Aims and Mission

Christ’s College is a registered charity, pursuing the aims set out in its Statutes on a not-for-profit basis. The continued success of the College depends on attracting people of the highest quality as students, academics and other staff.

The historic statutes of the College define its aims as promoting Education, Religion, Learning and Research. Our mission today is to:

• Encourage adventurous thinking and scholarship in and across all disciplines;
• Select students based on academic achievement and potential
• Enable all our students to achieve their full potential, both in academic study and in the broad range of cultural and sporting activities available;
• Offer a wide range of subjects, with teaching of the highest quality;
• Provide financial support to those who need it and encourage applications from students in under-represented groups;
• Be a community of highest-calibre researchers, where Fellows and graduate students from a wide variety of disciplines exchange expertise and ideas;
• Care for our historic buildings and grounds and encourage public enjoyment of them;
• Encourage reflection and questioning on religious, ethical and philosophical matters.

Christ’s College People – Students

Undergraduates We are a mid-sized college in the University of Cambridge, with around 420 undergraduates of very high ability and potential. Our students come from a wide range of backgrounds. We provide small-group teaching, accommodation, pastoral care and many other facilities.

• We provide small-group teaching, through supervisions and interaction with each student’s Director of Studies;
• We offer pastoral care to each student through their Tutor. We endeavour to ensure that all students graduate, and provide study-skills support or other resources where appropriate;
• We give strong encouragement to sporting, musical, artistic, theatrical and other activities, encouraging both excellence and wide participation.

We hope that increased fees from 2012 for UK and EU undergraduates will not deter good applicants. However, we do aim to fund improved bursary provision.

Graduate students Our thriving community of graduate students increases the breadth of discussions and the fertilisation of ideas across disciplines, and contributes significantly to the aims of the College.

• We attract applications from high-calibre graduate students, from a wide variety of backgrounds, for advanced study in a broad range of subjects;
• We aim to provide financial support to graduate students who need it, so that we can attract the best students. Graduate students are also supported through travel grants for research projects, funds for dissertation expenses etc., and we aim to provide an increased level of College accommodation for graduate students.
• We encourage graduate students to feel part of the wider College community by supporting events and promoting interaction with Fellows and senior undergraduates.

Christ’s College People – College Staff

Academic Staff Our research and teaching staff are notable for their excellence and diversity across many disciplines. Maintaining this balance across disciplines is particularly important. The academic staff includes:

• University Teaching Officers – Lecturers, Readers and Professors
• College-funded Teaching Officers
• College-funded Junior Research Fellows

Administrative and operational staff The College also benefits greatly from the loyal and dedicated team who run the College’s operations, enabling it to perform with administrative and operational efficiency. We will continue to:

• Provide competitive remuneration and good working conditions;
• Place importance on professional development for all staff;
• Continue to seek improvements in operational efficiency

Christ’s College People - Alumni

There are currently more than 7,000 alumni world-wide. Many of our alumni have made substantial contributions to the world. We aim to:

• Encourage every undergraduate and graduate student to feel that they will belong to the College community for life, and can participate in the heritage and continuing development of the College. They should have regular opportunities to build their own relationships with the College, Fellows, other members and alumni;
• Offer a variety of ways for alumni to remain in contact with the College (and with other alumni), through electronic and paper-based publications, social and professional networking, interest groups (e.g. Choir Association, Friends of the Old Library) and events;
• Encourage and facilitate interactions between alumni and undergraduates and graduates, to provide students with a wider understanding of possible career choices and the opportunities available to them after their time in College;
• Benefit from the expertise and experience of alumni in managing the College, for example through their membership of the Investments Committee and the Development Board;
• Develop a firm base for long-term philanthropic support from alumni, and provide appropriate recognition of donations and other support through stewardship programmes.

The College Property and Buildings

Buildings and grounds The College owns its main site, with buildings constructed between the 16th and 20th centuries, including the Chapel, Main Hall, Library, Master’s Lodge, Theatre and a wide variety of accommodation. The College also has a boathouse, a sports field and further accommodation.

• take our responsibilities as guardians of the College’s historic buildings very seriously:
• We will manage carefully all the College buildings (which has a significant cost)
• We will continue to maintain the College’s beautiful grounds and gardens, for the enjoyment of the members of the College and the public.

We also aim to provide new space within the College site offering good environments for study and for social interaction, and now have planning permission to reconstruct Library Court. We also plan to create additional accommodation within the College site, potentially to the west of New Court.

Other historic property The College owns a collection of historic books, art and other items of interest. We will continue to care for it and, from time to time, to hold public exhibitions of particular items, as we did to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin.

Finance

The College’s future clearly depends on the prudent stewardship of the College’s assets and expenditure, and also on the success and generosity of our alumni.

Income and expenditure In the year ended 30 June 2011, the College operated with a small deficit of £140k on income of £8.5m. Our fees and charges increase broadly in line with inflation. We carefully manage our costs, but there is little scope for radical change to our core activities. Student fees do not fully cover the related educational expenditure and, similarly, income from student rents and catering does fully not recover the associated costs. We are working hard to increase our income from external conferences and catering, but these make a relatively small contribution. The result underlines the critical importance of the annual income (of over £3m) that the College receives from its investments.

Capital Apart from fixed assets (mainly the College buildings) valued at £68 million, the College has an endowment of approximately £59 million derived from gifts and legacies from our historic benefactors. The endowment is currently invested in securities and properties, and managed professionally with oversight from the Investments Committee. It serves two important roles, firstly providing income to support the ongoing educational and operational activities of the College, and secondly support to meet emergency needs, such as the significant cost of repairing New Court in 2006. It is vital that the capital value of the endowment is maintained and, over time, increased to provide a sustainable and resilient source of income in support of the College’s future.

Risks and uncertainties Our financial planning rests as far as possible on reasonable assumptions, but there are of course significant risks, such as future investment conditions, unforeseen property expenses and future cost inflation.

Development challenges

There is a major need to provide additional financial assistance (bursaries and scholarships) for students. One priority is to provide assistance for those with household incomes just above the level which already triggers significant support. We will also need to address the shortfall arising as contributions from other University funds to bursaries are reduced.

The College has opportunities to extend its operations, which will require additional capital:

• Enhancement of our education and research capabilities;
• Additional College-owned accommodation to support the planned increase in postgraduate numbers;
• Improvement of College facilities including the Library Court project and the boathouse extension.

These priorities are consistent with the strategy set out in this document – to build on our Foundation and to prepare for our Future.