Academic Essentials

College Office Induction

Green Templeton College Inductions take place from -4 week to 0th week each year. The slides presented at the induction are available as a downloadable PDF here. These slides provide information on all you’ll need to know about academic, financial and welfare support at the College, so you may wish to refer back to them throughout your studies. Should you have questions about any information provided in these slides, please contact the College Office.

Student Handbook

The Student Handbook (available to download as a PDF here) is intended to provide a brief guide to life at Green Templeton College, its activities, and who to contact to use its facilities. It also contains information about benefits, rules and regulations. It should be used alongside your College Contract, Accommodation Contract (if applicable) and your Offer Letter from the college. If you require assistance accessing the Handbook, please email admissions@gtc.ox.ac.uk.

Bod cards

Your University Card (or ‘Bod’ card) verifies your identity, allows access to university buildings and libraries, and provides access to college facilities including the ability to make cashless payments for lunch at college.

If you have any problems with your University (‘Bod’) Card please contact the College Office. Lost cards will need to be replaced via the online store. Further information about your card can be found here.

Enrolment certificates

You can print an Enrolment Certificate from Student Self Service and have it stamped by the College Office team. The certificate verifies your status and may be used for council tax exemption, opening a bank account, applying for a Schengen visa etc.

Forms

Graduate Studies Office (GSO) forms are used for research progression milestones and for applications for exceptional circumstances, such as Transfer of Programme and Suspension of Status.The majority of these previously paper-based forms have now been replaced by on-line applications available via Student Self Service under the My Student Record tab. Please send any remaining paper-based GSO to EB Hill, who will endorse them on behalf of the college.

If you wish to change an assessment option outside of the examination entry period, you must first pay the Change of Options fee via the online store. You can then send the order number you receive (which will begin with OXF) together with full details of the option(s) you wish to drop and the one(s) you wish to take instead to the College Office. We will then complete and submit the Change of Options form to the Academic Records Office.

University exams

Please refer to the university’s website Examinations and assessments for further information and guidance on exams and assessments this academic year.

Problems with submitting your assessments or attending an exam

The Proctors will only consider applications and grant extensions to make up for time lost through ‘illness or other urgent cause’.

A student can make a maximum of two extension requests per academic year, independently of the college, and self-certify for a short-term health condition/illness or a fluctuation of a chronic condition of up to 7 days via their student self-service account. Instructions on how to submit a self-certified request can be found here. We recommend this is completed as soon as possible ahead of the impending deadline (but no more than 2 weeks), but can also be done within 24 hours of a missed deadline. The Proctors aim to respond to these requests within 5 working days.

To request an extension for an urgent, personal reason, and/or an extension on medical grounds for longer than 7 days, the college will need to make the request on your behalf. Please contact Alison Franklin, or  EB Hill if you find yourself in this situation.

The amount of time asked for an extension should relate to study time lost and supporting evidence will need to be provided. Failure of technology, internet connection, submission portal connection (unless system-wide error), lost/stolen files or issues encountered while setting up multi-factor authentication will not be accepted by the Proctors as reasons for lateness.

Alison and EB can also be contacted if you need further information and/or would like to make one of the requests below. Please note, that supporting evidence (medical or otherwise) will be required:

Annual Review meetings

All Green Templeton students are invited to attend an Annual Review (known formerly as a Collection), which is a 20-minute annual progress meeting with a senior college officer (Principal, Vice-Principal, or Senior Tutor). There is no need to wear academic dress or to prepare in advance; the meetings are simply an opportunity for you to discuss your progress and experience of both the college and wider University. You are welcome to invite your College Adviser to attend the meeting, subject to their availability, but please note that you should make the arrangements directly with them.

Letters

Current students

Enrolment certificates should be used whenever possible to verify student status. The College Office are able to provide more personalised documents when required. Please allow up to three working days for letters to be produced.

If you are applying for a Schengen visa or need to verify your student status at an embassy in the UK, you will need to provide the address of the office at which you have an appointment. If possible, please also supply details of your proposed travel.

If you require a letter to support a visa application for friends/family to visit you in Oxford, please provide full and accurate details for each visitor including: full name; date of birth; relationship to you; address; passport number; passport expiry date. If you would prefer not to supply these details, the College Office can produce a general document which you can use to supplement your own ‘letter of invitation’ – a template is available on the University’s website.

An enrolment certificate should suffice for council tax exemption. Please contact the College Office if you have any problems producing a certificate, or if you have issues using the enrolment certificate as sufficient evidence of your student status. Do note the College Office will not verify your status to any third parties without your written consent.

Please inform the College Office if you are passing on our contact details and expect them to contact us for verification. If an employer or prospective employer contacts the College Office for verification of your details or academic standing they will be re-directed to the central University’s verification service.

Railcard forms can be signed and stamped by the College Office. Forms for online submission can be received by email in pdf format and signed electronically; hard-copy forms can be processed during office hours (Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 16:00).

Former students

The college is not able to verify the academic details of former students to third parties or verification service providers. All verification requests for former Green Templeton College students (including students who attended pre-2008) should be directed to the central university’s Degree Conferrals team, part of the Student Registry. Further information can be found here.

If you are unsure where your request falls under the above procedure, please contact the College Office and we can signpost you to the correct route.

Transcripts

Current students

If you require an on-course transcript, or additional copies of your final transcript, please order from the Degree Conferrals Office.

You will automatically receive a paper copy of your final transcript upon completion of your degree, which will be sent to the ‘home address’ listed in Student Self Service. Please ensure that you keep this address updated so that your transcript reaches you. The University does not produce electronic copies of transcripts.

Former students

If you commenced your studies prior to Michaelmas Term 2007 (at either Green or Templeton) you may be able to request a transcript from the College Office. Requests for transcripts from historic students can have a two-week turnaround time as all available historic files are stored in an off-site archive. Please note that not all historic students will have a transcript available. In those cases, a confirmation letter will be written instead.

We will acknowledge your request and keep you informed of progress.

If you require a transcript to be verified by a third-party company, such as World Educational Services (WES), you will need to order the transcript from the Degree Conferrals Office and subsequently submit the WES form to documents@admin.ox.ac.uk quoting the order number. WES will only accept documents that are stamped and sealed by the University.

 

Degree certificates

If you attend a degree ceremony in person, your certificate will be available for collection either at the College celebration or from the Lodge at Green Templeton immediately after the ceremony and for a week afterwards. It will then be posted to you at the address used for your ceremony booking.

If your degree was conferred in your absence, your certificate will be posted to you at the address used to place the booking shortly after the date of the ceremony.

These certificates are sent directly by the Degree Conferrals Office, rather than the College, and so please ensure that your address is accurately maintained via Student Self-Service.

Degree confirmation letters

If you have completed a degree course but have not yet had your degree conferred at a ceremony, but require proof of your eligibility for the award, please request a Degree Confirmation Letter.

Alumni cards

Students on taught courses will receive an alumni card from the university during their final term. Research students can apply for an alumni card on completion by contacting the university’s Alumni Office. Please note that alumni cards are sent out directly by the university’s alumni office.