Black tie – This term indicates the following items of clothing: Black dinner suit; white dress shirt; black bow tie and black shoes. This clothing can be hired from a number of Cambridge outfitters (e.g. Moss Brothers, 14 St Johns Street). For ‘black tie’ events, women wear formal evening dress
Bands (part of formal dress for graduation etc.) – a special white linen neck tie worn on some formal University occasions
Combination Room, CR (place) – a common room (some colleges have separate combination rooms for junior members, postgraduate students and fellows)
Combination Room, CR (body of students) – in St Edmund’s it consists of all scholar and student members in residence (does not include Fellows)
Congregation (of the Regent House) – a meeting at which formal University business is conducted, and degrees conferred
Director of Studies – assigns supervisors (q.v.) to undergraduates, and advises them in their choice of courses
Division of term – the half-way point of the term (q.v.)
Easter term – 10 April to 18 June, unless Easter falls on or after 22 April, then the Easter Term shall begin on 17 April and end on 25 June.
Fellow – a member of the governing body of a college, usually engaged in teaching or research within the University
Full term – the period within each term when lectures and other formal teaching take place and during which undergraduates are normally required to be in residence
General Admission – special Congregations (q.v.) held at the end of June each year, at which most new graduates ‘proceed’ to their first degree
Gown – traditional academical robes still worn on formal occasions. There are many variants, depending on the wearer’s college and degree or status
Hood – these are worn with academical gowns in College Chapel and at the Senate House on formal occasions. Although descended from medieval monastic hoods, they are never worn on the head, but draped down the wearer’s back
In Statu Pupillari – a person in statu pupillari is defined as any member of the University who has not been admitted to some office in the University, to a Fellowship or office of a College, or to a degree which qualifies the holder for membership of the Senate, and is of less than three and a half years’ standing from admission to his or her first degree
Lent term – 5 January to 25 March (24 March in a leap year)
Long vacation – the summer break between one academical year and the next
Matriculation – formal enrolment in the University
Michaelmas term – 1 October to 19 December
Praelector – the Fellow who ensures members of his/her college are duly matriculated (q.v.), and presents them for admission to degrees
Scarlet – term for festal robes (see gowns) worn on special days in the University Calendar
Screens – College notice boards
Send out of residence, send down – to terminate a student’s studies at a college owing to serious infringements of discipline
Senior Combination Room – common room for fellows and other senior members of a college
Supervision – individual or small-group teaching of undergraduates, advising of research students
Supervisor – a teacher providing supervisions
Term – one of three periods during the year during which the university is reckoned to be fully functional for official purposes
Term, to keep – to be resident within the precincts of the University for the prescribed number of days during a term, a traditional requirement for undergraduate students
Tripos – a University examination leading to an honours B.A.
Tutor – a Fellow responsible for the welfare (personal, social, moral, legal, but not usually academical) and discipline of a group of students in his/her College, and/or for admissions, allocation of rooms etc.
Tutorial side – the students falling under the responsibility of a particular Tutor
Vice-Chancellor – the resident and active administrative head of the University
Visitor – a person of eminence and repute to whom appeal is to be addressed in case of disputed questions on which the Governing Body of a college cannot reach a satisfactory decision by internal statutory procedure