BRASENOSE COLLEGE
THE CHAPLAINCY: FURTHER PARTICULARS
General
Brasenose is a fully co-educational self-governing College established in 1509. It has some 43 Fellows (who, with the Principal, constitute the Governing Body), 600 students (including undergraduates and postgraduates), and about 120 administrative and domestic staff. The College buildings are on four sites. The historic buildings are located in the centre of Oxford and provide the main services, as well as accommodation for the Fellows and for about 200 students. The Frewin Annexe is located about five minutes’ walk from the College in New Inn Hall Street and Hollybush (newly built graduate accommodation) is approximately ten minutes’ walk. The St Cross Graduate Annexe is about six minutes’ walk from the College and this building accommodates some 50 students.
1. Qualifications and skills.
The Chaplain will be a graduate in priests’ orders of the Church of England (or of a church in full communion with the Church of England). The following qualifications and skills are specified as consistent with fulfilment of the duties listed in Paragraph 2 below:
Essential:
The organisational experience and skill to conduct services;
An ability to work with the Chapel Choir and Organ scholars;
Excellent inter-personal, oral, and written communication skills;
A demonstrable aptitude for pastoral care and a concern for the welfare of all members of the College;
Willingness to engage with those of any faith or none, and to help people make contact with their own faith representatives;
A sympathetic understanding of the aims and the ethos of an academic community;
A willingness to engage with all members of the community, to foster the common life of the College, and to be sensitive to issues of ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual orientation;
A willingness to maintain good relations with College livings.
Desirable:
Scholarly interests, not necessarily theological;
Knowledge or experience of working in a University and/or of a collegiate system;
Experience of working with young people.
2. Duties
i) To conduct services in Chapel in accordance with the Statutes and for all other College functions, in term and vacation.
ii) To preach regularly at College Prayers on Sunday evenings in term-time. As a rule of thumb the Chaplain is expected to preach on four Sundays in term-time. Visiting preachers should be booked for the other four term-time Sundays.
iii) To be readily available on a daily basis in full term and in the weeks before and after to carry out pastoral duties. The Chaplain should also be contactable during vacations.
iv) To extend pastoral concern to all Junior Members without regard to religious affiliation.
v) To be available to all employees of the College to offer help in personal matters, if approached.
vi) To co-operate with the Dean and Senior Tutor in co-ordinating the College Welfare Team, including liaison with the Junior Deans, Nurse, College Doctors and Diversity and Equality Officer.
vii) To be a member of the Welfare Committee, a sub-committee of Governing Body, and to organize the termly “Welfare Lunch” to which all involved in College Welfare are invited.
viii) To convene and minute the Chapel and Music Committee, a sub-committee of Governing Body that meets twice a year.
ix) To manage the Chapel Budget and present this Budget to the Chapel and Music Committee.
x) To manage the Director of Music, including but not limited to overseeing his work relating to the Chapel.
xi) To participate in the selection of Incumbents for College Livings and represent the College at their Presentation, if asked to do so. To handle all routine matters relating to College benefices, reporting to the Principal or to the Chapel and Music Committee as appropriate.
xii) To conduct, when invited, occasional offices in Chapel (during the vacation in consultation with the Events Manager).
3. Emoluments
i) The salary is on the Oxford Diocesan scale for incumbents. The current salary is £23,863.
ii) Board and Lodgings. If accommodation in College or College owned property is available, the person appointed will be entitled to occupy it free of charge. If such accommodation is not available, the person appointed will be entitled to the housing allowance set by the Oxford Diocesan Board of Finance, currently £13,474 per annum, which is taxable. All meals may be taken free-of-charge, at the Common Table or in Hall when eating with Junior Members.
iii) The College also offers private medical insurance for the incumbent and his or her family. If taken, this is a taxable benefit.
4. Pension
The College will pay the Employer’s contributions for the Church of England Pension Scheme or the Universities Superannuation Scheme, and no other.
5. Entertainment Allowance
The College agrees a budget for the Chaplain each year for entertaining in the course of official duties, including the cost of Visiting Preachers’ dinners and other post-chapel hospitality on Sunday. For the 2013-14 academic year this is set at £2,700.
The Chaplain also has a hospitality allowance of £266 pa. with which to offer guests lunch or dinner in College.
6. Period of appointment
The College is a small academic community, so while the role of Chaplain is diverse and demanding, the opportunities it offers are, inevitably, to develop particular aspects of ministry within the confines of that community. Therefore, the College regards the post as appropriate as a limited term appointment for someone in the earlier stages of his or her priestly career. This is therefore a single fixed-term contract of 6 years (non-renewable) with a starting date as soon as possible after the offer and acceptance of the post. There is a probationary period of one year at the end of which the appointment will be confirmed subject to review by the Chapel and Music Committee and approval by the Governing Body.
7. External Commitments
While the Chaplain’s primary duty is to the members of the College, it is hoped that a secondary link can be arranged with a parish in the diocese, particularly during the vacation.
No outside commitments should be entered into without the consent of the College.
8. Hours and Holidays
The Chaplain’s hours of work are such as are required to carry out the duties of the post to the satisfaction of the College. A Chaplain may determine the duration of his or her own working time in accordance with the terms of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and is therefore exempt from the majority of the requirements of those regulations.
For posts which are not exempt from the Working Time Regulations 1998 the normal terms are 30 days annual leave plus Statutory Holidays falling outside term. Although an annual leave entitlement for exempt posts such as the Chaplaincy is not defined in absolute terms, the annual stipend paid and the number of working days in each leave year incorporates the applicable requirements of the regulations that all employees are entitled to a minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave, inclusive of all public holidays.
9. Scholarly Work
Subject to fulfilling conscientiously the duties of the post, the Chaplain is encouraged to undertake scholarly work.
10. Equal Opportunities Policy
The Colleges of Oxford University are equal opportunities employers. They will work to remove any barriers, real or perceived, which might deter people of the highest quality from applying to the colleges as staff. Entry into employment and progression within employment will be determined only by personal merit and the application of criteria which are related to the duties of each particular post and the relevant salary structure. In all cases, ability to perform the job will be the primary consideration. Subject to statutory provisions, no applicant or member of staff will be treated less favourably than another because of his or her gender, marital or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, religion or belief, racial group, age or disability. To comply with UK employment legislation the successful candidate will be required to provide documentary evidence of his or her eligibility for employment before taking up the post.
11. Fellowship
The candidate appointed will be elected to a Supernumerary Fellowship, with membership of the Governing Body.
12. Applications
i) Applicants should download further information from our website: http://www.bnc.ox.ac.uk. Applications for the post should include a CV and covering letter (detailing qualifications and suitability for the post) and enclose the required application and recruitment monitoring forms; applications should be addressed to the Principal. The closing date and deadline for receipt of applications is 9.00 am on Friday 28th February 2014. Applicants should ask two referees to send confidential references directly to the Principal’s Secretary by email to (telephone 01865 277821) by the closing date (completed applications may also be e-mailed to this address). Interviews will be held on Wednesday 19th March 2014.
ii) The post is subject to recruitment monitoring to ensure that the selection process is consistent with the law and the College’s Equal Opportunity Policy. Candidates are asked to complete the Recruitment Monitoring Form available on the website. This should be returned with the application, but placed in a separate envelope addressed to the HR Manager. This information will play NO part in the selection process and will not be seen by any member of the selection panel.
Data Protection. All data supplied by applicants will be used only for the purposes of determining suitability for the post and will be held in accordance with the principles of Data Protection Act 1998.
Other information
The successful candidate will be required to complete a confidential medical questionnaire which will be forwarded to the Occupational Health Department which will assess fitness to perform this role. All offers of employment are subject to proof of eligibility to work in the UK. Any enquiries related to these Further Particulars should be directed to the HR Manager
13. Interviews
It is expected that interviews will be held on Wednesday 19th March 2014.
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