comprising all graduates of the university, and may hold office until death.
The vice-chancellor, currently Irene Tracey, is the de facto head of the university. There are five pro-vice-chancellors with specific responsibilities.
Two university proctors, elected annually on a rotating basis from any two of the colleges, are the internal ombudsmen who make sure that the university and its members adhere to its statutes. This role incorporates student discipline and complaints, as well as oversight of the university's proceedings. The university's professors are collectively referred to as the Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford. They are particularly influential in the running of the university's graduate programmes. Examples of statutory professors are the Chichele Professorships and the Drummond Professor of Political Economy.
Oxford is a "public university" in that it receives some public money from the government, but it is a "private university" in that it is entirely self-governing and, in theory, could choose to become entirely private by rejecting public funds.
=== Colleges ===
To be a member of the university, all students, and most academic staff, must also be a member of a college or hall. There are thirty-nine colleges of the University of Oxford and four permanent private halls (PPHs), each controlling its membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Not all colleges offer all courses, but they generally cover a broad range of subjects.
The 39 colleges are:
‡ These three have no royal charter, and are officially departments of the university rather than independent colleges.
The permanent private halls were founded by different Christian denominations. One difference between a college and a PPH is that whereas colleges are governed by the fellows of the college, the governance of a PPH resides, at least in part, with the corresponding Christian denomination. The four PPHs are:
Blackfriars Hall Blackfriars Hall
Campion Hall Campion Hall
Regent's Park Regent's Park
Wycliffe …
