language sexually explicit remarks or innuendo unwanted sexual advances and touching Insulting, abusive, embarrassing or degrading behaviour or comments Unwanted physical contact, ranging from an invasion of space to an assault, including all forms of sexual harassment, including: Examples of behaviour which may amount to harassment include but are not limited to:

• Through a prevailing culture which tolerates harassment or bullying, for example the telling of homophobic or racist jokes
• Through individual behaviour face to face, either verbally or physically, or electronically directly to the person concerned, or to a third party
• The recipient does not need to have explicitly stated that the behaviour was unwanted.

Harassment may involve repeated forms of unwanted and unwarranted behaviour, but a one-off incident can also amount to harassment. The intentions of the alleged harasser are not always determinative of whether harassment has taken place. The perception of the complainant and the extent to which that perception is in all the circumstances reasonable will also be relevant. Harassment can take a variety of forms: Violating another person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for another person.

Reviewed: 30 October 2024

Aim  

To provide a clear statement on the College Archives legal position and its collection.

Policy

Statutory Position and External Recognition

The Archives:

1. Fulfils the requirements of the college’s statutes for the keeping of “deeds and muniments, and all Registers, Minute Books, Accounts, Books, papers and other documents relating to the property or the affairs of the College” (statute 8.C.4 (2020)).

2. Is recognised by the Master of the Rolls as a repository for manorial and tithe documents under the Law of Property Act 1922 and the Tithe Act 1936.

3. Is recognised by the National Archives as a suitable repository under its A Standard for Record Repositories.

4. Are retained with due consideration to the UK GDPR 2021.

Scope of Collecting

The Archives will collect:

1. Records produced by the college’s departments in the course of their administration of the college, its members, its societies and the college’s estates and other assets.

2. Records relating to the college, its buildings, societies, estates, members and activities, which may not have been produced by the college itself or which may not now be in the college’s custody.

3. Papers of members of the college, both junior and senior, where these contribute to an appreciation of the college and its history or where these reflect significant work carried out by those members, providing that those papers should not more fittingly be in another repository.

4. Records relating to collections that the college already holds.

The Archives will seek to avoid a conflict of interest with any other archive. In the event of such a conflict arising, the National Archives will be referred to as the final arbiter.

Conditions

The Archives will give consideration to:

1. Records regardless of date.

2. Records in manuscript, printed or digital format.

3. Photographs, pictures, tapes and films.

4. Three-dimensional artefacts only if they relate to associated records.

5. Papers from former members or records relating to the college as donations in preference to deposits, with clear and valid title of ownership. Purchases will only be made of records of outstanding importance to the college.

6. Records will be selected in accordance with recognised records management procedures for the appraisal, review, retention or destruction of records, with due consideration given to:

· legal and financial compliance

· governance

· business continuity

· institutional memory and identity

· the limitations of space the college is able to dedicate to the housing of the archives.

Reviewed: March 2025

See the College Rules and Junior Member Handbook.

The complaints procedure was reviewed and revised in line with the Office for the Independent Adjudicator’s guidance in November 2024

Details of the CCAT regulations can be found on their weblearn site.

The Conflicts of Interest Policy can be found here.

Aim

Our website uses cookies as part of the normal functioning of the website. For more information on the cookies used, please visit our cookie policy page.

The Donations to External Bodies Policy can be found here.

The College's Equality Objectives are to:

1. Raise awareness of unconscious bias and ensure all tutors attend unconscious bias training
2. Update the College’s Equality Policy, publish and raise its profile both within and outside of the College
3. Pursue opportunities to proactively advance racial equality within the College

These objectives will be reviewed at least every 4 years.

Reviewed: 14 June 2017

The Equality Policy can be found here.

The Equality Report 2024-25 can be found here.

Aim

To ensure that all candidates who fail to meet the conditions of their offer are treated equally and fairly.

Policy

The College will make a decision on whether a candidate has satisfied their conditional offer upon the University’s receipt of the results (A-levels, Cambridge Pre-U) in August. For other qualifications, a decision may be taken at the time of publication or, in the case of failed conditions, may be postponed until August, in order to consider the implications of open offer schemes and missed offers across the department/faculty.

For candidates who meet the conditions of their offer a place will be guaranteed. For candidates who fail to meet their conditional offer the recommendation is for the candidate to be rejected. If there are strong mitigating circumstances, a decision to uphold the offer can only be made after a discussion between the relevant subject tutors, the Tutor for Admissions and Access, the Senior Tutor and, where necessary, the subject Admissions Coordinator.  The discussion should consider the candidate’s application and the details of the mitigating circumstances. In line with publicly available university guidance, mitigating circumstances need to be submitted prior to the receipt of the candidate’s examination results and the College will not reconsider information that has already been considered by an Examination Board. A decision to uphold an offer must follow the terms of any open offer scheme operated by the subject.  

If the College is notified after 31^st August that the condition has been met following a remark, it is at the College’s discretion whether or not to accept a candidate as a result of a remark. If the College wishes to accept the candidate, a decision should be taken to either offer a place for that academic year (depending on time constraints) or to guarantee a deferred place for the following academic year.

If the College is notified before 31^st August that the condition has been met following a remark the College is obliged to uphold the offer for that academic year. Candidates should therefore be encouraged to request a priority remark.

• It is recommended that wherever possible decisions are made prior to the day candidates receive their results. However, with more difficult decisions, a final decision may occasionally be postponed until this day in order for the College Office to request from the school a record of the candidate’s breakdown of marks.

For candidates who appeal against their results to their respective exam board(s) and as a consequence of a successful appeal are awarded results that would have satisfied their original conditional offer, the following will apply, as per advice from UCAS:

If the College is notified before 31^st August that the condition has been met following a remark the College is obliged to uphold the offer for that academic year. Candidates should therefore be encouraged to request a priority remark.
If the College is notified after 31^st August that the condition has been met following a remark, it is at the College’s discretion whether or not to accept a candidate as a result of a remark. If the College wishes to accept the candidate, a decision should be taken to either offer a place for that academic year (depending on time constraints) or to guarantee a deferred place for the following academic year.

Reviewed: 11 June 2025

The Freedom of Speech Code of Practice can be read here.

Aim

Philanthropy should be a positive experience for everyone. Making a gift to Corpus Christi College is an important way that our donors can show support for issues that they care deeply about. Our fundraising efforts seek to establish and develop relationships with individuals around the world – both existing donors and potential new supporters – to engage them in the world-leading research and education offered by the College.

Corpus Christi College recognises that some of the people we engage with through our fundraising activity may be in a vulnerable circumstance, or may need additional support to make a decision. This policy sets out guidance for anyone involved in fundraising for the College, whether academics, staff, or fundraising volunteers. For the purposes of this document, the term ‘fundraiser’ refers to anyone engaged in any form of fundraising activity for Corpus Christi College, whether in-house or a third party.

Policy

Sector Guidance

The Fundraising Regulator’s Code of Fundraising practice states that:

- Fundraisers MUST take all reasonable steps to treat a donor fairly, enabling them to make an informed decision about any donation. This MUST include taking into account the needs of any potential donor who may be in a vulnerable circumstance or require additional care and support to make an informed decision.

- Fundraisers MUST NOT exploit the credulity, trust, lack of knowledge, apparent need for care and support or vulnerable circumstance of any donor at any point in time.

- Fundraisers MUST NOT take a donation if you know, or have good reason to believe, that a person lacks capacity to make a decision to donate, or is in vulnerable circumstances which mean they may not be able to make an informed decision. Among other things, you should consider:

• any physical or mental-health condition the person may have;
• any disability the person may have;
• any learning difficulties the person may have;
• whether the person is facing times of stress or anxiety (for example, following the death of a loved one or redundancy);
• whether a donation is likely to affect the person’s ability to sufficiently care for themselves or leave them in financial hardship;
• how well the person can communicate and understand what they are being told;
• whether the person is under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and
• the person’s age.

Corpus Christi College’s approach is also informed by the Institute of Fundraising’s ‘Treating Donors Fairly’ Guidance: https://ciof.org.uk/events-and-training/resources/treating-donors-fairly-2021.

Corpus Christi College’s Approach

Fundraisers for Corpus Christi College should respond to the needs of each individual donor, which will depend on the nature of the interaction and engagement. In all circumstances, Corpus Christi College expects those fundraising on its behalf to be alert to people who may be in a vulnerable circumstance and to treat those individuals with respect and care.

If the fundraiser has reasonable grounds for believing that a potential supporter lacks the capacity to make a decision, then a solicitation should not be made, nor should a donation be accepted.

If, after receiving a donation, Corpus Christi College receives evidence that the supporter lacked capacity to make the decision to donate, then the donation must be returned. The College will follow the guidance from the Institute of Fundraising and the Charity Commission in these cases.

If a fundraiser believes that an individual may be in a vulnerable circumstance or unable to make an informed decision, the fundraiser should politely end the interaction in such a way as to not cause distress. When ending fundraising activity, if there is the opportunity to do so, the fundraiser should check the individual’s preferences as to whether they would like to be contacted again in the future.

If a donor is found to be lacking capacity to make a decision, Corpus Christi College will put into place measures to ensure that donations are not solicited from them in the future. This will likely involve recording communication preferences in their alumni relations and fundraising database. When recording information, all fundraisers must be aware of their responsibilities under the Data Protection Act. Under no circumstances should fundraisers record any judgement or assessment about what they perceive an individual’s physical or mental condition to be.

If an individual voluntarily provides a written or verbal ‘personal declaration’ about their condition or circumstances, then provided that they have consented for Corpus Christi College to hold this data, it can be recorded on the database.

Sometimes a third party (e.g. a family member) may contact the College on behalf of a donor to communicate a request. For any financial matter, the College must be satisfied that the third party making the request is entitled to act on behalf of the individual. This is usually demonstrated through a written authority on behalf of the donor, or a power of attorney for the third party to administer the donor’s affairs. It is the third party’s responsibility to provide evidence of this entitlement. For some requests (for example, around communication preferences), the third party may not have such written authority, but provided that Corpus Christi College is satisfied that the individual is acting in the best interest of the supporter we will respond to these requests.

Fundraisers for Corpus Christi College will not approach alumni who are 80 years and over, unless they have an ongoing and formalised relationship i.e., they have a relationship with an assigned relationship manager within the Development Office or equivalent with a member of the College. 

Reviewed: 30 October 2024

The Gender Pay Gap Report April 2025 can be found here.

The Harassment and Bullying Policy can be found here

The Health & Safety Policy can be found here.

The Information Security Policy is available here and the related policies are linked below.

Acceptable Use Policy
Bring Your Own Device Policy
Data Protection Policy
Network Security Policy
Password Security Policy
Software Usage Policy

The JRF Policy can be found here.

The Library Membership and Access Policy can be found here.

Missing Person Guidance can be found here.

The Outreach Policy can be found here.

The Privacy Policy can be found here.

Aim

This note states the procedures to be followed to select and review Research Associate (RA) positions.

Policy

The College aims to encourage the next generation of academics, nurturing their talents and supporting their research by appointing them to fixed term non-stipendiary Research Associate positions. Association is available to research assistants, post-doctoral researchers and departmental lecturers from within the University who do not have any college affiliation. Research Associates are appointed for one year and can be renewed for one further year.  The scheme is not advertised externally; Fellows may propose candidates to Academic Committee via the Senior Tutor.

Proposed candidates will be assessed according to the following criteria: research ability and subject-fit (especially if linked to a group or project of the Fellow nominating them), subject spread, and gender balance.  Research Associates will have no formal responsibilities to the College.

The number of Research Associates at any one time should not normally exceed 8.  The number and subject spread of Research Associates will be reviewed by Academic Committee annually in Michaelmas Term at the same time as proposals for future appointments.

Research Associates will be bound by College Rules and Policies.

Administration of Research Associates will be managed from the College Office. 

Benefits

RAs will be members of the SCR and entitled to one free lunch and one free dinner at the Common Table when the kitchens are open. Neither office space or living accommodation will be provided to RAs.

Process – appointment of Research Associates

Key stages in the process are:

Circulate Fellows during the Long Vacation seeking nominations. Review of nominations by Academic Committee in 0^th week of Michaelmas Term.

Process – reappointment of Research Associates

Key stages in the process are:

Circulate Fellows during the Long Vacation to find out if they wish to recommend renewal of the Research Associates association. Review of the recommendations by Academic Committee in 0^th week of Michaelmas Term.

Process – end of appointment

At the end of the appointment the Research Associate and the Fellow who nominated them are required to write a report on the benefits of the Research Associate’s association with the College.

Reviewed October 2022

The Research Fellow Policy can be found here.

The School Travel Funding Policy can be found here.

A copy of the Safeguarding Policy can be found here.

The Serious Incident Reporting Policy can be found here.

The Student Transfer Policy can be found here.

The Sustainability Policy can be found here.

The Undergraduate Interviews Policy can be found here.

The Visiting Student Policy can be found here.

The Welfare Policy can be found here.