Professor Siân Grønlie, Kate Elmore Fellow in English, has been shortlisted for the Vice Chancellor’s Awards 2025

We are proud to share the news that Professor Siân Grønlie, Associate Professor in Medieval Literature and Kate Elmore Fellow in English, has been shortlisted for the Vice Chancellor’s Awards 2025.

The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards are a celebration of the University’s outstanding people. This year there were 160 award entries across 11 categories, with 1,300 individuals included in the nominations. Siân has been shortlisted in the category of “Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion”, which recognises colleagues who role-model equality, diversity and inclusion through their work, and have made a difference to EDI at Oxford.

Nominating Siân, St Anne’s Senior Tutor, Shannon McKellar, wrote:

As well as acting as Equalities Fellow at St Anne’s, Siân is also Diversity and Inclusion Lead for the English Faculty where she chairs the EDI Committee and, representing EDI, sits on the Faculty Board, the Teaching Committee, PPRC, and the Joint Consultative Committee. Siân also represents the Humanities Division on the Academic Digital Consultation Group looking at the holistic impact of digital technologies on Oxford’s educational environment.

For many, participation on committees and working groups is considered enough of a contribution to the workings of the organisation; but when it comes to EDI, Professor Grønlie does even more.

In the University, Siân is PI for the TORCH Neurodiversity Network which links neurodiversity studies researchers in the Humanities, running events like book launches and a reading group on neurodiversity and politics. Siân is also part of two university-wide projects focussed on neurodivergent learning: as Co-I for Neurodivergent Education for Student Teaching and Learning (NESTL), a project about nurturing inclusive, ethical, equal and diverse teaching and learning which aims to create a neurodivergence-inclusive learning and teaching tool kit; and for Generative AI at Oxford, funded by the AI Exploratory Fund, looking at how AI could be used to produce learning materials for neurodivergent students, enabling reasonable adjustments to be made without impacting on staff workload.

In the College, Siân is part of a team working with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) looking at helping undergraduates make the most of Oxford’s education. The team will this term be running focus groups to determine what students think of the academic skills development approach taken by the College, with a view to deciding then what more we can do. Siân is also, alongside our Dean of Welfare and CTL, piloting the ‘DO-It Profiler’ with her English students to help them understand better their study needs and preferences.

Siân’s EDI work has a clear purpose and rationale: to enable all students to do well, to help all students feel that they belong, and to encourage other tutors and staff in the College to do the same, and her work is making a difference to students’ experience. Siân doesn’t just talk about EDI; she takes action and leads by example. A few of the many ways in which Siân interacts purposefully with students to improve their lives include:

• mentoring two neurodivergent graduate students per term. This is support which grew out of the ‘Neurodiversity at Oxford’ project (2022 to 2024), which Professor Grønlie co-founded with the aim of affirming, celebrating and empowering neurodivergent students and staff at Oxford. Siân ran a series of events, including poetry readings, book launches, an art exhibition, theatre, and film nights, to build up and connect the neurodivergent community in Oxford. Project members trained mentors, and set up a mentoring programme for graduate students which still runs today.
• co-presenting the College’s pilot EDI talk for freshers in October 2025. This took 7 hours of training and some courage! Delivering a talk to around 230 freshers about inclusion and promoting understanding using case studies around faith, nationalities, and ethnic groups on the 7^th of October, the date of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, was not the easiest of assignments, but Siân succeeded. Our fresher groups have acted as one this year, with understanding and sensitivity, and there is a strong sense of community in the College.
• acting as the Neurodiversity ‘Point of Contact’ in the College, working alongside Points of Contact for Jewish students, Muslim students, and black students.

Siân is an incredible EDI advocate and practitioner and is highly deserving of a Vice Chancellor’s award, to thank Siân for her work, and to recognise the impact Siân’s EDI work has had in making the College and the University places where everyone belongs and is supported to succeed.”

We are very pleased that the shortlisting committee concurs that Siân’s important work has made a significant difference to EDI at Oxford.

Winning and highly commended entries will be recognised at the Vice-Chancellor’s Awards ceremony and reception on Thursday 15 May 2025.

Alongside the Awards Ceremony, there will be a showcase of award entries in Blackwell Hall in the Weston Library on Tuesday 13 May 2025, where shortlisted nominees will have an opportunity to demonstrate and discuss their work. The showcase will be open to all staff as well as members of the public.