Freedom of Information Publication Scheme

This publication scheme follows the model publication scheme developed for the Higher Education sector by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This College makes information available to the public as part of its normal activities. The information covered is set out in the classes recommended by ICO. In relation to that information where it is held, the College intends:

  • to publish or make it available as a matter of routine;
  • to specify it;
  • to publish the methods by which it is routinely made available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public;
  • regularly to review and update its availability;
  • to produce a schedule of any fees for accessing it.

Any requests for information, questions, comments or complaints relating to this scheme should be sent in writing to the College’s Freedom of Information Officer, who is the Senior Bursar.

 

Classes of Information

 

 

Who we are and what we do

Who we are

Gonville & Caius College is a college in the University of Cambridge.

Legal framework

The College is a Royal Charter Corporation registered at Companies House (number RC000203) and the Charity Commission (number 1137536).

The Charter of the College is available upon request. The governing documents are the Statutes and Ordinances of the College.

How the institution is organised

The Trustees of the Charity are the College Council. The College Council, under the Statutes of the College, consists of the Master and twelve Fellows being members of the Senate of the University and it has the control and management of all the affairs of the College through decisions known as College Orders. Certain powers are reserved to the General Meeting of the Master and all the Fellows which may also in certain circumstances take decisions which have the power of a College Order. There is a General Meeting of the Master and all the Fellows at least once a term.

A list of Fellows and Officers of the College is provided at the start of each academic year in a special edition of the Cambridge University Reporter.

There are various standing and ad hoc committees and sub-committees whose membership and remits are available upon request. The main committees are the following:

  • Development Committee
  • Domestic and Catering Committee
  • Education and Research Committee
  • Finance Committee
  • Investments Committee
  • Works and Accommodation Committee

The minutes of the General meeting, the Governing Body, the College Council and the above-listed committees will be available upon request, six months after the meeting, having been edited to remove any material subject to the legally permitted exemptions. These minutes could therefore be abridged versions of the full minutes.

The Educational Provision of the Cambridge Colleges provides a descriptive account of the role of the colleges as educational institutions in relation to individual students and the University.

Location and contact details

Location and contact details may be found at: 

www.cai.cam.ac.uk/contact or Gonville & Caius College Trinity Street Cambridge CB2 1TA.

Information relating to organisations for which the College has responsibility, those it works in partnership with, those it sponsors and companies wholly owned by it

The College works in partnership with the University of Cambridge to provide academic services and pastoral support to students of the University.

The College wholly owns the following registered company:

  • Caius Conferences Ltd, which conducts conference business;
  • Budworth Development Ltd, which is dormant;
  • Caius Property Services Ltd, which is dormant.

Student activities

The principal student associations in the College are the Gonville & Caius Students' Union (GCSU) and for postgraduates the Middle Combination Room (MCR).

The constitution of the GCSU can be found on its website. For a copy of the constitution of the MCR please contact the MCR Committee directly.

The College’s Code of Practice under section 22 of the Education Act 1994 is available upon request.

 

 


What we spend and how we spend it

Funding, income, budgetary and account information

This information can be found in the College’s Finance and Annual Reports.

Gender Pay Gap report

This information can be found on the Government’s Gender pay gap service website.

 

 


What our priorities are and how we are doing

Annual report

The Financial Review of the College is published in its Annual Accounts which also includes a commentary on achievements and priorities.

The College magazines, The Caian and Once a Caian are available upon request.

The Cambridge University Reporter publishes reports on student numbers, examinations and other statistics.

Business plans

Information relating to the College’s strategy may be found in the College Accounts.

Teaching and learning strategy

See information relating to the College’s teaching and learning strategy.

Academic quality and standards

The academic assessment of students at the College is conducted through Tripos and other University examinations (for undergraduates) and through the Board of Graduate Studies of the University (for postgraduate students).

The College adheres to policies for academic quality and standards set out by the University of Cambridge.

Information about other academic College procedures is available upon request.

The minutes of the College’s Education and Research Committee are available upon request.

External review information

See external review information on the University of Cambridge.

External relations

The College arranges a number of events through the  Development and Alumni Relations Office. The college also has a communications office which is contactable here.

Government and regulatory reports

The University Council, which has responsibility for the management and administration of the University, deals with relations with the Office for Students which also affects colleges. Details about the work of the Council are available on the University of Cambridge website. The College files annual returns and financial statements with the Charity Commission, available from its website.

 

 


How we make decisions

Refer to ‘How the institution is organised’ above.

Minutes of the General Meeting, the Governing Body and the College Council

Minutes of the General Meeting, which is the meeting of the Governing Body of the Master and all the Fellows, are available upon request, six months after the date of meeting.

Minutes of Meetings of the College Council, which is the meeting of the trustees of the College as a charity, are available on request, six months after the date of the meeting.

Teaching and learning committee minutes

Minutes of the Education Strategic Committee are available upon request.

Minutes of staff / student consultation meetings

Minutes of the Staff Consultative Committee and the Student Domestic Sub Committee are available upon request.

Students are present for the unreserved business at College Council and many other Committees. They are consulted by this process and by other informal meetings.

Appointment committees and procedures

Academic appointments are made by College Council. Staff appointments are made by interview. Minutes of appointments committees are not published because they contain personal information. Advertisements for employment within the College, and the relevant appointment procedures, may be found in the University Reporter and/or are advertised on the College website. Further information is available on request.

 

 


Our policies and procedures

Policies and procedures for conducting College business

The Statutes and Ordinances of the College are the governing documents.
They are supplemented by the College Regulations for junior members and certain Compendia which govern the conduct of college business by Committee. These are available on request. Many of the College’s policies are published on its website.

Assessment strategy

Policies and procedures for examinations and any appeals are organized by the University. Information on the regulations and/or policy governing student assessment is held by the University of Cambridge.

Information on how students are prepared for external examination is provided on the Senior Tutors Committee website.

The College’s Examination Failures Procedure is available upon request.

Graduation information

Information is available on:

Procedures and policies relating to student services

Gonville & Caius students have access to all the courses and support services of the University of Cambridge.  

The Cambridge University Careers Service provides data on employment/training outcomes for postgraduates.

 

Student accommodation

Provision of student accommodation is governed by standards accredited by ANUK.

Rooms in College are allocated to students by a balloting system, the details of which are agreed with the undergraduate and postgraduate representatives of the Gonville & Caius Students' Union (GCSU) and the Middle Combination Room (MCR). The ballots are managed by the Accommodation Manager.

The procedures governing College accommodation are specified in the College Regulations and the College’s Accommodation Handbook. Additional information can be found at Cambridge University Accommodation Service and in relation to disability at Cambridge University Disability Resource Centre.  

Student discipline

This is governed by Student Disciplinary Procedures.

Procedures and policies relating to human resources

The College’s HR policies, procedures and Staff Handbook are available upon request.

Procedures and policies relating to recruitment

Current vacancies at the College are governed by recruitment policies which are available on request.

Code of Conduct for members of governing bodies

See the College’s Conflicts of Interest policy.

Equality and Diversity

The College is committed to equal opportunities in the recruitment of its Fellows, students and staff. Equal Opportunities Policy

Health and Safety

The College’s Health and Safety policy can be found in the College Regulations.

Estate management

The management of the fabric of the College is the responsibility of the Works Committee, which reports to the College Council.

Minutes of the Works Committee are available on request, six months after approval.

Complaints policy

The student complaints procedures may be found on the Venn (College intranet).

The staff complaints procedure is within the Staff Handbook, which is available upon request.

Records management and personal data policies

The College carefully safeguards all personal data, and uses it only for specified purposes. For more information see the College’s Data Protection policies and Records Management Policy.

The College Data Protection Lead is the Senior Bursar. The Data Protection Officer for the College is the Office of Intercollegiate Services Ltd.

For any other enquiries, please contact the College Data Protection Lead at: Gonville & Caius College, Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB2 1TA.

Research policy and strategy

The College adheres to the University of Cambridge policies on research.

The College funds its own scheme of Research Fellowships. The remit of the Research Fellowships Committee is available upon request.

The College supports a number of Research Studentships.

Charging regimes and policies

For information relating to the University's tuition fees, see:

Information relating to living expenses is contained on The Venn (College intranet).

 

 


Lists and registers

Any information we are currently legally required to hold in publicly available registers

The College is registered with the Charity Commission (Registered Charity Number 1137536) and the Companies House (Company number RC000203).

The College is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act.

Some of the property owned by the college is listed in the Land Registry.

Asset registers

Fixed assets and investments of the College are shown in the Annual Accounts.

A list of properties owned by the College is here.

Disclosure logs

A file of Freedom of Information Enquiries is maintained and may be viewed on request.

Register of gifts and hospitality provided to senior personnel

No register is considered necessary as business gifts and hospitality received by College personnel are of negligible value only.

Any register of interests kept in the College

Applications for information contained in the College’s register of interests should be made to the College’s Freedom of Information Officer.

 

 


The services we offer

Prospectus

The College’s Admissions Prospectus.

Information relating to living expenses is contained on The Venn (College intranet).

Services for which the College is entitled to recover a fee together with those fees and Course content

See information relating to tuition fees for undergraduates and postgraduates and course content information.

Services for outside bodies

The College provides conference, meeting and dining facilities. 

Welfare and counselling, chaplaincy, sports and recreational facilities

Information concerning welfare and counselling, chaplaincy, sports and recreational services for students may be found at:

Careers

Careers advice for members of the College is available from the Cambridge University Careers Service.

Museums, libraries, special collections and archives

Information concerning the College Libraries, including special exhibitions.

Enquiries concerning the College Archives should be made in writing to the College Archivist.

Conference facilities

Information concerning the College’s conference and catering facilities.

 

 


The method by which information published under this scheme will be made available

Where reasonable, information will be provided on this website. Where it is impracticable the College will indicate how information can be obtained by other means and provide it by those means.

Exceptionally information may be available only by viewing in person in which case contact details will be provided to arrange an appointment. Information is in English unless there is a legal requirement for translation. Other formats will be provided where disability or discrimination legislation requires it.

Charges which may be made for information published under this scheme

The scheme is to make the maximum amount of information available at minimum inconvenience and cost.

Material which is published and accessed on the College’s website is provided for free.

Charges may be made where allowed by law and for disbursements incurred such as:

  • Reproducing any document containing the information, eg. printing or photocopying;
  • Postage and other forms of transmitting the information; and
  • Complying with section 11 of FOI where the applicant has expressed a preference for the means of communication and where this is reasonably practicable.

Charges may also be made where they are in all the circumstances justified and in accordance with a published schedule of fees available to the public.

If a charge is to be made, this will be made clear and requested before the information is provided.

Written Requests

Information not published under this scheme can be requested in writing in accordance with and subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.