I have over 20 years of experience in the Higher Education sector gained from multiple roles – these have ranged from teaching in the classroom right through to senior management positions.

I currently hold a dual strategic leadership position as Dean of the Faculty of Business at Arden University and I’m very proud to have been appointed as Arden’s first ever Dean, giving me the exciting opportunity to build a Faculty from scratch. I am also the Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) at Arden University.

Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and the youngest of seven children, I have enjoyed a successful career in industry prior to making the jump into academia. Realising this was where I could enact genuine change, I moved across as a result of my desire to help students from widening participation backgrounds achieve their goals and support their communities. I was featured in the publication “We are the City” named as an inspirational woman, have made an appearance on BBC Radio 4 discussing digital technology in Higher Education and have also been a finalist for two consecutive years in the grand prix category of the Education Investor Awards shortlisted as Business Woman of the year (2022) and Business Woman to Watch (2021). Similarly, I was named in the Business Women in Education’s inaugural Women to Watch list in 2022.
 
I was the winner of the most prestigious CMI Volunteer of the Year Award 2022 having been the former regional chair for the West Midlands and Northwest. I am an inspirational speaker and have a keen interest in the equity, diversity and inclusivity of organisations and have delivered several keynote presentations both locally and nationally as well as published several articles advocating the benefits of diverse and inclusive management and leadership teams. I continue to engage with audiences across a variety of sectors with the ambition to encourage and inspire more females, especially from ethnic minority backgrounds, attaining senior leadership roles.

The session will be a personal account about the challenges and barriers I have faced in Higher Education to progress my professional career. It will be based on real life experiences having been brought up in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the UK and being born in Nairobi, Kenya. I was the only sibling from seven who had the opportunity to go to university. The presentation will also explore some practical hints and tips to break down barriers and smash through glass ceilings.

Alison is the chief executive Advance HE. She was appointed in autumn 2017, to lead the merger of three national agencies which created Advance HE in 2018.

Prior to that she was the chief executive of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE). With three decades experience in higher education she was held a variety of senior posts including head of policy for leadership, governance and management at the HEFCE (The Higher Education Funding Council for England, now the Office for Students, the HE regulator for England), where she led on a wide range of policy themes and established both the Leadership Foundation and the Equality Challenge Unit.

She is a past president and chair of the Association of University Administrators (AUA), advisor to the Association of Commonwealth Universities Human Resources Management Network and also sits on the British Council’s planning committee for Going Global, the major international higher education conference. She has and has held numerous Board positions and works widely in the area of effective governance and the advancement of equality, diversity and inclusion. Advance HE is the home of the Athena Swan Charter, a framework used to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research. The framework has been adapted for use outside of Europe, with charter frameworks established in Australia (SAGE Athena Swan), the USA (SEA-Change), Canada (Dimensions), India (GATI, in partnership with the British Council) and Brazil (also in partnership with the British Council).

Alison has extensive international experience in higher education sitting on a variety of boards and advising governments and higher education institutions on higher education reform. She led the review of teaching and learning enhancement for the Australian government, which established the Office for Learning and Teaching to enhance teaching quality across the Australian higher education sector. Alison regularly takes part in conferences and events, both nationally and internationally, and has been an invited speaker in over 30 countries on four continents speaking on all aspects of university leadership, governance and management.

Dr Ella Popper is the Head of Professional Development at the AUA and leads the strategic development of the AUA’s professional development portfolio. 

Ella is a Doctor of Education, and her research interests include the philosophy and theory of higher education, focusing specifically on culture and values. She has a keen interest in higher education policy, how it shapes higher education culture and the impact on the roles and relationships between professional and academic staff. 

Ella’s interest in the concept of the third-space stems from her career development. Prior to joining the AUA, Ella worked in higher education professional services as a learning developer and in further education as a Lecturer in Professional Practice. As a proud member of professional staff with academic credentials, she has worked ‘in-between’ academic and professional settings actively championing interprofessional working to enhance the student experience. 

Dr Sunny Dhillon is a lecturer in Education Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK.

His academic qualifications are in Hispanic Studies and (Continental) Philosophy. His professional HE background is in Philosophy, Learning Development (LD) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP).

His third space roles in LD and EAP incorporated his Philosophical interests, and involved working alongside students and staff to demystify, challenge and change academic practices and conventions.

He has worked at five HEIs across England and Wales. Prior to working in HE, he worked in finance and for NGOs in both London and Nassau (The Bahamas)

Recently appointed as the new Executive Director for Transformation of Education and Student Outcomes at King’s College London, Keith Zimmerman is a board-level executive with 28 years’ experience in higher education.

Keith was previously the Chief Operating Officer at the University of Bath. During his career he has served as Group Chief Operating Officer for the Open University; Director of Student Administration and Services at the University of Oxford; Academic Registrar at the University of Exeter; and Managing Partner and Head of Research Leadership at academic and scientific recruiters Perrett Laver.

He has extensive stakeholder management skills developed through the advocacy and delivery of organisational change and large-scale transformation programmes in high-profile and politically-charged settings. 

Keith has also delivered a diverse range of customer and corporate services and led projects and programmes in large, complex, and highly regulated organisations. 

Professor Ken Sloan joined Harper Adams as Vice-Chancellor on 1 November 2021.  Professor Sloan has extensive international experience in leadership, governance, administrative and commercial activities.  The University will launch its next strategic plan in Spring 2023 outlining its ambitions to 2030. Given the specialist focus of Harper Adams, there has never been a more important period for its education, research and impact activities.  
 
Previously, Professor Sloan was at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, serving as the inaugural Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Governance). As a member of the University Executive, Professor Sloan was responsible for providing University-wide leadership and strategic support for the creation and acceleration of major partnerships, government relations, precinct development, new revenue creation, commercialisation, innovation, entrepreneurship, strategic intelligence, group governance and institutional risk.  
 
Professor Sloan has previously held roles as Registrar and Chief Operating Officer at the University of Warwick; as a Business Development Director, Universities and Higher Education, with SERCO; and as Special Advisor to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Education Foundation, based at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He continues to serve as a panel chair for the Schwarzman Scholars annual selection process. 
 
Professor Sloan has chaired and served on the boards of a number of institutional subsidiary companies, boards and international fundraising and development trusts. He chaired the boards of Monash Investment Holdings (the University’s venture investment body) and Monash College, the Audit and Risk Committee of the IITB-Monash Academy and the Monash Technology Transformation Institute (Shenzhen) Executive Committee. He served on the boards of BioCurate Pty Ltd, Warwick University Enterprises (Australia), and as Chair of the Victorian Heart Institute Strategic Advisory Board. He served as sector representative on the Federal Austrade Agriculture 4.0 Steering Committee and previously as Chair of the Coventry Partnership, ethics adviser to Coventry City Council, Chair of Governors of Woodway Park School and Community College, governor of the WMG Academy for Young Engineers and a board director of the Midlands Arts Centre. He was chair or member of the University of Warwick’s fundraising trusts in Singapore, South Africa and Hong Kong. 
 
Professor Sloan graduated with an MA (Hons) from the University of Glasgow, an MBA from the Warwick Business School, and is a member of CPA Australia. He is a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators (FAUA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA).  Professor Sloan is an Adjunct Professor of Practice in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University. 

Amanda Goodall PhD is Professor of Leadership at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). Her main work analyses the relationship between leadership, management and organizational performance. It shows that leaders who have a deep understanding of the core business (‘expert leaders’) are associated with better organisational performance, higher employee job satisfaction and fewer quits.  Being a good manager alone is not sufficient. Evidence supporting the ‘theory of expert leadership’ comes from business, healthcare, universities, Formula 1, basketball, and among professionals.  Amanda has also done important research into gender differences in pay and negotiation, and she writes on diversity more broadly.
 
Amanda publishes in academic journals, practitioner publications (e.g. HBR) and in the media (e.g. Financial Times).  In June 2023 she releases a business book on her research titled “Credible: The power of Expert Leaders”, with Basic Books and Public Affairs (Hachette). Amanda has been a research fellow at Cornell, IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, University of Zurich and Yale University. Based on her research, she created the Executive Masters in Medical Leadership a program tailored to the needs of physicians.  Her work is available at www.amandagoodall.com
 
Amanda began her career at 16 in the fashion industry, followed by a decade working with campaigning and charitable organizations, before graduating from the London School of Economics. After a few years working with university leaders she completed her PhD in leadership at Warwick Business School in 2007, which was published in 2009, “Socrates in the Boardroom’, Princeton University Press”.  

Stuart is Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Warwick. He is responsible for ensuring the delivery of excellence in education and research within the region, nationally and internationally. He leads a team of over 7,000 people supporting some 29,000 students with global research connections.

During his career Stuart has contributed to many publications focused on international security, which include a series of books including Culture, Crisis and America’s War on terror and Securitizing Islam, along with a further dozen books.

Stuart is currently Chair of Universities West Midlands, and has previous chaired the Midlands Innovation Board and the national Equality Challenge Unit.

In 2021 Stuart was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the West Midlands.

+ Delegates have the option to stay in the hotel style accommodation, Radcliffe whilst attending the AUA Conference. Each room includes a double bed facing a television, a full-length wardrobe, and desk space as well as a modern en-suite, with room service also available. These rooms are priced at a Sunday rate of £70+VAT and a Monday rate of £80. We have limited availability for the Radcliffe, so don’t miss out! 

+ This year, there is also the option to reside in the University of Warwick’s budget-friendly on-site student rooms costing just £57.75+VAT a night. These rooms include a single bed featuring a desk, and an en-suite inclusive of towels and wrapped soap as well as a shared kitchen, creating the perfect space to connect with fellow AUA members more personally. 

Included with accommodation, you will also have free access to Warwick Sport’s Premium Leisure facilities on Campus. These facilities include a swimming pool and gym, open from 6:00 to 23:00 Monday to Friday.

This offer is exclusive to the University of Warwick. Booking can be completed directly through this link. If you have any queries regarding accommodation, please contact conference.events@warwick.ac.uk.

With the events of the previous few years impacting our ability to socialise, the AUA believe that campus accommodation will only heighten the world of wonderful and inclusive networking opportunities that the AUA has to offer at our Annual Conference. The campus accommodation offer is extremely beneficial in maximising your experience as a delegate as it promotes accessibility with every aspect of the conference in one location.    

We also hope that this offer will make our Sunday Social more accessible as this will also take place on campus, with further details to follow. 

Please note that accommodation and many other amenities on-site are cashless. However, there is a cash machine available outside Rootes Grocery Store should you require. 

Prior to the event, we would recommend that you register in advance of arrival. Please select ‘Conference Parking Warwick University’ and enter the AUA’s exclusive discount code ‘VPIBY‘ to receive free parking throughout the event.

Coventry Railway Station is approximately four miles from the campus, with taxis located at the Station as well as on Central Campus at the University. If you are travelling more locally, Tile Hill and Canley Rail Stations are close and conveniently located to the campus. 

There are also regular bus services to the University Campus from Coventry City Centre and Railway Station, with the journey taking approximately 30 minutes. From the bus station, you can also catch the National Express bus 12X directly onto the main campus. You can find detailed information on Coventry’s bus services here. 

Birmingham International Airport is approximately 20 minutes from campus by car, with a taxi rank available at the airport. Birmingham International Railway Station serves the airport, with weekday departures to Coventry Rail Station averaging every 10 minutes.  

There are a variety of café’s, restaurants, bars, and retail spaces as well as a pharmacy on campus, all within walking distance of both the Conference venue and accommodation. 

Delegates can also access Warwick Guest WiFi for free across the whole campus and accommodation, with working spaces available throughout the university. 

The University of Warwick’s Chaplaincy is available to all delegates throughout conference. You can find more information on access to the Chaplaincy here.

Included with accommodation, you will also have free access to Warwick Sport’s Premium Leisure facilities on Campus. These facilities include a swimming pool and gym, open from 6:00 to 23:00 Monday to Friday.

The AUA Annual Gala Dinner will also take place on the University of Warwick campus on Monday 3 July, with a drink’s reception, a three-course dinner and the AUA award ceremony, all followed by the infamous AUA disco.  

With accreditations covering waste management, recycling, energy, and water conservation, the University of Warwick showcases a commitment to sustainability, and we truly cannot wait for you to join the AUA in celebrating this. 

Excluding the excitement of the AUA Annual Conference, Warwick itself has a great deal of culture to offer. Within walking distance of the University, you can follow paths into the ancient woodland of Crackley Wood to explore open glades and wildlife. In only a 20-minute drive you can find yourself at one of the UK’s top tourist attractions, Warwick Castle with much of Warwick’s medieval architecture still standing throughout the Old Town.