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Junior Common Room

These are to be found in all three of the collegiate Universities of England. The term Junior Common Room is used in the University of Oxford and the University of Durham to refer to the collective of students at a constituent college of the university, as well as to a physical room set aside for the college students' use. The term is generally abbreviated to JCR. In the University of Cambridge, the acronym JCR has the same meaning, but also stands for Junior Combination Room.

Form and Function

The word "Junior" in JCR refers to the fact that under Oxford statutes, students are deemed to be "junior members" of the university, in contrast to dons (fellow, professors, etc.) who are deemed "senior members". The below describes the situation at Oxford, details may vary elsewhere but the situation is generally similar.

Typically, students at a college will elect a governing body for their JCR, referred to simply as the "JCR committee" or in some instances the "JCR bench". Additionally, most 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.

In most cases, a JCR represents all students at a college, but in a minority of cases, it represents only undergraduates.

Similarly, the collective of senior members at a college is referred to as the Senior Common Room (SCR).

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 styled Middle Common Rooms (MCRs), despite this term being a misnomer; by the university's statute, graduate students are also junior members, and the term "middle member" is without meaning. As a result, the term Graduate Common Room (GCR), although more recent than MCR, is gaining popularity at the university.

Official JCR Web Sites

Oxford:

Durham: