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Core Values

• Academic excellence
• Respect, trust and mutual understanding
• Equality, diversity and inclusiveness
• Freedom of thought and expression
• Restless curiosity

Our Vision for the future

• Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege is an international, egalitarian and inclusive community of scholars.
• It is the College of choice for world-class academics, mature students and returning learners.
• It offers excellence in teaching and support, allowing every member of the College to realise their full potential.
• Its diversity helps foster new perspectives and new insights in every field of research and scholarship.
• It has a vibrant cultural and sporting life, enriched by the range of experiences of its members.
• Wolfson’s active and engaged Fellowship underpins and enhances the college experience.
• It values its strong links with partners both within and beyond Cambridge and with its world-wide community of members and supporters.
• It celebrates its pioneering, cosmopolitan spirit in everything it does.
• We will work towards a sustainable future.

 

Education and Learning

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will support all its students to pursue and achieve excellence in education, learning and research.

• We will recruit and support new Fellows, Bye-Fellows and College Teaching Associates to ensure that undergraduates have excellent supervisors and committed Directors of Studies and that postgraduates are offered college-based mentors in subjects related to their own.
• We will offer innovative academic skills support that is structured to meet the needs of each distinctive student cohort – Foundation Year, undergraduate, Masters-level, PhD, full-time and part-time – as they progress from matriculation to graduation.
• We will provide mentoring and bursaries to support students in pursuing opportunities for academic enrichment and personal development.
• We will collect and analyse data on student academic achievement and post-study activities in order to develop targeted programmes of support for academic and career development.
• We will aim for continuous improvement of our support for student learning through annual surveys and regular consultation with students, staff and Fellows.
• We will create and maintain opportunities for students, Fellows, alumni and visitors to develop informal intellectual communities and mentoring relationships both within and across disciplinary boundaries.
• We will prioritise the expansion and diversification of study space and learning resources in the implementation of the College Masterplan.
• Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity will inform every aspect of the support we provide students in pursuing their academic and career goals.

Size and Shape of the Student Body

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will recruit a student body that in its size and composition reflects the College's core goals of academic excellence; its commitment to equality, diversity and inclusivity; and its ambition to grow while remaining a cohesive community in which all may thrive.

• We will attract increasing numbers of direct applications from the most highly qualified students, but our ambition for growth will be limited by our capacity to house, feed and support our student community. 
• We will attract more applicants from groups underrepresented in higher education at all levels of study – undergraduate, nondoctoral and doctoral – and across all disciplines, aiming for a distribution of students by gender and ethnicity that is at least as diverse as the University average and the UK population as a whole.
• We will attract increasing numbers of strong mature applicants for first-time undergraduate degrees.
• We will seek to achieve a ratio of doctoral to nondoctoral students that matches or exceeds the University average. 
• Recognising that increased funding for studentships is key to eliminating barriers to widening participation and to attracting the strongest applicants, we will offer increasing numbers of merit-based studentships, targeted to meet strategic objectives in retaining Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çalumni and supporting students from groups underrepresented in higher education as a whole and within specific subjects in particular.

Student Experience

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will provide a supportive and inclusive environment where wellbeing is embedded into the student experience and students are empowered to thrive personally and academically. 

• We will develop pioneering wellbeing and welfare provision working within, and contributing to, the collegiate University’s stepped care approach. This provision will be informed by student voice and the expertise of student-facing staff.
• We recognise the importance of supporting and developing physical, mental and social aspects of wellbeing as part of the student experience. 
• We will ensure that diversity in student need is recognised and supported.
• We will develop opportunities for career development reflecting the needs of our diverse international student body. 
• We will continue to develop the College estate to provide housing, social, study, recreational and other facilities in consultation with students. 
• We will evaluate and continuously improve all processes and policies related to students to ensure inclusivity, partnership working, and a focus on personal and community wellbeing. 

Governance, Fellowship and Membership

The Fellowship, and broader senior membership of Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege, will be an engaged and dynamic community of scholars, senior University managers, and leaders in the wider community.  Interactions of Fellows with students and other members of the community contribute to the personal and professional development of all and are core to achieving our goal to transform society for the good of all. 

• We will elect Fellows strategically to support our key goals of Education, Learning and Research in their broadest sense. Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege Fellows should be diverse in terms of discipline, gender, ethnicity and other protected characteristics.
• The College will be a supportive, welcoming environment for its Fellows, and will offer support for their career development. It will explore ways that the College can support Fellows’ research. 
• All Fellows are expected to contribute to College life.
• We will offer early career researchers an opportunity to engage in College life and offer them career development opportunities. 
• We will develop the Bye Fellow scheme for individuals (appointed on a fixed term basis) who can engage in a way that is of benefit to College Life.
• Senior Members will be expected and encouraged to support and promote the strategic priorities of the College.

Intellectual and Cultural Life

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will offer a vibrant intellectual and cultural life for all its members which reflects its mission and values and complements its teaching and research.

• We will organise a comprehensive, coordinated and balanced annual programme of events which will be well communicated, internally and externally.
• The diversity of events will reflect the diversity of the College membership both in terms of discipline and of the cultural background of our student body.  We will aim for diversity both in those organising and presenting events, but also in the audiences they attract.
• We will support research and build communities with common interests through specific internal events (such as the annual Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çResearch Event), through societies (such as Humanities & Science) and through organisation of Interdisciplinary Research Hubs to bring together communities of researchers around specific research themes.
• We will offer events and programmes to complement those of local partners e.g. Cambridge Festival, Festival of Wellbeing) so as to raise its profile in the local community. International and National events (e.g., World Women’s day, Black History Month) will be marked with events in College. 
• We will consider the needs of such events and activities in planning the development of social and communal spaces and other facilities. 

Networks and External Partnerships

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will foster collaborative and supportive networks within College and between College members and form strategic relationships with individuals and organisations that share our values & mission.

• We will strengthen alumni networks, by recognising students as alumni from admission, developing and running innovative programs that facilitate access to College’s networks, events, and other means of engagement and life-long learning support.
• We will develop distinctive internal and external activities which add value for students, and early career researchers and promote interaction tailored to the achievements and know-how of the broader global membership.
• We will strive to be well-connected across the University and foster a leadership role in areas that further the College’s core academic activities, attracting new Fellows and students through the strength of its engagement activities.
• The College will foster interactions with cultural, research and other organisations in the UK and overseas, that support our core values of academic excellence and diversity and supporting every member to transform society for the good of all.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will promote equality diversity and inclusion in all it does.

• We commit to seeking funding to enable students from under-represented groups to access education in Cambridge, and then provide resources and access to specific support services to ensure that all are able to take advantage of university life to the full extent. We will monitor the academic progress of these students. 
• Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çwill actively support activities and research which promote equality, diversity and inclusion. We will work to dismantle discriminatory practices wherever they are found, and to support those whose lives have been affected by discrimination. 
• We are committed to addressing and combatting all forms of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, unlawful discrimination and abuse, including that based on ethno-religious identity.
• We will ensure that provision for the intellectual social, cultural, and sporting life of our members reflects the interests and needs of our diverse international community and that this offers opportunities to all. We are committed to freedom of expression for all. 
• We will provide diversity and equality training and other activities for all Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çmembers to ensure, so far as we are able, that that no member of Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çfaces discrimination or harassment. We will take action to ensure that any breach of codes of conduct are dealt with rapidly and effectively, and that lessons are learned. We will ensure that any victim of harassment or discrimination is fully supported. 
• We will collect demographic data for students, fellows, staff and other members to determine how well we reflect the diversity of the communities from which they are drawn.  We will draw up targets for recruitment and monitor our performance against those targets. 

Sustainability

Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege will deliver leadership in sustainability through innovative education, research and invention to deliver a better, more sustainable future for all inhabitants of our shared planet. Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of all we do, so our community will actively support actions that help deliver sustainable outcomes for all peoples and the planet.

• We will look to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to guide our vision and set our targets. In particular, we will focus on the climate emergency; biodiversity loss; access and equity; and efficient resource use & waste reduction.
• We will promote awareness of sustainability issues as central themes in our education, research and innovation.
• We will encourage all members of Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çCollege – Fellows, students, staff, alumni and others – to engage with pressing sustainability challenges and provide them with opportunities to develop skills in sustainability leadership.
• We will work with our global alumni community and seek to engage local, national and international partnerships to deliver change.
• We will transform and support our Estate & Operations to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability, biodiversity and conservation.
• We will move beyond zero-carbon to become a truly regenerative College.

Arts

The arts at Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çwill offer opportunities for creative engagement that celebrate the diversity, foster excellence and intellectual curiosity, and nourish the wellbeing of its community. At Wolfson, arts are for everyone.

• We will embed equality, diversity, and inclusion in all elements of the arts at Wolfson.
• The arts at Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çwill offer and inspire new ways of experiencing, seeing, and thinking about the world.
• The College will provide inviting physical spaces and opportunities for creative exploration.
• Arts at Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çwill enable connections between disciplines to forge a cohesive, interdisciplinary environment.
• Above all, arts at Â鶹ËÞÉáµçÊÓ¾çwill enrich wellbeing, community, and academic excellence.

July 2024