Astrophoria Foundation Year Harassment Statement

The Astrophoria Foundation Year does not tolerate any form of harassment or victimisation, and expects all of its members, students, visitors and contractors to treat each other with respect, courtesy and consideration. 

Linked policies 

1. Where incidents of harassment occur within the college environment  

Each college has its own harassment policy.  The Astrophoria Foundation Year will support any part of college processes as is deemed appropriate by the college in question.  The Astrophoria Foundation Year asks to be kept informed of the processes occurring within the college, so that they can ensure that the appropriate support and actions are in place for any student on the Astrophoria Foundation Year programme who may be experiencing harassment. 

2. Where incidents of harassment occur outside the college environment and/or solely within the University environment 

Incidents occurring outside the college environment, will usually be dealt with under the appropriate university procedure.   

The Astrophoria Foundation Year follows the University of Oxford's policy on harassment, which is available on the University website.

Where an allegation of Harassment is shared with a member of the Astrophoria Foundation Year staff, the Astrophoria Foundation Year Programme Lead will ensure that the relevant college is kept informed and updated as appropriate. 

If there is doubt as to whether the College or University procedure applies, students are advised to seek advice from the relevant College officers described in the relevant procedures, the Astrophoria Foundation Year Welfare Lead, the Department of SWSS (Student Welfare and Support Services) or the University’s Harassment Line. 

Available support for those who have been subject to harassment 

There is support available for those who have been subject to harassment, as well as for those against whom an allegation of harassment has been made. 

• The University Harassment Advisory Services by emailing harassment.line@admin.ox.ac.uk  

• Local Harassment Advisors (this service is also available to those against whom an allegation of harassment has been made) – find your local harassment advisor on the University website.

• Other sources of support are also signposted on the University website.

Harassment Advisors 

The Astrophoria Foundation Year commits to ensuring that staff can become Harassment Advisors.  It is important to appoint the right people to act as Advisors, as the role can be pivotal in addressing harassment.  A negative experience could prevent an individual seeking further help or conversely escalating a situation too quickly.   

As the Astrophoria Foundation Year is part of the Department for Continuing Education, students and staff are therefore able to access Harassment Advisors within either their academic specialism, within the Department for Continuing Education or within their college.   

As of September 2023, the Department for Continuing Education’s harassment advisors are: 

Dione Brandt - dione.brandt@conted.ox.ac.uk

Claire Kelly - claire.kelly@conted.ox.ac.uk

Alison Macdonald - alison.macdonald@conted.ox.ac.uk

Mark Sandham - mark.sandham@conted.ox.ac.uk

Alistair Ross - alistair.ross@conted.ox.ac.uk

Alternatively, Harassment Advisors can be accessed via the Harassment Line on harassment.line@admin.ox.ac.uk.  

The decision to become involved as a Harassment Advisor must be voluntary and colleagues should not inherit the role from a predecessor. Whenever possible, new vacancies will be advertised as a call for volunteers, and where necessary, the Departmental Harassment Advisor Coordinator will then assess the applications for the most suitable candidate(s).   

The Harassment Advisor Guidance for Departments and Faculties can be found here for further details. 

Harassment Data 

Using data provided by the Harassment Advisors, via the Harassment Advisor questionnaire, the Harassment Line will notify the relevant local HR if there are a spike of cases of Harassment in the Astrophoria Foundation Year. The notifications of recent activity can enable the Astrophoria Foundation Year to be more agile in their response to tackling harassment through training and targeted communications. 

In addition, the Harassment Line can provide anonymised annual reports to the Astrophoria Foundation Year on Harassment cases related to their staff and students. Annual reports can complement the information attained through the biennial Staff Experience Survey. 

Proactive culture 

The Astrophoria Foundation Year is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of everyone are respected. The Astrophoria Foundation Year commits to sharing relevant resources on the theme of harassment in staff and student bulletins and communications. Our experience shows that when information about how a department is addressing bullying and harassment and the support available is clearly communicated, individuals feel more confident in reaching out for help.