lleges of the University, and to discuss policy and to deal with the central University administration.[54][55] The Conference of Colleges was established as a recommendation of the Franks Commission in 1965.[56] Teaching members of the colleges (i.e., fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as "dons", although the term is rarely used by the University itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for ad

 and a PPH is that whereas the former are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The six current PPHs are:
Blackfriars Hall Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg Blackfriars Hall
Campion Hall Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg Campion Hall
Regent's Park College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg Regent's Park
St Benet's Hall Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg St Benet's Hall
St-Stephen's Hall Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg St Stephen's House
Wycliffe Hall Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg Wycliffe Hall
The PPHs and colleges join together as the Conference of Colleges, which represents the common concerns of the several colleges of the University, and to discuss policy and to deal with the central University administration.[54][55] The Conference of Colleges was established as a recommendation of the Franks Commission in 1965.[56]
Teaching members of the colleges (i.e., fellows and tutors) are collectively and familiarly known as "dons", although the term is rarely used by the University itself. In addition to residential and dining facilities, the colleges provide social, cultural, and recreational activities for their members. Colleges have responsibility for admitting undergraduates and organising their tuition; for graduates, this responsibility falls upon the departments. There is no common title for the heads of colleges; the names used include warden, provost, principal, president, rector, master and dean.
Finances[edit]


The dining hall at Christ Church. The hall is an important feature of the typical Oxford college, providing a place to both dine and socialise.
In 2011/12, the University had an income of £1,016m; key sources were research grants (£409m), teaching funding (£204m), and academic fees (£173m).[57] The colleges had a total income of £361m,[58] of which £47m was flow-through from the University.[57]
While the University has the larger annual income and operating budget, the colleges have a larger aggregate endowment: over £2.9bn compared to the University's £850m.[59] The Central University's endowment, along with some of the colleges', is managed by the University's wholly owned endowment management office, Oxford University Endowment Management, formed in 2007.[60]

. They are particularly influential in the running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of Statutory Professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy. The various academic faculties, departments, and institutes are organised into four divisions, each with its own Head and elected board. They are the Humanities Division; the Social Sciences

ff, and has ultimate responsibility for legislative matters: it discusses and pronounces on policies proposed by the University Council. Only Oxford and Cambridge (which is similarly structured) have this democratic form of governance.
Two university proctors, who are elected annually on a rotating basis from two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student welfare and discipline, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The University Professors are collectively referred to as the Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford. They are particularly influential in the running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of Statutory Professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy. The various academic faculties, departments, and institutes are organised into four divisions, each with its own Head and elected board. They are the Humanities Division; the Social Sciences Division; the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division; and the Medical Sciences Division.
The University of Oxford is a "public university" in the sense that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in the sense that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds.[52]
Colleges[edit]
Main article: Colleges of the University of Oxford


Chapel of Keble College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford
To be a member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are 38 colleges of the University of Oxford and six Permanent Private Halls, each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities.[53] Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects.
The colleges are:
All-Souls College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg All Souls
Balliol College Oxford Coat Of Arms.svg Balliol
Brasenose College Oxford Coat Of Ar

and investigate evolutionary processes. The Botanic Garden on the High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK and the third-oldest scientific garden in the world. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 hectares (4½ acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact collections of plants in the world and includes representatives from over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a 130-acre site six miles south of

struments, a collection mostly of instruments from Western classical music, from the medieval period onwards. Christ Church Picture Gallery holds a collection of over 200 old master paintings.
Parks[edit]


Autumn in the Botanic Garden.
The University Parks are a 70-acre parkland area in the northeast of city. It is open free of charge to the public during daylight hours. As well as providing beautiful gardens and rare and exotic plants, the parks contains numerous sports fields, used for official and unofficial fixtures. In addition to this, the University Parks contain sites of special interest including the Genetic Garden, an experimental garden to elucidate and investigate evolutionary processes.
The Botanic Garden on the High Street is the oldest botanic garden in the UK and the third-oldest scientific garden in the world. It contains over 8,000 different plant species on 1.8 hectares (4½ acres). It is one of the most diverse yet compact collections of plants in the world and includes representatives from over 90% of the higher plant families. The Harcourt Arboretum is a 130-acre site six miles south of the city that includes native woodland and 67 acres of meadow. The 1,000-acre Wytham Woods are owned by the University and used or research in zoology and climate change.
There are also various collegiate-owned open spaces open to the public, including Bagley Wood and most notably Christ Church Meadow.[50]
Organisation[edit]

See also: Category:Departments of the University of Oxford
As a collegiate university, Oxford's structure can be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. The university is a federation, comprising over forty self-governing colleges and halls, along with a central administration headed by the Vice-Chancellor.
Academic departments are located centrally within the structure of the federation; they are not affiliated with any particular college. Departments provide facilities for teaching and research, determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students, perform research, and deliver lectures and seminars.
Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their undergraduates, and the members of an academic department are spread around many colleges. Though certain colleges do ha

Library in the Old Schools Quadrangle, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602,[37] the Radcliffe Camera, the Clarendon Building, and the New Bodleian Building. A tunnel underneath Broad Street connects these buildings, with the Gladstone Link connecting the Old Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera opening to readers in 2011. The Clarendon B

The Radcliffe Camera, built 1737–1749 as Oxford's science library, now holds books from the English, History, and Theology collections.
The University maintains the largest university library system in the UK;[35] and, with over 11 million volumes housed on 120 miles (190 km) of shelving, the Bodleian group is the second-largest library in the UK, after the British Library. The Bodleian is a legal deposit library, which means that it is entitled to request a free copy of every book published in the UK. As such, its collection is growing at a rate of over three miles (five kilometres) of shelving every year.[36]
The buildings referred to as the University's main research library, The Bodleian, consist of the original Bodleian Library in the Old Schools Quadrangle, founded by Sir Thomas Bodley in 1598 and opened in 1602,[37] the Radcliffe Camera, the Clarendon Building, and the New Bodleian Building. A tunnel underneath Broad Street connects these buildings, with the Gladstone Link connecting the Old Bodleian and Radcliffe Camera opening to readers in 2011.


The Clarendon Building is home to many senior Bodleian Library staff and previously housed the university's own central administration.
The Bodleian Libraries group was formed in 2000, bringing the Bodleian Library and some of the subject libraries together.[38] It now comprises 28[39] libraries, a number of which have been created by bringing previously separate collections together, including the Sackler Library, Social Science Library and Radcliffe Science Library.[38] Another major product of this collaboration has been a joint integrated library system, OLIS (Oxford Libraries Information System),[40] and its public interface, SOLO (Search Oxford Libraries Online), which provides an electronic catalogue covering all member libraries, as well as the libraries of individual colleges and other faculty libraries, which are not members of the group but do share cataloguing information.[41]
A new book depository opened in South Marston, Swindon in October 2010,[42] and current building projects include the remodelling of the New Bodleian building, which will be renamed the Weston Library when it reopens in 2014-15.[43] The renovation is designed to better showcase the library’s various treasures (which include a Shakespeare First Folio and a Gutenberg Bible) as well as temporary exhibitions.

Parliamentarian cause. From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts. Modern period[edit]

ions associated with the university suffered losses of land and revenues.
In 1636, Chancellor William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, codified the university's statutes. These, to a large extent, remained its governing regulations until the mid-19th century. Laud was also responsible for the granting of a charter securing privileges for the University Press, and he made significant contributions to the Bodleian Library, the main library of the university. From the inception of the Church of England until 1866, membership of the church was a requirement to receive the B.A. degree from Oxford, and "dissenters" were only permitted to receive the M.A. in 1871.
The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause. From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.
Modern period[edit]


An engraving of Christ Church, Oxford, 1742.
The mid-nineteenth century saw the impact of the Oxford Movement (1833–1845), led among others by the future Cardinal Newman. The influence of the reformed model of German university reached Oxford via key scholars such as Edward Bouverie Pusey, Benjamin Jowett and Max Müller.
The system of separate honour schools for different subjects began in 1802, with Mathematics and Literae Humaniores.[17] Schools for Natural Sciences and Law, and Modern History were added in 1853.[17] By 1872, the latter was split into Jurisprudence and Modern History; and, Theology became the sixth honour school.[18] In addition to these B.A. Honours degrees, the postgraduate Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) was, and still is, offered.[19]


Brasenose Lane in the city centre, a street onto which three colleges back - Brasenose, Lincoln and Exeter.
Administrative reforms during the 19th century included the replacement of oral examinations with written entrance tests, greater tolerance for religious dissent, and the establishment of four women's colleges.[citation needed] 20th-century Privy Council decisions (e.g., the abolition of compulsory daily worship, dissociation of the Regius Professorship of Hebrew from clerical status,