Professor Steven Schwartz is Vice-Chancellor and President of Macquarie University, a position he has held since January 2006. The Vice-Chancellor is the chief executive of the university, with overall responsibility for its academic, research, administrative, financial and development strategies. He is tasked with promoting the interests and furthering the development of the university.
Under Steven Schwartz’s leadership Macquarie University has developed into an internationally-recognised research university; has restructured its faculties and curriculum to be more responsive to student needs, and developed significant improvements and facilities on campus including a new Library, Macquarie Private Hospital and Clinic, Cochlear Headquarters, and Hearing Hub plus numerous refurbishments to the value of $600 million.
Professor Barry McGaw is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Chair of the Board of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.
Prior to returning to Australia at the end of 2005, he was Director for Education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He had earlier been Executive Director of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and Professor of Education at Murdoch University. He was originally a science teacher in Queensland secondary schools. He holds BSc, DipEd and BEd(Hons) degrees from the University of Queensland and EdM and PhD from the University of Illinois.
Professor McGaw is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Psychological Society, the Australian College of Educators and the International Academy of Education. He is currently President of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. He received an Australian Centenary Medal in 2001 and was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2004. He was the 2005–2006 recipient of University of Illinois International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement.
Ms Marita MacMahon Ball joined ACER in 2005 and is responsible for higher education national and international services. Key projects under Ms MacMahon Ball’s administration include undergraduate and graduate admissions test for medicine, law, business and engineering, as well as the general tertiary admissions test: uniTEST for school leavers; and the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT), for mature-age applicants. In addition a number of diagnostic and survey instruments for the higher education sector are managed by Ms MacMahon Ball.
In the international sector Ms MacMahon Ball oversees the management of tertiary selection tests for the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Colombia and Saudi Arabia.
Prior to her appointment at ACER Ms MacMahon Ball held Communication Manager positions in the corporate, philanthropic, health and education sectors. She has lectured in Public Relations courses in the university and TAFE sectors, managed a Foundation program for an Australian university in the UAE, and taught English and History in NSW secondary schools, where she was also a member of the school executive.
Andrew Stanton has worked in higher education administration for over thirty years. He has worked at UAC since 1987 and was appointed Managing Director in 1995.
During his time at UAC, Andrew has overseen the development of UAC from a clearing-house operation that only dealt with undergraduate applications to a centralised processing centre that uses sophisticated computer systems to provide a range of expert services to universities, applicants and the wider community. UAC is now an organisation whose members trust UAC’s ability to provide professional services beyond the traditional admissions role, exemplified by the fact that member universities regularly approach UAC to perform additional services on their behalf.
Andrew is a member of the Technical Committee on Scaling, which oversees the development of the algorithms for scaling of HSC subject results and calculating the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. UAC is also responsible for the production and distribution of the ATAR for students who have attempted the NSW HSC
Andrew is incoming Chairman of the Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admissions Centres, which works to improve the admissions process across Australia and, especially, to reduce barriers faced by students applying for study outside their home state.
Andrew is also a foundation member of the International Association of Admissions Organisations.
Professor Les Ebdon CBE DL is an award-winning Analytical Chemist, who has published over 270 refereed publications. He has enjoyed highly successful periods as Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Plymouth and as Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Bedfordshire. From 2003-2012 he transformed the reputation of the University and increased student numbers to over 25,000 and the income from £38m to £134m. He has played various national roles in higher education including chairing the University think-tank, million+, for five years and has served as a Board member of Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. He was awarded a CBE in 2009 for services to national and local higher education and in 2011 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of the county of Bedfordshire. He is Director designate of the Office for Fair Access and will take up his post in September 2012.
Ministry of Education, New Zealand
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Roger Smyth has worked in tertiary education in New Zealand for 25 years. He spent more than 14 years as a senior manager at Lincoln University before moving to the Ministry of Education in 2002. When New Zealand moved to demand driven funding in 1999, he was the Assistant Vice-Chancellor responsible for, among other things, student administration and institutional research. He now heads the Ministry of Education’s Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis team and in that role, is responsible for monitoring, analysing and reporting on trends in the sector. In 2004/05, he also had a leadership role in tertiary education policy. He has published extensively on the employment outcomes of tertiary education, research in tertiary education and student financial support.
Professor Bowman began his professional life as a radiographer, undertaking radiography training at the Northampton School of Radiography in the UK. He worked as a senior radiographer in a number of hospitals in London before becoming a student teacher at Guys Hospital Radiography Education Centre. He became a principal lecturer at South Bank University when the centre at Guys amalgamated with that university. Professor Bowman then became the Head of the Department of Radiography and Imaging Sciences at the University College of St Martin. He was also appointed the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Health Science and Community at St Martins before moving to Australia to take up the position of Head of the School of Medical Radiations at Charles Sturt University. At Charles Sturt University he later became the foundation Head of the School of Clinical Sciences. Professor Bowman then moved to the University of South Australia where he was appointed Dean of the Whyalla Campus and the foundation Director of Regional Engagement. He then moved on to James Cook University to become Pro Vice Chancellor (Cairns and Academic Planning & Development) with further appointments as Pro Vice Chancellor Corporate and Commercial and Deputy Vice Chancellor University Services and Registrar. In August 2009 he was appointed the Vice Chancellor and President of CQUniversity Australia.
Kwong Lee Dow is the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne. He retired from this role at the end of 2004 having earlier been Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and before that, Dean of Education. Beginning working life as a science and mathematics teacher, Kwong became a College Lecturer in Chemistry, and then Senior Lecturer in Education at Melbourne University. He was appointed Professor in 1973. Over the years he has held Victorian and Commonwealth government appointments, including chairing a number of both state and federal reviews. He was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in 1984, received the Sir James Darling Medal of the Australian College of Education in 1994, an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from the University of Melbourne in 2004, and in 2005 was awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders.
Since retirement in 2005 Kwong has had specific involvements with Victoria University, Ballarat University, Bond University, the University of New England, the Melbourne campus of Central Queensland University ( for the Victorian Government), Deakin University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education, St.Paul’s College (HK), and Hong Kong Central College.
University of Melbourne
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Richard James is a Professor of Higher Education and Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Melbourne. Since 2006 he has been the Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education. He has wide-ranging research interests in higher education that centre on the quality of the student experience, spanning access and equity, the transition to university, student finances, student engagement, quality assurance and academic standards. He has led significant studies in Australia of students’ social and economic circumstances.
Gordon Stanley is Honorary Professor of Education at the University of Sydney, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Melbourne and Senior Research Fellow in Education at the University of Oxford. He was the inaugural Pearson Professor of Educational Assessment and Director, Oxford University Centre for Educational Assessment at the University of Oxford (2008-2010), and President of the Board of Studies in New South Wales (1998-2008). His career has involved measuring what many would call the immeasurable. Reliability of public examinations and testing regimes has been of particular interest from both a technical and public interest point of view. His current research interests relate to the globalisation of qualifications and educational standards.
Geraldine Atkinson is a Bangerang/Wiradjuri woman who has devoted her career to expanding the possibilities available to Koorie people through education. For over 30 years Geraldine has been a significant presence in the Koorie and wider Victorian community, beginning as a Teacher’s Aide in 1976, through to her current role as President of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated.
Ms Atkinson has been a member of the Third Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council (IHEAC) since May 2011.
Director of VTAC since 2006.
Prior to that I was General Manager of Assessment at the VCAA, starting there in 1994. My role was to manage the assessment and certification programs for the VCE and VCAL, and the Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 statewide testing programs in English and Mathematics (now part of NAPLAN).
Prior to 1994 I had a similar role with what is now the Tasmanian Qualification Authority. My background before these roles was as a secondary science and mathematics teacher.
Derrick Armstrong is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) and Registrar at the University of Sydney and Professor of Education. His responsibilities include learning and teaching, the student experience, social inclusion and widening participation, student administration and support services, and, international student strategy and services. From 2005 till 2008 he was Dean of the University’s Faculty of Education and Social Work. Before this he was Professor of Education in the University of Sheffield in the UK. Derrick’s research has focused on the experience of children and youth in interaction with education, welfare and criminal justice systems. In the UK he led a national evaluation of early intervention programs with children and their families and subsequently was Director of an Economic and social Research Council funded Research Priority Network involving five UK university research teams and two international partners. He has twice been awarded the annual Times Educational Supplement prize for the most outstanding book written on special and inclusive education (in 1995 and 2004) and has published widely in special and inclusive education, youth studies, and the sociology of education. His latest book, ‘A Political Ecology of Youth and Crime’, co-authored with Alan France and Dorothy Bottrell, is to be published by Palgrave in 2012.
Professor Todd Walker is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Quality), University of Ballarat – a position that has oversight of the University’s learning and teaching and quality assurance processes. In addition, Professor Walker is the Chair of Academic Board, providing senior leadership and guidance in developing the Academic Board’s strategic direction aligned with the University’s values and objectives.
Professor Walker has a wide spectrum of responsibilities for both academic and administrative areas, and has particular experience in the areas of regional multi-campus university operations, community engagement, international operations and organisational change management.
The University of Western Australia
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Dr Annette Mercer (BA BEd UWA, MEd PhD Murd) is an Associate Professor in Medical Education at The University of Western Australia, with responsibilities in the selection and admission of students into the medical and dental courses. She has extensive experience in education and educational research and she has worked in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at UWA for some years. In 2006 she completed a review of the faculty’s student selection process. Apart from selection into high-stakes courses and access for under-represented groups, her other interests include assessment and evaluation; research methods; and educational measurement, including the Rasch model.
Bruce Lines is the Registrar of University of Canberra. The Registrar is responsible for Campus Life, Commercial and Financial Services, Human Resources, Information & Technology Management, Planning & Quality, and Student Administration.
Bruce’s career in higher education began at the University of Queensland. Bruce joined the University of Canberra in 2003 as Director, Student Services. He has held a number of roles at University of Canberra, including Academic Registrar. In 2008 he lead a major change management project, focusing on procurement as well as IT and business process outsourcing. He was appointed Registrar in 2009.
Over the course of his career, Bruce has presented conference papers and published in areas relating to tertiary education management. He has served on the Board of the Queensland Theatre Company, is a Board member of the Universities Admission Centre (UAC), and chairs the Board of the University of Canberra Union (UCU) Ltd.
Christian Bowman first joined Bond University as the Internet Marketing Manager in 2010. Bond University is a private not-for-profit university situated on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
With over 11 years of online marketing experience, Christian has developed online campaigns for RSPCA including a viral mobile campaign in 2001, an online marketing strategy for the first ever RSPCA online store, and managed the first social media profiles for the non-profit organisation in 2006 .
Prior to RSPCA Christian worked for the Achaeus Group for 3 years as an Internet Marketing Consultant to the SME sector and has been involved in running workshops to help them develop online marketing strategies.
Christian also develops online marketing technology for direct marketers and in 2010 sold an online voucher delivery system to a rewards management supplier.
Christian is very passionate about developing simple solutions for complicated problems and helping others develop innovative marketing strategies using technology.
Angelo was appointed as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) in October 2011. Playing a leading role in developing a positive student experience, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) integrates the functions of student recruitment and engagement, student administration, student services, widening participation, campus safety and security and residential services to deliver an environment where UWS students can fulfil their aspirations. Angelo is a member of the Executive team of UWS, the Academic Senate and is on the Board of Directors for TVS (Television Sydney) and UWS College.
Angelo has played a leading role in the University sector in the development of contact management systems. Angelo established the UWS Call Centre and led the development of the Higher Education Recruitment Marketing and Enquiry System (HERMES).
He has presented papers at conferences and seminars, nationally and internationally, on the integration of marketing principles with customer relationship systems and the relationship between brand equity and customer service breakdown.
In 2010, Angelo was appointed as the Executive Director, Engagement and Partnerships. The UWS Office of Engagement and Partnerships provided a framework for the establishment and ongoing development of strategic links and relationships with the broader community.
In 2009, Angelo became the Director of Public Affairs which consolidated on previous senior student recruitment and marketing roles.
He has been a member of the UWS community since 1986, as a student, graduate and as a member of staff.
Tara Loty has considerable experience in community engagement and outreach in the higher education sector. She recently received the 2012 Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Community Engagement following the development and implementation of the In2Uni program at the University of Wollongong. The In2Uni program partners with the Department of Education and Communities, Illawarra and South East Region and works with over 55 schools in the region to build capacity and aspirations for tertiary education.
Tara has a passion for social inclusion in her region and sits on a number of committees dedicated to achieving this objective. Tara also has over 10 years’ experience in developing federal and state government policy specialising in education and industrial relations.
