Within an undergraduate college, the Senior Common Room consists of the academic officers who hold a degree above the undergraduate degree. The term can refer to both actual persons (the scholars/faculty) and the room where they occassionally hold meetings. Always, this consists of any Professors, Associate Professors, Assistant Professors, Preceptors, Lecturers, and Fellows who hold a Doctoral degree or a Professional Degree. In many cases it also consists of the Tutors and Teaching Fellows (TFs) or Teaching Assistants (TAs) who hold a Master's Degree and who teach undergraduates.

The term "Senior Commmon Room comes from its long-standing use at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities and is now used at a variety of tertiary educational institutions in the Anglophone world. The term stands in contrast to Junior Common Room.

At each of the undergraduate Houses of Harvard University, the "Senior Common Room" encompasses all faculty members and graduate students (designated "tutors") resident at or affiliated with the House.