Distribution of Teaching
All undergraduate students belong to a college which is responsible for their teaching and welfare. Most students will live in or around their college. Lectures are for the most part organised by departments and held centrally, as are other forms of teaching such as lab-based practicals or language classes.
Supervisions are arranged by the colleges’ directors of studies (subject-specific college officers responsible for co-ordinating and overseeing undergraduates’ academic work). In some cases there will be a main lecturer for a ‘paper’ (course) who is also a supervisor, while in others a wide range of supervisors will be offering supervisions for a particular paper.
In general, lecturers are not expected to instruct supervisors on what to teach in supervisions (in fact, there may be no contact between the people giving the main lectures and individual supervisors).
In some departments and for certain papers, however, Part II supervisions are arranged centrally, by the lecturer in charge of the paper; lecturers may also provide lists of topics or problem sheets for supervisors.
In order to understand conventions for particular papers, it is important that supervisors should contact the lecturers or subject group convenors who co-ordinate each paper.
Directors of studies generally try to arrange supervisions for their students at least a term in advance: this means that many supervisions taking place in Michaelmas Term (the first term) will have been set up in Easter Term (the third term) of the previous academic year (i.e. around June). New appointees, especially in subjects for which supervisors are scarce, may find that they are contacted about supervisions before they have taken up their appointments. It is best to consult with the head of department and/or senior tutor about how to respond to such requests. In subjects for which there is no shortage of supervisors, by contrast, it may be difficult to find supervisees.