Independent in role developed for an Oxford college (5)
I believe the answer is:
oriel
'an oxford college' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'independent in role developed' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'developed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'role' is an anagram of 'orel'.
'i' going within 'orel' is 'ORIEL'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for oriel that I've seen before include "English college" , "Type of window; Oxford college" , "lecturer seen near Lorraine regularly" , "Window built out from upper floor" , "Projecting window in upper storey" .)