Wolfson Plans & Prospects 2019

President’s message
disciplines – science, medicine,
humanities, social sciences – and our
consequent strength in work across
disciplines.
But there is scope for us to go
further, and create a new space – yet
to be defined – to be a permanent
intellectual centre for our researchers
and clusters.
And finally, that the question of
graduate access is about to hit
us. Much public debate on Oxford
has focused on whether our
undergraduates represent as broad a
variety of British communities as they
could. But this year, for the first time,
Oxford is taking more graduate than
undergraduate students, and over the
next four years that number will rise
further by at least 850. This summer
we are one of the founder members of
the UNIQ graduate school, aiming to
encourage those from less advantaged
backgrounds to think of undertaking
graduate study at Wolfson and Oxford.
But in the longer term, and
consistently, we need to be sure
that we are taking the best graduate
students from Britain and the world,
and not just those with deep pockets.
I want to ensure that we minimise
the occasions, sadly too common
now, when we are offering places to
graduate students, only to see them
turned down for lack of finance.
If those three points are all true, what
can we do about them?
With the help of the wide Wolfson
community – students and Fellows,
staff and academics, those here
now and those who used to be here,
those passionate about the subjects
in which we excel as a College – I
want to begin a campaign which
addresses those three issues. More
accommodation so more students can
benefit from the Wolfson experience
close up. A new permanent intellectual
centre. More scholarships for our
graduate students.
In 2026, when we celebrate our
sixtieth anniversary, wouldn’t it be
wonderful to have made big strides
towards all three aspirations?
There’s plenty of work to be done to
define how to get there, and what
those broad aims mean in detail. But
I hope all those of you reading this will
be interested in the project, and will
think what part you might play. We’ll
be developing the campaign over the
coming months and will provide more
information in due course.
The next few years are going to
be challenging for Britain’s higher
education sector. The squeeze on
student loans. The uncertainties
around student numbers from the
European Union. A likely Chinese
economic slowdown. But the greatest
risk is always our own paralysis in the
face of the inevitable uncertainties.
What I’ve seen of Oxford this year
persuades me that the University has
the organisational resilience, and the
2 . WOLFSON COLLEGE OXFORD . PLANS & PROSPECTS . 2019