COVID-19 and the contents of this guide
This Guide sets out ‘normal practice’ in relation to life and study at Selwyn. Please see the College's dedicated COVID pages for up to date information and guidance. Given the absence of any formal restrictions at the time of writing, we hope that this is how we will operate in 2022-23. However, should that change, Covid-19 precautions would take precedence over the terms of this Handbook.
We strongly encourage any students who are not already fully vaccinated and who do not have a medical exemption to get any vaccinations and boosters to which they are eligible.
How To Use This Guide
The information provided in this part of the website constitutes Selwyn College's Student Guide. Along with its companion, the Accommodation Handbook, they aim to pull together the information you will need to know about how the University and College work and your role as a student as Selwyn. Useful for new students, they will remain important throughout your time at Selwyn.
This Guide has sections covering everything from the arrangements for coming into residence for the first time, all the way through to how to arrange for graduation. Please familiarise yourself with the contents at the start of your course and bookmark it so that you can easily find information again when you need it.
The information is very full, but life at Selwyn is not excessively hemmed in by rules and regulations. The size of the College and its tradition of openness mean that we seek to remain as informal as possible. Fellows and staff are accommodating and helpful, especially if approached in the right way. However, any institution needs to have some rules to enable it to function smoothly, and in a community with many people living at close quarters, often working under pressure, the rules help everyone to live together happily. In the event that rules are contravened, ignorance of the Guide's contents will not be taken as a legitimate excuse.
The Guide is organised to help you find as easily as possible the various pieces of advice and information you will need. These include needing to interact with central University structures; contact details and information about student life, understanding the way we teach and learn in Cambridge; assistance with access to welfare and support networks; help with financial matters; and guidance on such things as facilities and activities, discipline, and health and wellbeing. If you are new to Selwyn and the University it is especially recommended that you read carefully through the sections on ‘Your Work’ and ‘Support and Advice’. However, please look over all the topics so that you know what is in there should you need to refer to it at a later date.
The Guide is updated as new information becomes available or as policy changes. It is thus a live, working document and not static. This also means that it is possible to respond if there are any errors or omissions in this guide. If so, or if you have suggestions, please contact me.
Dr Mike Sewell, Senior Tutor