How to apply

Congregation Membership is open to those members of the University and Colleges who meet select criteria set out in the University Regulations. You must apply for membership using the webform and have your application authorised. The tabs below contain information on how to apply for membership. For information regarding eligibility please see the page 'Eligibility for Congregation Membership.'

Things to note before you apply:

 You will receive a confirmation email once you have been added to the register of congregation. It can take a number of weeks to process your application. If you don't hear from us, please contact your nominated authoriser in the first instance to confirm that they have authorised your application, and then congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk.

 We update the University Card Office of new Congregation members once a month. Once the Card Office receives the latest list of new members they will produce a new ID card confirming your Congregation membership which will be sent to your department. This process can take several weeks. If you have any questions regarding University Cards, please contact your local HR administrator in the first instance, and then university.card@admin.ox.ac.uk. We are not able to advise on the status of University Cards as these are dealt with by a different department.

 

Apply using our webform

1. Double check that you are eligible here.

2. Find out what information you need to have with you here.

3. Fill in the webform available here.

4. Ask your nominated authoriser to send an email confirming your eligibility to congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk.

The application form can be completed by the applicant or on their behalf by an administrator.

To complete the form, you will need:

  • The full name and date of birth of the applicant, including Title, Forenames, and Surname.
  • The single sign-on of the applicant, in the format abcd1234@ox.ac.uk.
  • The basis on which the applicant is eligible for congregation membership. This generally falls into three main categories: 
    • They work in a University department or institution (NOT a college, with the exception of Kellogg, Rueben, and St Cross) in a post at grade 8 or above;
    • They are a member of a governing body of a college or society (not including Permanent Private Halls); or
    • They are a full (not associate or additional) member of a faculty. Membership MUST be agreed via the relevant faculty board/administration before the application to congregation membership is made.
  • Depending on their basis for application, you may need to enter details of their college post, including the name of the college, the full title of their post, whether or not they are a governing body member, and their contract start date and, if applicable, end date. 
  • If the application is based on faculty membership, you just need to enter the name of the faculty of which the applicant is a member. This MUST be from one of the 26 faculties listed in Statute VII.
  • In any case, you will also need to enter the details of their departmental post, including the name of the department, the full title of the applicant's post, their contract start date and, if applicable, end date. If the applicant has a college only post, please enter N/A into these fields.
  • You will need to nominate someone to authorise your application. You will need to enter their name, job title, and email address. Please see the section below for information on who can authorise your application.
  • You will also need to know if the applicant is eligible for an MA by Resolution, and, if so, whether they wish to be offered one.
  • If the applicant does wish to be offered the MA by Resolution, you will need to know their degree history. This includes the following:
    • The University or Universities that they have graduated from, including their college and first matriculation date if they graduated from Oxford;
    • The names of all of their degrees, including undergraduate and postgraduate;
    • The date they first entered higher education;
    • Their most recent degree conferral/graduation date.

We ask that either a Head of Department/Faculty Chair/College Head or a relevant administrator sends an email to congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk confirming that they authorise the application. For a salary grade based application, we can accept confirmation from an HR official, for a governing body/faculty related application we can accept confirmation from a secretary/administrator of that body.

Your authoriser must explicitly state the basis on which you are eligible for membership. They are welcome to use one of the template emails below.

Grade 8 or above: "I am writing to confirm that [NAME] works in [DEPARTMENT] at a grade 8 or above and that I am able to authorise their application to congregation membership."

Faculty membership: "I am writing to confirm that [NAME] is a full (not associate/additional) member of [FACULTY] and that I am able to authorise their application to congregation membership."

College GB membership: "I am writing to confirm that [NAME] is a governing body of [COLLEGE] and that I am able to authorise their application to congregation membership."

The following college positions give eligibility to receive an MA by resolution (provided that you do not already hold (a) an Oxford MA or (b) a specified degree from the Universities of Cambridge or Trinity College, Dublin that makes you eligible for an MA by Incorporation).

• head of a college, society or PPH
• member of the governing body of a college or society (not a PPH)
• principal bursar or treasurer of each college or society (not PPHs)
• fellow of a college holding a permanent University appointment
• (with the support of the college) holder of the title of Visiting Professor, or of the title of professor or reader awarded in a distinctions exercise

Further guidance on eligibility for a MA by Resolution can be found in part 7 of Congregation Regulations 2 of 2002.

If you are already a member of congregation and wish to be offered the MA by Resolution, please contact congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk and we will let you know if we need any further information. We may need to confirm with your college that you hold one of the roles listed above.

 

Privacy Notice: In completing the congregation membership application form, you will provide information about yourself (‘personal data’). We (the University of Oxford) are the ‘data controller’ for this information, which means we decide how to use it and are responsible for looking after it in accordance with the law. 

Data Use: We will use your data to assess your eligibility for membership of Congregation and purposes relating to your membership of Congregation including (but not limited to) the publication of the register of members of Congregation in the University Gazette (hard copy and online); the administration of Congregation, Convocation, and Faculty elections and other Congregation business; determining access to, and providing information about, University and college services, resources and events; distribution of University publications; and keeping you informed about University matters.   We need to process your data for these purposes to meet our legitimate interests of assessing and recording your eligibility for membership of Congregation and to be able to provide you with the opportunities associated with membership.   We will only use your data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another related reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your data for an unrelated purpose, we will seek your consent to use it for that new purpose.    

Data Access: Access to your data within the University will be provided to those who need to view it as part of their work in carrying out the purposes described above, usually in an appropriately redacted form. We may share your data with companies who provide services to us, such as a company we contract to run votes by Congregation or elections by Convocation. These companies are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your data in line with our policies. We do not allow them to use your data for their own purposes. We permit them to process your data only for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions. Where we share your data with a third party, we will seek to share the minimum amount necessary.

Retention and storage: We will only retain your data for as long as we need it to meet our purposes. Your data will be held securely in accordance with the University’s policies and procedures. Further information is available on the University’s Information Security website.  We store and use your data on University premises, [in electronic form].  

Your rightshttps://compliance.admin.ox.ac.uk/individual-rights  

Contact: congregation.membership@admin.ox.ac.uk