Learning and Development

Biographies of trainers and presenters

We organise a range of programmes and courses in aspects of learning, teaching and professional practice, drawing on expertise inside and outside the University as needed. Details of the people involved are provided below.

Ainley, Karen

Media Trainer Karen Ainley has extensive experience of both traditional and emerging media, and delivers a real insight into the mind of a journalist and the kinds of challenging questions you should expect to receive when under the media spotlight. Karen began her journalism career working on the Braintree and Witham Times and the Colchester Gazette before moving into broadcasting with the BBC. She was both a newsreader and reporter with BBC Essex (radio) and BBC Look East (television). For the past decade she has been Chief Executive of leading East Anglian PR agency Mosaic Publicity, which offers an extensive range of training courses accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations. Karen has been working with the University of Essex for many years, passing on her media expertise to help delegates make the most of the media opportunities that arise. Back to top

Anslow, Mandy

biography to follow. Back to top

Albano, Marc

Marc Albano is currently the acting Director of Finance. Marc is normally the Deputy Director of Finance, responsible for managing the Performance and Reporting Group within the University's Finance Section.

Marc is a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and studied Accountancy at Anglia Ruskin when it was still a Polytechnic. In addition, Marc has qualifications in Management and also in Project and Programme Management.

Marc spent the first 23 years of his career in various Local Government organisations before joining the University in January 2011. During those years he was involved with management system implementations, a PFI deal and setting up a shared service contract with the private sector. Back to top

Ash, Charles

Charles Ash is an independent business consultant and trainer with a background in business planning consultancy, project management, project contract and employment law. Charles is a member of the International Confederation for Business Advancement (ICFBA) and is experienced in providing business advice and consultancy, generally to SMEs, along with the provision of training which aligns with his core disciplines. Charles has a BSC in Mechanical Engineering to support his training credentials. Back to top

Bachmann, Nicole

Nicole is a freelance trainer as well as a Director of Fluent in Business Ltd, a co founder of, an Executive Associate of Fraser Clarke Corporate Development and of the Institute for Independent Business, a Founding Member of the International Association of Coaches. Back to top

Barry, Terry

Currently a Learning and Development Manager at the University of Essex, Terry's main responsibilities are the coordination and delivery of professional development programmes for doctoral students and research staff. Terry has been involved with professional development at Essex since 2005. He also runs courses on a range of topics aimed at other University staff. His previous experience includes working as a Careers Adviser at the University for nine years, as well as working as a Careers Adviser in colleges and schools. Terry has also taught Business Studies in colleges of further education. Back to top

Bryan, Annie

Annie Bryan joined the Learning and Development team in October 2011 , where she is specifically involved in the design and development of courses for the professional development of PhD students. She studied for her BA and PhD at Swansea University’s Department of English Language and Literature. Her doctoral thesis, part of an interdisciplinary project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, examined the role of television news discourse in witnessing and commemorating catastrophic events. Annie has previously taught on modules within Swansea’s English Language Studies programme and has delivered training for postgraduate students in the use of qualitative data analysis software. Back to top

Bush, Karen

Karen is a Policy and Projects Officer in Human Resources with specific responsibility for the Annual Review of Academic and Research Staff. She also works as part of Equality and Diversity to ensure the University is compliant with equality legislation, provide equality and diversity training, and raise awareness of equality and diversity issues. Karen is a trained harassment adviser and has worked in various areas of the University including the Economics Department and the Finance Section. Back to top

Caroll, Jude

Jude Carroll has worked for several decades as an educational developer at Oxford Brookes University in the UK, where she took on a wide range of responsibilities but specialised in managing student plagiarism and in effective teaching of international students. In 2009 – 2011, she worked on the UK-government funded Teaching International Students (TIS) project, developing resources and events for teachers. She is the author of The Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education (2007, 2nd ed) and with Dr Janette Ryan, she co-edited the widely used text Teaching International Students: improving learning for all (2005: Routledge). In 2009, Jude was awarded a UK National Teaching Fellowship in recognition of her work in both fields. Back to top

Carter, John

John worked in the Payroll and Pensions Office for the NHS from 1964 to 1986 at various authorities including St George's Teaching Hospital London, the Harlow Group HMC, Essex Area Health Authority and the NE Essex Health Authority.

From June 1986 John was appointed Assistant Accountant at the University responsible for Payroll and Payments, and from 1989 became the University's Payroll and Pensions Manager.

In February 2006 John retired and returned as the University's Pensions Manager (p/t).

John was an advisor for the Occupational Pensions Advisory Service (now known as The Pensions Advisory Service [TPAS]) from 1995 to 1998 specialising in public sector final salary schemes. Back to top

Chapman, Val (PhD, MSc, Cert Ed, Dip RSA [SpLD])

Val Chapman is the Director of the Centre for Inclusive Learning Support at the University of Worcester (UW). Val's work in the area of Disability/Equal Opportunities in HE in the UK was recognised in 2004 by the award of a National Teaching Fellowship and in 2005, by the designation of the Centre she manages at the University of Worcester as a partner in the Learn Higher Centre for Excellence in Learning Teaching (one of 16 Higher Education partners). From September, 2006 to 2007, she also held a UNESCO funded Chair in Special Education at Qatar University.

In addition to her University roles, Val has been employed by the Quality Assurance Agency as a Subject Reviewer and Institutional Auditor. She was the Standing Conference of Principles (SCOP) representative on the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) SLDD (Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities) Advisory Group, and sat on the Disability Rights Commission's Post 16 Reference Group advising on the development of the Code of Practice for the Disability Discrimination Act. She is currently on the steering group of the Higher Education Equal Opportunities Network (formerly chair, vice chair and treasurer), a member of HEFCE's Leadership Foundation in Higher Education Diversity Advisory Group and of the Higher Education Academy's (HEA) Disability Special Interest Group.

Val has undertaken a variety of consultancy work within the Higher Education sector, for charitable organisations and for major organisations. She also has extensive project management experience having succeeded in competitive bidding for external project funding (obtaining in excess of £1,000,000 over the last 9 years – 17 projects to date). Val has published in a range of academic journals and newsletters and has presented at numerous conferences both in the UK and overseas, for example, South Africa, Australia, Qatar, Israel, Canada and Greece, West Germany Belgium and Poland. Back to top

Charnock, Alan

Alan Charnock is the University's Deputy Director of Human Resources and is a full member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD). Alan is an experienced Human Resources Manager whose current role includes overall responsibility for recruitment and selection matters at the University. In recent years Alan and the recruitment team have introduced revised and updated recruitment and selection procedures, including the implementation of an e-recruitment system. Areas of experience and expertise include job evaluation, reward management, and recruitment matters- the latter covering media advertising/agencies/headhunters and selection methods, involving attendance at numerous interviews! Back to top

Dixon, Josie

Josie Dixon was Publishing Director for the Academic Division at Palgrave Macmillan until 2003, and before that worked for 11 years in commissioning and managerial roles at Cambridge University Press. She now works as a publishing consultant with a special interest in training, and has given workshops and lectures on the publishing industry internationally. Back to top

Dunton, Kate

Biography to follow. Back to top

Ehrmann, Steve (Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice (CHEP))

Dr Steve Ehrmann from Silver Spring, Maryland, USA is one of the founders and Vice President of The Teaching Learning and Technology Group. For thirty years he has been working on three related issues:

• how best to use technology to improve education - for what kinds of improvement can technologies be most helpful
• helping educators use data to understand that improvement (including its costs and tradeoffs), guide it and accelerate it
• designing programs to help faculty and their institutions improve learning by using computers, the Internet, and related technologies

Since 1993, he has directed the award-winning Flashlight Program on assessment and evaluation. Dr. Ehrmann is also well-known in the field of distance education, dating back to his years of funding innovative research and materials in this field when he served as a program officer with Annenberg/CPB (1985-96).

Dr. Ehrmann has spoken all over the world on hundreds of campuses, and at dozens of conferences on the uses and abuses of technology for improving education and on how to gather evidence to improve the outcomes of educational uses of technology. Back to top

Eisenbeiss, Sonja

Dr Sonja Eisenbeiss read Philosophy, German Language and Literature, and General Linguistics at the Universities of Cologne and Duesseldorf, where she also taught courses on language acquisition and processing. Before coming to Essex in 2003, Sonja worked on several psycholinguistic research projects at the University of Duesseldorf and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen. Sonja's research interests include first language acquisition and language processing, with a focus on (i) word order, case or agreement marking and their relation to argument/event structure, (ii) the relationship between language and cognition, and (iii) methodological aspects of language acquisition research (comparisons of different methods of data collection and analysis). Back to top

Equality and Diversity Team

Working with the Equality and Diversity Committee (EADC), the Equality and Diversity Unit, has a major input into establishing equality policy at the University. The unit advises the University and the EADC along with departments and sections on good equality practice and the requirements and responsibilities arising from equality legislation. The Harassment Advisory Network is also run by the Equality and Diversity Unit. There are three members of the Unit: Syd Kent, the Equality and Diversity Officer, Karen Bush, the Policy and Projects Officer and Karen Stephenson, the Equality and Diversity Assistant. Back to top

Exley, Kate

Kate is a Senior Academic Staff Development Officer at The University of Leeds and an Independent Consultant in Higher Education Development. She has delivered workshops and undertaken projects at more than 50 HE, FE, Medical and Research Institutions around the country and she is series editor of the new Routledge book series "Key Guides for Effective Teaching in Higher Education". Back to top

Focus for Change (Training & Retirement) Ltd

Exploring key issues through interactive workshops, Focus for Change works effectively with industry, local authorities, emergency services, trade unions, professional practices, charities and the clergy in a vast range of programmes that explore the challenge of change from career-change to retirement planning. Team development, managing stress and personal effectiveness are among a series of workshops receiving consistently positive feedback. Back to top

Garrington, Christine

Christine has been Media Training for five years, and has so far run 13 very successful Mastering the Media (Radio) courses at the University. Before she started training she worked as a journalist for 15 years, most of that time working as a programme editor at BBC Radio Five Live and before that in BBC local radio and newspapers. Back to top

Giddings, Bret

Bret works for Information Systems Services at the University of Essex as the Systems Manager. In this role, he is responsible for managing parts of central IT provision within the University, primarily e-mail, servers (both Windows and Linux based), storage, backup and user accounts but also with line management responsibility for central network and pc lab provision. Having been in continuous employment within the University since 1994 in various roles, Bret has been involved in implementing many parts of the IT infrastructure now taken for granted, such as the provision of the original University web site in 1995. As IT never stands still, Bret is usually busy trying to ensure that the day job can be done whilst tinkering with new technology or computing languages... Back to top

Glenister, Ian

Ian holds a number of directorships and currently works as a business consultant, management coach and training specialist. He has a number of years' experience designing and delivering executive development and training programmes both in the public and private sector and has an intimate understanding of the needs of the managing director/owner. Ian's consultancy work with small businesses ensures that he remains in touch with the issues and the concerns of the owners. Ian has a host of professional qualifications to support his credentials and has been recognised as a Subject Matter Expert in his field of expertise. Back to top

Grinter, Jenny

Jenny is responsible for developing the University's media and public relations strategy, liaising with journalists, and promoting the University in the media. She also has responsibility for internal communication, including editing the University newsletter Wyvern. She is a member of the University's Events Management Team. Back to top

Jenny joined the University in 2001, having previously worked as Head of Media and Public Relations for Essex Police. She has worked in public relations for 15 years, having originally trained and worked as a journalist in Essex. Back to top

Haynes, Anthony

Anthony Haynes is Director of The Professional and Higher Partnership www.professionalandhigher.com and Visiting Professor at Beijing Normal University and Hiroshima University. He teaches academic authorship online for the University of Tartu. His publications include Writing Successful Textbooks (A&C Black, 2001) and Writing Successful Academic Books (CUP, forthcoming in 2010). Back to top

Hopkins, Jo

Jo works in Learning and Development assisting with the planning and implementation of training programmes available to staff and undertakes all detailed arrangements including: staff enrolments, communications with trainers and provision of course materials. Jo is also involved with New Staff Induction tours and manages work experience placements. She has a background in Human Resources and is also qualified in Careers Guidance. Jo's previous experience includes working in the Colchester Learning Shop where she provided an information and advice service on the local post 16 educational and training opportunities available for adults in Colchester and the surrounding area. Back to top

Jaensch, Carol

Carol began her BA in Language Studies at Essex in 1999. She gained a first class honours degree and continued at Essex with an MA in Language Acquisition, which she completed with distinction. In October 2008 and again at Essex, she completed her PhD in linguistics, with special emphasis on second and third language acquisition. Also in 2008, Carol successfully completed the first part of the Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice. In 2009, she completed the second module, and became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has previously taught psycholinguistics in the Department of Language and Linguistics at Essex, and most recently she has taught German in the same department. Carol joined the Professional Development Team in Learning and Development in September 2009, where she is specifically involved in the design and development of courses for the professional development of PhD students. Back to top

Kumar, Arti

Arti Kumar MBE is Associate Director of the CETL at the University of Bedfordshire, and a National Teaching Fellow. She has worked extensively in the field of enhancing students' personal, academic and career development integrated with employability, and is a published author on this topic as well as a writer for award-winning web-based resources. She is a Fellow of the HE Academy and a member of the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services, Centre for Recording Achievement and the British Association of Psychological Type. Back to top

Learning Technology Team

Ben Steeples, Alex O'Neill and Marty Jacobs from the Learning Technology Team (within the Web Support Unit of the University of Essex). With a wealth of experience the Learning Technology Team are responsible for maintaining, administering, and developing the University's learning technology systems. Back to top

Leinster, Sam

Professor Sam Leinster was appointed in January 2001 as the Inaugural Dean of the School of Medicine, Health Policy and Practice at the University of East Anglia which is one of the new medical schools established in response to the perceived need to train more doctors in England. There he has designed and implemented an innovative integrated curriculum using PBL as one of the teaching strategies. Prior to taking up his current post he was Professor of Surgery and Director of Medical Studies in the University of Liverpool where he was responsible for the introduction of a problem-based, student-centred curriculum in 1996. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1971 where he held a Cadetship in the Royal Air Force.

After house jobs in Cornwall and an SHO post in A&E at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, he was Unit Medical Officer in the RAF before being selected for surgical training. On leaving the RAF he began his academic career in Cardiff at the then Welsh National School of Medicine before moving to Liverpool in 1982 as Senior Lecturer in Surgery where he established a Breast Unit which rapidly achieved a national and international profile for excellence. He rapidly became involved in hospital management under the Unit Management structures then in place and was first Secretary then Chair of the Division of Surgery and an executive member of the Hospital Management Team. When the Royal Liverpool University Hospital became an NHS Trust he was appointed as the first Clinical Director of Surgery. He was Regional Surgical Co-ordinator for the National Breast Screening Programme and was a member of the group which wrote the national guidelines for breast cancer.

He is a member of the Healthcare Commission's Clinical Standards Advisory Group He has a background in surgical oncology with clinical interests in breast cancer, malignant melanoma and soft tissue sarcoma. He has been involved in the setting up and running of multi-centre clinical trials in breast disease. His primary research has been on the epidemiology and molecular biology of breast cancer and the psychological correlates of breast disease as well as aspects of medical education. He was a subject reviewer for the QAA round of medical school inspections in 1998-1999 and was a member of the working group who wrote the QAA Benchmark Statement for Medicine in 2000. He became a member of the PLA Board of the GMC in 1996 and has been involved in the subsequent reviews of PLAB chairing the Review Subgroup on Scope and Standards in the 2004 review. He is a team leader for the GMC Quality Assurance of Basic Medical Education programme which is currently undertaking the inspection of medical schools in the UK. He was Chair of the Association for the Study of Medical Education from 1998-2004. Back to top

Lewis, Lauren

Lauren Lewis is one of two Recruitment Officers working within Human Resources. As part of the recruitment team she provides advice and support to managers and staff relating to the recruitment and selection process at the University from drawing up job descriptions, through advertising, shortlisting and interviewing, to final appointment. She has specialist knowledge in employment immigration matters and provides guidance on equality and diversity issues associated with the recruitment of staff. Back to top

Matthews, Rose

Rose is a Funding and Business Development Manager in the University's Research and Enterprise Office. She helps academic colleagues to secure funding for research and to transfer knowledge through close links with public, private and third sector organisations. Previously she was a regional learning and development adviser, director of a voluntary sector organisation, and held university lectureships in social work and community care. Rose has been enterprising in her own career, moving between the public, private and voluntary sectors, and transferring skills, knowledge and experience. Recently she was appointed to a government advisory body, the Standing Commission on Carers. Since graduating in 1972 from the University of Nottingham in Environmental. Back to top

Middleton, Rik

Rik has worked at the University and in other Higher Education Institutions in Teacher Staff Development for many years, and currently has specific responsibility for the Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA) programme. He has also been involved in similar work at Royal Holloway College, and enjoys the opportunities that the role offers; to meet, encourage and help students of all nationalities in various academic fields to become more confident and effective teachers.

Before working at the University of Essex he taught Psychology, and ran in-service certificated programmes for Teachers within Further and Higher education, the Police Force and the Health Service. He has been a consultant in Post-16 education, and an external examiner for in-house Certificate in Education courses. He is particularly interested in the use of cognitive behavioural principles in professional development. Back to top

Montgomery, Catherine

Dr. Catherine Montgomery is the Associate Director (Research) in the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Assessment for Learning and Senior Lecturer in Sociolinguistics at Northumbria University. Catherine has taught in Higher Education for 17 years in a range of contexts in the UK and abroad in Turkey. Her research interests relate to socio-cultural aspects of teaching, learning and assessment and her Doctorate investigated the social networks of international students, considering their impact on the student learning experience. She has published in the field of internationalisation in HE with particular focus on the student perspective and the international student as the human face of internationalisation. Back to top

Moon, Jenny

Jenny works at Bournemouth University (Centre for Excellence in Media Practice – in research on learning); and part time as an independent consultant, running workshops and projects. She has worked in higher education and professional development for 20 years and, particularly in the last five years has run large numbers of workshops in the UK and abroad. Back to top

Moore, Katie

Katie Moore is a Speech and Language Therapist by profession, with 10 years clinical experience specialising in paediatric practice. Katie has been teaching on the MSc Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) course in the School of Health and Human Sciences since the course started in 2006. She coordinates the clinical placements for the SLT course and leads the academic teaching for the first year students. Katie is currently running a TALIF funded project, trialling a new model of placements for final year students. Back to top

Mortiboys, Alan

Alan Mortiboys has worked in Educational Development in Higher Education for 15 years. Formerly Head of Educational Development at the University of Central England, he now combines his work there as leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Education programme for academic staff with his independent work in Staff and Educational Development. He is the author of The Emotionally Intelligent Lecturer (SEDA 2002) and of Teaching with Emotional Intelligence (Routledge 2005). Back to top

Muir, Tracy

Tracy is a qualified Business Psychologist, and she specialises in working with organisations at all levels to enhance and improve business effectiveness and competitiveness by maximising the performance of its people. Tracy brings a contemporary and practical approach to people development, with a proven track record in developing the personal skills of individuals enabling them to work more productively. Back to top

Murrell, Georgina

Georgina Murrell is a Careers Adviser the University of Essex Careers Service. Her role involves providing one to one guidance as well as delivering group workshops. As well as working at Essex, Georgina provides coaching and careers guidance to post graduate students at Cass Business School in London. Georgina previously worked for 4 years at the partner FE College in Southend as the Information, Advice and Guidance Manager. Georgina started her career in Human Resources, working latterly as a Graduate Recruiter in the Professional Service Industry with KPMG and RSM Robson Rhodes. Back to top

Nickson, Camille (FCIPD)

Camille Nickson is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development with a particular interest and skills in leadership and personal development. Camille has worked as a consultant for 13 years during which time she has focused on developing leadership and personal skills for people working in specialists roles. Clients include Loughborough University, English Heritage, English Nature, The National Gallery and Ofsted. Camille is an MBTI practitioner and an experienced coach. Back to top

Pearsall, Linda

Biography to follow. Back to top

Peters, John

Dr John Peters was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2001, partly based on his work to develop and implement student personal development planning, and he used his award to research factors influencing student engagement. He is Associate Director for research and evaluation with the Centre for Recording Achievement, the national body working in association with the Higher Education Academy to promote PDP in HE. He has been an active executive member of the Staff and Educational Development Association and is Deputy Director of the Learning and Teaching Centre at the University of Worcester. Back to top

Phipps, Steven

Steven Phipps has been working with CNA Associates delivering various programmes such as coaching for performance, managing self and motivation, inspiring others and personal effectiveness for the past year and brings a wealth of experience to our Associate Group. Steven's academic background is rooted in art history, philosophy and education. His long career in education centred around developing education and training programmes for a broad spectrum of business clients. As former Head of New Business Development in the Progression Group of companies he developed motivational programmes for companies, including; DaimlerChrysler-Mercedes Benz, National Gallery and the Independent Schools Sector. Steven has worked with academics in curatorial positions, heads of department and subject specialists. Stevens's core belief is that by adopting a person-centred approach to development it will deliver the best results for the individual and organisation. Back to top

Powell Davies, Gillian

Gillian trained as a careers adviser and worked in local government, then at the universities of Lancaster and Essex. She currently works as an international careers adviser for the University's Careers Centre.  Prior to that she worked with the Learning and Development team on career and professional development, specifically with postdoctoral research staff.  Gillian has also worked for the British Council, based at the University of East Anglia, providing support to international students on British Council awards. Alongside some of the above professional roles, she ran her own learn-to-swim business for 12 years.  She checks her heart is still pumping by occasionally entering triathlons and long distance swimming events.

Prentice, Karyn

Karyn is a long-standing regular freelance contributor to the University's staff development programme, an iLab facilitator and a Coach. Karyn designs and delivers management & leadership events, workshops and 'away days' to help individuals and teams access their potential, improve, their performance and achieve more. She works in universities, other institutions of +16 education as well as other settings, for example, classical music, charities and is an external coach for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

She is passionate about the value of coaching as a gateway for individuals and organisations to be the best they can be. She is a qualified Coach (CIPD/Oxford Coaching and Mentoring), an accredited Coaching Supervisor, and is on the senior teaching team at the Coaching Supervision Academy and is a licensed FIREWORK career coach. Her postgraduate work led to UKCP registration in 1995. She is a Director at The Centre for Transpersonal Psychology. Back to top

Race, Phil

Phil is one of very few people who work on both sides of the teaching-learning equation, working with students to develop their learning skills, and working with staff to develop their teaching methods. He also works extensively with trainers on training design. His publications span all three of these fields. He is particularly keen to de-mystify these areas, and to get ideas across without recourse to some of the complex jargon too often encountered in the literature in these fields. A feature of his style is getting people doing things whether in workshops, plenary sessions or whole-conference keynotes. He usually has at least one post-it task in a session, and helps participants to have lively debates and discussions in groups, learning from each others' experiences and problems.

Phil's mission is to improve and enhance the quality of students' learning, by helping teaching staff to develop their methods and approaches, and by helping students to develop their own learning skills. He is also particularly interested in the design of assessment instruments and processes, and keen that both assessment and feedback should play positive and motivating roles in student learning. He has designed and lead highly interactive training workshops for staff in Further and Higher Education, and in commerce and industry.

Phil's original training was as a scientist, but over the years has becomeprogressively more interested in teaching, learning and assessment, and gradually became an educational developer. Currently, he is a part-time Assessment, Learning and Teaching Visiting Professor at Leeds Metropolitan University, and for the rest of his time runs training workshops for staff and students in universities, colleges and other organisations throughout the UK, giving keynotes and workshops at conferences on teaching and learning. He also works abroad, and has visited Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Holland, Ukraine, Hungary, Greece, Israel, Norway, Sweden and Singapore in recent years. Back to top

Recruitment Team

Jo Goodwin, Lauren Lewis and Jocelyn Barber are part of the University's Recruitment Team working within Human Resources. They provide advice and support to managers and staff relating to the recruitment and selection process at the University, from drawing up job descriptions, through advertising, shortlisting and interviewing, to final appointment. They have specialist knowledge in employment immigration matters and provide guidance on equality and diversity issues associated with the recruitment of staff. Back to top

Riordan, Colin

Professor Colin Riordan was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex in October 2007. He came to Essex from Newcastle University, where he had been Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Provost of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences since August 2005. Before joining Newcastle University, he taught at the University of Wales, Swansea, and Julius-Maximilians Universität-Würzburg in Germany.

Professor Riordan is a Board member of the East of England Development Agency, of the Haven Gateway Partnership and of the Equality Challenge Unit. He is chair of the International and European Policy Committee of Universities UK. In 2009 he chaired the Higher Education Funding Council for England's enquiry into teaching quality. He has been Chair of the Board of University Campus Suffolk since February 2009.

A Germanist by academic background, Professor Riordan has published widely on post-war German literature and culture, including editing books on the writers Jurek Becker, Uwe Johnson and Peter Schneider. Other research interests include the history of environmental ideas in German culture. Back to top

Rust, Chris

Dr Chris Rust is Head of the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Deputy Director of the Human Resource Directorate at Oxford Brookes University, and a Deputy Director for two Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - ASKe (Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange) and the Reinvention Centre for undergraduate research (led by Warwick University). He was Course Leader for the University's initial training course for new teaching staff for six years, and with thirteen colleagues has helped to provide both staff and educational development support to the University's academic Schools and support Directorates. He has researched and published on a range of issues including: the experiences of new teachers in HE, the positive effects of supplemental instruction, ways of diversifying assessment, improving student performance through engagement in the assessment process, and the effectiveness of workshops as a method of staff development. He is a Fellow of SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association) and a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, for whom he was also an accreditor. Back to top

Scott, Andrew

Andrew Scott is an independent training consultant who specialises in leadership, teams and personal development. Having bought his MA, and worked in commerce for a few years, for the last 23 years he has worked independently for numerous universities, international blue-chip commercial companies, charities and SMEs. He is known for his range of experience, his engaging style of facilitation and his dreadful stock of jokes and anecdotes. He has a particular interest in stimulating new ways of thinking about complex issues, and helping individuals and groups to change their behaviour and to develop effective action plans that deliver significant and lasting change. He is currently exploring the impact of the stories we tell ourselves on our understanding and experience of reality, and is due to publish a book "Freeing Your People to Perform How changing their stories can transform your people" next summer. Back to top

Smith, Phil

Phil has been based at the John Innes Centre in Norwich for 16 years having moved for a 3 year job contract in 1990! Initially working in the Cereal Pathology group, he completed his PhD in Plant Pathology in 1997 and became involved with the Teacher Scientist Network for the first time during his post-doc. Established as a scientist partner working together with a primary school teacher in 1998, Phil and his partner have now worked together for over 8 years and won a number of school engagement grants. In 2003, Phil hung his lab-coat to undertake his dream job as co-ordinator of the TSN. At the BA Festival 2006 (in Norwich) Phil organised a main programme event exploring the future of partnerships between teachers and scientists and chaired 'Soapbox Science' for 14-19yr olds on behalf of RinR. Back to top

Stephenson, Karen

Karen Stephenson provides secretarial and administrative support for all Equality and Diversity functions, including the Harassment Advisory Network. She also helps facilitate the Equality and Diversity online training sessions. Back to top

Stevenson, Maxwell

Maxwell has been a Learning and Development Adviser at Essex since 2009. Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, he came to the UK as a student of architectural history, undertaking an MA and PhD at Essex. In 2011 he completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, and gained Fellowship with the Higher Education Academy in 2012. His primary focus is now on learning and development project work, but he still teaches and leads sessions for undergraduate and graduate students, and academic and administrative staff. Back to top

Stock, Sara

Sara Stock is the University's Records Manager and has responsibility for ensuring the University meets its Data Protection and Freedom of Information obligations. She spent many years working in NHS libraries where she provided information skills training to everyone from student nurses to senior Consultants. Since qualifying as a librarian at Aberystwyth Sara has kept up her own learning and development, most recently studying part time for an MA at Birkbeck. She is a member of the Records Management Society and the Association of University Administrators. Back to top

Taylor, Stan

Dr Stan Taylor was educated at the universities of Newcastle, Oxford and Warwick, and was a lecturer at Warwick from 1973-1994. He subsequently moved into academic staff development and has worked in that capacity at the universities of Warwick, Newcastle and, since 2004, Durham. Stan is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an auditor with the Quality Assurance Agency. He has interests in a range of areas of academic practice, particularly in the field of doctoral education in which he has a number of publications including most recently (with Nigel Beasley) A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors (RoutledgeFalmer 2005). Back to top

Theobald, Stewart

Stewart Theobald trained and worked as a professional actor before training as a voice coach. Stewart formed Talking Shop Training Ltd in 1992 and currently works with twelve Universities and various businesses in the public and private sector. Over the past fourteen years Stewart has coached actors, broadcasters, business executives, barristers, university lecturers and politicians. Back to top

Thomson, Robert

Robert Thomson is Head of Strategic Financial Management, responsible for co-ordinating the work of the Service Accounting team within the University's faculties and Finance Section. Rob was brought up in Coventry and studied at the University of St Andrews; an economist, he took a Scottish MA in 1987. Much of his time as an undergraduate was taken up with student politics and a deep involvement in the Students' Association. He wrote his dissertation on 'The Economics of League Football' some years before this became a lucrative area of interest for academics and finance professionals.

Rob qualified as a Chartered Accountant in London with Binder Hamlyn prior to that firm being subsumed within Arthur Andersen. He joined the University in 1998. Rob has worked on the financial planning of the South Courts and University Quays residences, the University's merger with East 15 Acting School, and he was involved in the Southend Campus project at its inception.

Pursuing an interest in impenetrable acronyms, Rob has more recently specialised in work relating to the TRAC (Transparent Approach to Costing) and FEC (Full Economic Costing) initiatives, as well as the development of the University's Departmental Income & Expenditure Model (DIEM). In 2009 he conceived, wrote and rolled out the 'Snowball' model that integrates the DIEM into the University's high level financial forecasts. He has been closely involved in better aligning the University's planning and budgeting processes to the faculty structure. Back to top

Virdee, Sonia

Sonia started working in universities following her PhD, pursuing a research fellowship in the Department of Biological Sciences at UEA. She then took a post as a new blood lecturer at Suffolk College, now University Campus Suffolk, involving teaching, research supervision at Essex and creating a new modular degree framework. As Head of Science she developed new provision and collaborations in subjects ranging from Environmental Studies to Animal Health and co-authored a textbook in Ecology. The lure of Essex grew stronger and Sonia moved to the University in 2000 to lead the Planning Office. She has at various times been responsible for learning and teaching, quality and collaborative degrees, as well as institutional planning.

In her current role Sonia oversees the development and monitoring of the Strategic Plan, University and administrative forward planning, and is heavily involved in planning for the new fees era, new initiatives, funding and regional developments. The role includes oversight of university planning including the integration of financial, student numbers and academic plans at the university and faculty levels, external liaison, especially with the Funding Council, and responding to national HE initiatives.

Sonia also does consultancy work outside the University as a consultant in the areas of strategic planning and organisational development and has undertaken strategic consultancy overseas. In between work she enjoys time with her children, sailing, cycling and holidays in the Hebrides.Back to top

Wakeford, John

Professor John Wakeford is a sociologist and was Head of the School of Independent Studies at Lancaster University for 20 years. He is founder and Director of the Missenden Seminars, the Missenden Centre for the Development of Higher Education. John has extensive experience of working in universities and addressing the needs of senior university staff.  Since 1987 he has been researching, planning, designing, and presenting in-house programmes such as graduate school development, quality assurance and enhancement and RAE strategy, which are tailored to the needs of HE institutions and individual staff. Back to top

Walker, Deanna

Deanna has been working in various administrative roles at the University since 1989. She currently works in the Academic Section as an Academic Officer for the Science & Engineering Faculty, and also leads the Taught Team in the Registry. As part of her role she helps to prepare staff for the annual round of Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Exam Boards, and in the last few years has run a number of briefing events for campus staff and staff at partner colleges. She is also the secretary to the Working Group which is conducting a two-year review of the introduction of the new Undergraduate Rules of Assessment. Back to top

Wilkinson, Dave

Dave Wilkinson is an independent HE consultant and company director. He was Head of Professional Development at Cranfield University and before that a senior lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. He teaches regularly at a number of universities including Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Cardiff, York and a number of others around the world. Wisker, Gina Gina Wisker is Head of the Centre for Learning and Teaching at the University of Brighton, and previously was Director for learning and teaching development at Anglia Ruskin, and a Sir Allan Sewell fellow at Griffith university Brisbane. Gina has taught culturally diverse and international students for over 28 years, and conducts ongoing research into the learning of international students (see SEDA book 'Good practice working with international students' ed G Wisker 2000) and international postgraduates (see 'The Postgraduate research handbook' Palgrave Macmillan 2001, second edn 2007) She acts as a consultant for the Oxford Centre for staff and learning Development, is chair of the Heads of Educational Development, and delivers workshops on working with culturally diverse students and postgraduate learning internationally (S Africa, Australasia, UK, Ireland). Back to top

Wolton, Bronwen

Bronwen Wolton has worked in adult, further and higher education for the past 23 years. Her specialist postgraduate qualification is in theoretical linguistics. She has been a teacher educator for 12 years and developed the University of Essex-validated Certificate in Education (teaching literacy and EFL), based on Lifelong Learning UK guidelines, for a University partner institution from which she retired last year. She has also developed and taught courses at the University of Essex in literacy-based subjects for Learning and Development for many years. Her teaching career has covered foundation and degree-level courses and she worked as an Open University tutor on the English Language and Literacy degree course. Part of her further education teaching involved business communication courses and she continues to develop her interest in language and linguistics at all levels. Back to top

Yap, Thomas

Thomas Yap (BA Hons, MA, MTh, PGDip) works as pastoral counsellor and Anglican Chaplain in the University of Essex. He has been working as a pastoral counsellor since 2004 and specialises in issues of bereavement, identity and depression. Alongside seeing private clients, he runs training courses on bereavement, listening skills and pastoral care for diverse groups and institutions. This includes hospitals, hospices, universities and churches. He is a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and works under their professional ethical framework. As part of his ongoing professional development, Thomas is currently embarking on an MA in Psychodynamic Therapy in London. As an ordained Anglican (Church of England) chaplain, Thomas also provides spiritual care to the university staff and students. This may include services of remembrance, funerals, christenings and celebrations. His work as a chaplain is open to all regardless of any faith or none. Thomas is fluent in British Sign Language (BSL) and has worked previously as a BSL communication support voluntary worker with the Yorkshire local council, a leader of the Deaf church, and as Trustee of a special school serving pupils with learning difficulties including severe learning difficulties, autism spectrum disorders and profound language and communication difficulties prior to working here at the University. Back to top