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The Keble Review 2013
Interview
Penny Bateman (née White)
has been at Keble for over
25 years, first joining the
College as Bursary Clerk in
June 1988. She remained
in the Bursary for 13 years,
progressing to Acting Chief
Clerk, Chief Clerk and then
Assistant Accountant. Penny
subsequently moved to the
College Office in 2001,
where her first role was
Deputy College Secretary.
She is currently Student
Administration Manager and
deals with many aspects
of student life, particularly
undergraduate and graduate
admissions.
Penny Bateman
Student Administration Manager
What brought you to Keble 25 years ago?
Back then I was working as an Accounts Assistant
for the Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG). I
had been there for 2 ½ years and was looking
for something else which would be closer to
home and provide more opportunities. I saw an
advert for a job as Bursary Clerk at Keble through
Champion Employment, and decided to apply. I
remember arranging my interview early in the
morning so that NAG wouldn’t know that I was
applying for another job. Dr John Seagrave, the
Bursar at the time, interviewed me in his office.
After going through some general questions about
the job, he looked at me and asked, “So, I see that
you have been at NAG for just over two years, and
are now looking for a new job. How do I know that
you won’t leave Keble 2 years from now?”. I don’t
remember how I answered, but he must have liked
it because I received a call to say that I got the job
that very morning.
What was working in the Bursary like back then?
The main difference is that everything was done
manually – no complicated computer programmes
or email in sight! We did have one computer
– a massive server called Stanley which was
housed in the stationery cupboard. There were
no professional IT staff, so when Stanley broke
(which happened often), we had to enlist the
help of two graduate students, usually getting
them out of bed. On one occasion, Stanley failed
the day before payroll was due, and I was in the
office until midnight trying to sort everything
for the next day. The Fellows’ Secretary was the
first to get email on her computer and there was
always a mad rush to get on to her machine in the
afternoons after she had gone home.
Howdidyou endupmoving to theCollegeOffice?
In 2000, I went off on maternity leave with
my daughter Jodie. Little did I know that a few
months later I would be roped in to helping College
for a few hours a week with the new Tutorial
student database whilst taking care of a newborn
baby. Thankfully, the Fellows were very helpful
and you would often see them walking around
the quad with Jodie in tow. After the maternity
leave was over, I came back to my old job in the
Bursary. Within about an hour of returning, I was
told by Roger Boden, the Bursar, that he wanted
to see me in his office. I thought that I was due for
a telling off about something I didn’t even know I
had done, but instead, Roger said that he wanted
to offer me a job in the College Office because the
work with the Tutorial database had gone so well.
I accepted and took up the role of Deputy College
Secretary working with Deborah Rogers (we were
the entire ‘College Office’ at the time!).
What are the things you love most and hate
most about your job?
I love the variety of my job. You never know what
to expect when you come in each morning. You
might have a plan of what you want to achieve
that day, but you usually never actually get to do
those jobs because a thousand other things come
in. I should have learned not to make plans by
now! I also think that the students are lovely and
I very much enjoy meeting them when they first
arrive. There are very few things that I don’t like,
but perhaps the thing I dread most is the run-up
to undergraduate admissions. I always worry about
what can go wrong: will the Post Office strike
when the letters are supposed to go out?; will
there be a big snowstorm so that some students
won’t be able to travel to their interviews in
Oxford? (both of these have happened, by the
way). However, when the admissions cycle is
underway, I am actually very happy. I love being
busy. I like the buzz of undergraduate admissions
– lots of things happen in a very short period and
you only get one chance to get everything right.
Whilst in the College Office, you have
engaged with many generations of Keble
students. Have they changed over the years?
No – the faces change but all they’re the same
kinds of people underneath.
Are there any members of staff still in
College who were here when you first came?
Yes, although not many! Julie Hernandez was here
and we worked together in the Bursary for 12
years. There are also Sharon Murphy (Executive
Sous Chef), Steve Beasley (Garden Assistant) and
Danny Reese (Accommodation Co-ordinator).
Would the you of 1988 apply for your
current job?
No, it would have scared me! It’s very different
from what I did in 1988, but I guess that is why
I am still here – if my role in College had not
changed as much as it has, I would have fulfilled
the Bursar’s original fear, and would have fled
Keble a long time ago!
