Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Fund, Michaelmas 2015
Circular to Departments and Faculties
For the attention of:
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Heads of Department and Faculty Board Chairs
Departmental Administrators and Heads of Administration and Finance
Chairs of Athena SWAN and equivalent committees
Introduction
1. This circular invites bids to the Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Fund. The Fund provides
support to initiatives aimed at addressing the recruitment, retention and career
progression of under-represented groups, with the aim of delivering a lasting change in
culture across the collegiate University.
2. The expectation is that the Fund will be used primarily in support of equality and diversity
objectives and targets agreed by departments and divisions in pursuit of the Strategic
Plan, divisional five year plans and Athena SWAN action plans.
3. Bids are welcome in respect of any under-represented group where a clear need can be
demonstrated, and preference will be given to imaginative and innovative proposals.
Given the range of projects supported to date by the Fund (see paragraph 5, below),
proposals for projects within the Humanities Division and proposals relating to race
equality will be particularly welcome.
Principles/eligibility criteria
4. Bids will be assessed by an inter-divisional advisory group chaired by the Pro-Vice
Chancellor (Personnel and Equality). Bids are invited in any of the following areas:
a) Positive action1 initiatives in support of under-represented groups.
b) Initiatives designed to embed cultural or structural change.
c) Studies to enhance institutional understanding and learning around the barriers to the
progression of under-represented groups, including data analysis where relevant.
d) Initiatives designed to:
i.
embed and improve communication of current best practice at Oxford.
ii.
communicate a more positive image of Oxford internally and externally.
iii.
promote the visibility of women and minority ethnic staff.
5. In assessing bids, the advisory group will take account of the:
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1
Breadth of benefit to the University. Initiatives should demonstrate:
o benefit to staff across a number of departments/divisions.
Positive action aims to alleviate the disadvantage experienced by members of a particular group,
reducing their under-representation and/or meeting a particular need, e.g. mentoring for senior
women or BME staff. It is not the same as positive discrimination (e.g. recruiting an individual to a
post solely on the grounds of their ethnicity or gender) which is illegal. For further advice contact
sara.smith@admin.ox.ac.uk.
o
o
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that they will not lead to other inequalities developing across the University.
the likely relevance of the initiative to other departments or divisions and the
scope for their wider application.
Scope to address challenges identified in new ways.
Likely cost-effectiveness of the activity, including how any successful initiative will be
sustained beyond the initial funding period.
Range of projects already funded.
6. Funding is unlikely to be awarded for:
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A project which benefits only a single department, except where it is for an innovative
pilot activity with the potential for broader application.
Activities which form part of the normal day-to-day operations of a department.
Activities for which we would normally expect other financial support to exist within
the University or externally, including funding for a member of staff.
7. There is no upper limit on the value of awards, but the higher the sum requested the
more exceptional the case will need to be. Total funding of £150,000 is available.
Applications
8. Bids will be assessed in a gathered field exercise. The deadline for applications is Friday
20 November and applicants will be informed of the outcomes by Friday 18 December.
9. Applications should be made via the attached application form only and sent to the
appropriate contact:
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Humanities: catherine.mckiernan@humanities.ox.ac.uk
MSD: brid.cronin@medsci.ox.ac.uk
MPLS: daisy.hung@mpls.ox.ac.uk
SSD: stephen.conway@admin.ox.ac.uk
ContEd: peter.gambles@conted.ox.ac.uk
Institution-wide bids and UAS: adrienne.hopkins@admin.ox.ac.uk
10. Potential applicants are invited to contact their Divisional contact or the Equality and
Diversity Unit for an informal discussion: adrienne.hopkins@admin.ox.ac.uk, tel. (2)
89943.
Feedback and dissemination
11. Each project lead will be asked to:
a. Conduct an evaluation of the project and write up a short ‘good practice’ case study,
which the EDU will collate and distribute internally and to other institutions as
appropriate.
b. Contribute to a ‘good practice’ seminar to share learning from the Fund and consider
next steps.
EDU, September 2015
Vice Chancellor’s Diversity Fund – Application Form
Contact details
Name, email and telephone number
of project lead
Department and Division
Other stakeholders / interested
parties
Name, email and telephone number
of administrative contact
Code of department to which the
budget should be allocated
Funding information
Amount of funding requested
Matched funding
Departmental contribution
Please give a breakdown of the project budget
Project details
Please detail how the project will be administered
What are the project’s aims and objectives? Who are the target beneficiaries?
E.g. How do these align with existing strategic objectives to increase diversity among your academic
and research staff? What is the identified need and what evidence do you have to support this?
Please describe the proposed activity, including project length (maximum 500 words)
What are the proposed outcomes, success measures and evaluation mechanisms? How will
you ensure sustainability of outcomes?
How will the project contribute to institutional change? Please provide evidence of:
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How you will share learning and good practice in your department, division and
institutionally
How the initiative could be mainstreamed