The tutor who will teach your chosen subject will be assigned in consultation with senior colleagues in the subject concerned. Each arrangement is thus made on an individual basis taking into account the subject and the tutor's particular expertise. There is, however, a wide variety of different kinds of tutors in Oxford, all of whom may be referred to collectively as "dons" (Don simply means teacher in Latin). At the top come the professors, about 8% of all teachers, whose title denotes not just that they are university professors, but that they hold a chair in the subject. The primary responsibility of a professor is to research and to lecture; apart from the occasional graduate supervision, they do not tutor at all, so you will not often meet them directly in tutorials. Where appropriate, however, the Advisers do persuade chairs to teach Visiting and Associate Students. Tutorial fellows form the backbone of the teaching system in Oxford; fellows often hold university lectureships. The equivalent of fully tenured American professors, they are assisted by college lecturers (a misnomer, since they do not lecture at all). Research fellows (whether senior or junior) are engaged primarily in their own research, although they may take on a very few pupils for particular special subjects. A sizable amount of the teaching at Oxford is done by advanced graduate students (doctoral candidates), who are among the liveliest and most up-to-date tutors in the university. Graduates only teach with the approval of their supervisor, who is a senior member of the university. Since about one third of the undergraduate degree candidates are taught (at any one time) by these younger scholars (many of whom will be appointed as Lecturers and Fellows in the following year) it is clear that they are regarded by the University as fully qualified to teach students in one of the top universities in Britain. American students should remember that these tutors are not "Teaching Assistants" in the American sense -- MA candidates who grade papers, etc. At a leading US university they would be qualified instructors or assistant professors. Because non-graduating students come for a short time, Academic Advisors will appoint a highly qualified DPhil candidate rarely and only as a special case, where he or she is an expert in a specific field and therefore, educationally, a desirable tutor for the student. You may expect to be taught by tutors from any, or indeed all of these categories during your time at Oxford, since you will be taught by the same specialists in the same way, and to the same standards as matriculated degree students. You may, of course, request particular tutors and every care will be taken to make appropriate arrangements where possible. However, no guarantee can be given that any particular tutor will be available to teach in any given term. "The academic program was excellent. The WISC administration was great. WISC events were well planned. It appears that WISC gives us more privileges, access, etc to the University than other programs." SO, Bowdoin College American students should also be aware that the PhD (or DPhil) is not regarded as important at Oxford. Many of the senior faculty (Fellows and Professors) never bothered with a PhD. They earned a First and wrote a book or books (the equivalent of a PhD) and were offered a Fellowship in international competition. Some of the most distinguished scholars have only earned a BA degree (the MA is honorary). Remember,it is a different system. Oxford has always been a very international university...it was founded in large part by scholars from all over Europe (at that time every educated European spoke Latin). Today about 17% of the students are from overseas and about the same ratio applies to the faculty so you may have a tutorial from an Indian, an Australian, a German...or an American (about 5% of the faculty, including masters of three colleges, are American.) The Academic Advisers in the colleges that we have been working with are all well aware that an Associate Student or Visiting Student will only be in Oxford for a relatively short time. They will make a special effort, therefore, to see to it that these students get the most out of their time in Oxford. In particular, in my own opinion, the advisers have placed these students with tutors who are above average for Oxford. (Average Oxford faculty, of course, have superior qualifications.) Students accepted should know that they will be taught by the best teachers available in their subjects regardless of which college they themselves are affiliated. In the academic sense, therefore, it makes little difference with which college you yourself may be associated. Changing tutors once arrangements have been made is only permitted in unusual circumstances, after consultation with the Academic Adviser. You should be aware that matriculated degree students are only rarely allowed to change tutors in the middle of the term. Given the close, one-to-one nature of the tutorial, it is inevitable that occasional personal problems arise. If you ever do have a problem of any kind with a tutorial you should talk to your Academic Adviser right away. To be specific, we list here some of the students who studied in three Oxford colleges in previous years and their subjects and tutors. (As you probably know, a Fellow is a tenured don (or is the equivalant of) who is a member of the Governing Body of his or her college.) Miss Belmonte of Tufts studied with Dr. Hopwood (Fellow in Middle Eastern Studies and Dean, St. Antony's) and Dr. Mahony (Fellow in Modern History and Principal of Mansfield.) Miss Chung of SUNY-Binghamton studied philosophy with Mr. Hargraves (Lecturer, Merton College) and English with Dr. Gordon (Fellow of St. Hilda's). "The academic program was very well planned and was a great experience. Both of my tutors were wonderful. The WISC administration was always a great help with any problems or questions. They always took immediate action to solve any academic, housing or other problem. The WISC tours were very helpful. We would have never been able to see those places without the help of the WISC tours.WISC was much more organized than other programs that my friends have been on or are on. It also seems like we were much more taken care of than other students." ES, Babson College Miss Chandler of NYU studied philosophy with Mr. Grover (Fellow of All Souls - a college so rarified that the fellows rarely teach undergraduates). Mr. Colino of Vassar studied philosophy with Dr. Gillett (Fellow of Magdalen). Mr. Deas of Georgetown studied international relations with Dr. Michael Freeden (Fellow and Senior Tutor of Mansfield). Miss Ellis of Dartmouth studied history with Dr. Raychaudhuri (Professorial Fellow of St Antony's, a graduate college). Miss Grant of NYU studied law with Mr McCrudden, LLM, Yale, DPhil, Oxford (Fellow of Lincoln). Mr. Gudwin of Tufts studied history with Dr. Rowett (Fellow of All Souls). Cdr. Harry Harris, USN of Georgetown Graduate School studied the Ethics of War with Dr. O. M. O'Donovan (Regius Chair of Theology, Christ Church). Miss Catherine Blake of Northwestern University studied law with Sir David Yardley, Emeritus Fellow, St Edmund Hall. Mr. Ondetti of the University of Pennsylvania studied English with Mr. Rossington (Junior Research Fellow, Wolfson, a graduate college). Mr. Rhodes of the University of Michigan studied sociology at the graduate level with Dr. Lemon (Tutor for Graduates and Fellow, Mansfield). Miss Scoville of Wellesley studied comparative literature at the graduate level with Dr. Green (Junior Research Fellow, Brasenose). Mr. Scoville of Yale studied English at the graduate level with Dr. Gerrand (Lecturer, Exeter). Mr. Singh of Dartmouth studied history with Dr. Mahony (Principal, Mansfield). Mr. Snyder of the University of Pennsylvania studied history with Mr. Holiday (Junior Research Fellow, Linacre, a graduate college). Mr. Stockton of the University of Maryland studied history with Dr. Kidd (Fellow of All Souls). Mr. Tashkovich of Cornell studied modern British politics in a seminar with Dr. David Butler (Fellow of Nuffield, a graduate college). Miss Wachtel of Duke studied economics with Mr. Hay (Fellow of Jesus). "The academic program was incredibly beneficial. I got a lot out of the one-on-one tutorials." EB, Colgate University Mr. Wolk of Princeton studied government with Dr. Holmes (Research Fellow, Mansfield). Miss Zung of the University of Pennsylvania studied English with Dr. Ian Butler (Fellow of Christ Church). Your college may be thought of as your "home base"; once admitted as an Associate Student or Visiting Student of your own college, you will probably find yourself doing work with dons from several other colleges.