Junior Common Room

The term Junior Common Room (JCR) is used in many British universities to refer to the collective of students (similar to a students' union) at a constituent college of the university, as well as to a physical room set aside for the college students' use. In the University of Cambridge, the acronym JCR has the same meaning, but can also stand for Junior Combination Room. Other universities world-wide do use the term, primarily to refer to common rooms. The Junior Common Room stands in contrast to the Senior Common Room, which refers to the collection of faculty, instructors, and advisors at the college.

Like many traditions borrowed from the United Kingdom, the term is also used in the undergraduate House system at Harvard University, to refer both to the set of undergraduates resident at or affiliated with the House and to a common recreation room set aside for the undergraduates' use. The concept of the JCR is hinted at also in the Harry Potter books and films as each of the four halls of the school has its own common room, modeled on the JCR.


Contents

Form and Function

The word "Junior" in JCR refers to the fact that under University statutes, students are deemed to be "junior members" of the university, in contrast to dons (fellow, professors, etc.) who are deemed "senior members".

Typically, students at a college will elect a governing body for their JCR, referred to simply as the "JCR Committee" (JCRC), "JCR Bench", or "JCR Exec" (short for "Executive Committee"). Most Oxbridge JCRs confer honorary JCR membership on distinguished individuals who are not students at their college, though naming frivolous honorary members is also common. In a far rarer practice, some JCRs can vote to bestow collegiate accolades upon individuals who have rendered distinguished service to students or to the college. At Durham, honorary memberships are usually reserved for current members who are graduating but have been involved in college life.

In most cases, a JCR represents all students at a college, but in Cambridge colleges, it typically represents only undergraduates.

In colleges admitting graduates as well as undergraduates, there are often separate associations that represent the unique interests of graduate students. These graduate associations are often called Middle Common Rooms (MCRs). At Oxford, this term is a misnomer: by the university's statute, graduate students are also junior members, and the term "middle member" is theoretically without meaning.

Official JCR Web Sites

Cambridge

Oxford

Durham

York

Dublin

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