Steve is a former Faculty Director of Operations at the University of Liverpool and has 18 years of senior leadership and management experience in HE following a 17 year career with Unilever. He has extensive experience and expertise in the design, planning, optimisation and management of a full range of professional services support for academics and students. This has incorporated detailed and widespread engagement with University planning processes and financial systems. Having also led a number of university wide projects, he is well positioned to advise on overall operational service design and efficiency, benchmarking, corporate governance processes, committee management and risk management. Steve has recently become a member of the AHEP Board of Trustees.

Jim has extensive experience in the HE sector, having worked in higher education for almost 30 years, and most recently holding the position of Secretary to Council and University Secretary at Brunel University from 2007-2018. Jim has a specialist interest in corporate and academic governance, strategic development, academic regulations and quality reviews, student and academic administration reviews, reviews of quality processes and regulations, and offering advice on statutory returns and stakeholder engagement.

Jacquelyn has over 25 years experience as a learning and development specialist and leadership development consultant, across a breadth of organisations. Her particular specialism is one-one coaching and she is proud to be a former winner of the prestigious Executive Coach of the Year award from the Institute of Consulting. Jacquelyn has worked with AHEP for the past past 10 years – originally supporting the pilot and roll out the CPD Framework across the sector.  She is now an Advisor and Assessor for AHEP’s Mark of Excellence Award.  Jacquelyn is a PgDip qualified and accredited Coach and Coach Supervisor, a Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence qualified practitioner, a graduate member of the CIPD and also a BACP (MSc) qualified staff counsellor and psychotherapist.

During a career that has combined academic roles and administration/management, David has worked at five universities in the UK and spent a research sabbatical at Harvard. His particular area of expertise is strategic planning, particularly in international operations and partnerships. He was Academic Registrar at the Universities of Warwick and Hull and a PVC at Edge Hill University. Following (what was meant to be) retirement, David directed the Confucius Institute at Edge Hill for two years. He is also heavily involved in the AUA and is currently Principal Editor of Perspectives the AHEP journal.

Alison has worked as a senior manager in HE for nearly 20 years and has considerable experience in change management and strategic development, covering both pre- and post-1992 sectors. She has specialist expertise in line-managing across multi-site campuses and working with non-standard student populations such as part-time, mature adult learners and bespoke commissioned programmes for both public and private sectors.

Andrew is former University Secretary at the University of Sheffield. His career in Higher Education spans 30 years, including 11 years leading student-related services encompassing student recruitment and admissions, academic services and learning and teaching support, registry and student administration, careers and employability, and a broad range of student support and well being services.
A former Chair of AMOSSHE, The Student Services Organisation, Andrew has provided advice and consultancy at a wide range of institutions in England, Wales and Scotland, across all mission groups. He is a member of the Board of Governors of Leeds Beckett University, an Associate of Advance HE and a Halpin Consulting Fellow.

Joanne has held senior roles leading Registry and Admissions functions for over 25 years, working both within Academic Secretariat and Marketing and Communications directorates. She has experience of leading cross-functional teams to deliver major change focused on service improvements for students and staff, and delivering institutional strategic objectives through enhanced governance, systems and processes within large-scale operational functions. In a varied career, Joanne has developed expertise in institutional governance, academic policies and regulations, quality assurance, student records, compliance and student casework. A short spell working as UCAS Senior Relationship Manager for the South of England (and the London region in particular) broadened Joanne’s specialist knowledge of HE admissions to encompass the perspective of schools and colleges, an area she continues to engage with in her role as a Governor at The Sixth Form College, Colchester. Joanne has a particular interest in the student journey, the experience of students from their first point of contact with HE as prospects through to graduation and alumni status, and the ways in which HE professional services in central and departmental roles work in partnership to provide a high quality student experience.

Pete had over 15 years’ experience of working in HE before becoming a Consultant in 2016. His specific focus is on equality, diversity and inclusion challenges including mental health and wellbeing, duty of care, diverse talent, allyship, addressing unconscious bias and inclusive teaching, learning and assessment. Pete has worked on these areas in the UK, Europe, in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Pete’s focus is on devising realistic strategic and operational approaches in ever-evolving and challenging circumstances. He does this with people throughout organisations whether this be Senior management, faculty, professional support or student support practitioners as well as outreach and marketing teams. Pete is a certified Coach and Mentor with the Chartered Management Institute.

Dawn has 20 years’ experience in leadership and management positions within the higher education sector with expertise in corporate and academic governance and regulatory compliance across UK nations, executive and non-executive recruitment, risk management, strategic programme management and information rights. Alongside her consultancy work, Dawn works part-time as Clerk to the Governing Body at Westminster School and is a lay representative for Health Education England

Mary has extensive experience working in university administration and management having worked for over 30 years in a variety of higher education systems in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. Mary began her UK HE career at the University of Kent where she held a variety of posts before establishing Enrolment Management Services of which she was Director for seven years before becoming Academic Registrar. Mary has a keen interest in Strategic Enrolment Management. She has a breadth of experience across HE professional services and the student life cycle, with particular strengths in strategic development and organisational structures; governance and committee management; and the preparation of institutional/organisational strategic plans.

Sophie has worked in the HE sector since 1995, in roles spanning technical, research, teaching, and organisational learning and development. Her time as Director of Organisational Development for the 1994 Group saw her leading collaborative development programmes across 18 universities, and she has since worked across the whole spectrum of UK HEIs. Since leaving the University of Westminster in 2018, Sophie has worked with HE clients to deliver a variety of organisational development activities, including an Athena Swan silver award and a leadership programme for academics. She is an ILM qualified coach, with a particular interest in working with those who are in early to mid career Professional Services roles, and has extensive experience of developing and facilitating workshops (whether courses or bespoke team interventions, both online and in person). Sophie also convenes the Organisational Development in Higher Education group.

Tim has worked in registry and/or planning roles across six HEIs, along with a 3-year spell working as a UUK Policy Adviser.  He went freelance as an interim manager and consultant in 2015, focussing on consulting from 2017.  His consultancy work has covered a range of specialist areas including:  student systems and databases; administrative processes; data management; admissions; metrics and reporting; student dispute management; and academic governance. 

Sara has a public sector HR and Organisational Development background, with 20 years in Higher Education and more than a decade in the NHS. As Director of HR and OD at the University of Suffolk, Sara was a member of the senior executive group and attended the Board, playing a full part in the strategic leadership of the University.

Sara is energised to make the experience of work as good as it can be and she has a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Constants throughout her career have been the need to understand the wider stakeholder system, the need to support staff through change and the need to attend to team effectiveness, with a focus on interpersonal skills and communications.

Sara holds a Masters in Strategic Training & Development and a Masters in Educational Research. She is a Fellow of the CIPD and Co-Chair of the Organisational Development in Higher Education Network. She is an EMCC accredited Coach.

Alison’s career in HE extends over a period of 38 years. She has held a number of senior roles in UK universities, most recently as Registrar and Secretary at the University of Salford where she was a member of the Vice Chancellor’s Executive Team. As Registrar Alison was responsible for student administration, student experience and support, quality and enhancement, School operations, the Library, and the legal and compliance team. As University Secretary she advised the Chair of Council and ensured effective corporate governance.

Alison has provided advice and support to a wide range of higher education institutions and agencies nationally and internationally. She has a particular interest in quality and regulatory reviews and in corporate and academic governance.

Alison is a member of the governing body at Hartpury University and is a long-standing Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Reviewer. She has a Master’s Degree in Higher Education from the University of Manchester.