Academic Board

The Academic Board is the peak academic governing body overseeing all the academic matters of the institution and reports to the Board of Directors. The members of the academic board are as below.

Academic Board

The Academic Board comprises a majority of independent members, complemented by ex officio, academic staff representatives from relevant disciplines and student members (once underway) . The Academic Board is the peak academic governing body for discussion, debate and oversight of all academic matters and provides advice to the Board of Directors on all academic matters consistent with the strategic intent of the Company.

The Academic Board has established the Course Development and Advisory Committee and the Teaching, Learning and Quality Committee in order that it may perform its function in governing and providing oversight of all academic matters.

The Course Development and Advisory Committee is a forum for the development of course proposals, disciplinary and professional input and advice for existing units and courses, and the implementation of changes to the curriculum arising from monitoring and review of courses on the advice of the Academic Board. The Committee will usually meet twice per year, however, during this period of course development it has met more frequently.

The Teaching, Learning, and Quality Committee was established to assist the Academic Board in overseeing and safeguarding the quality, standard, and integrity of courses and academic matters. While the committee has been established, it will not commence activity until higher education operations commence.

Audit and risk committee is a sub committee of the Board of Directors and is responsible for the identification and management of risk and financial accountability, including internal and external audit arrangements and outcomes. The committee reports to the Board of Directors.

Prof. Janelle Allison
Independent Member and Chair
Qualifications: BA (Hons), MRegSci, PhD, D.Litt )


A former Pro Vice-Chancellor, Community Partnerships and Regional Development and more recently Founding Principal of University College at the University of Tasmania, Janelle led an innovative program to deliver a contemporary curriculum to produce the workforce for Tasmania’s future industries. University College was specifically created to focus on Associate Degrees and AQF 5&6 higher education qualifications. In recognition of the need for greater choice and options in the higher education sector, the curriculum is strongly focussed on applied and experiential learning.

A recent member of the TasTAFE board, she brings experience and understanding of TEQSA compliance and working with government. With a background in geography and regional planning, Janelle has worked with regional communities and in regional development in Australia, (particularly Queensland) as well as overseas in Africa and Indonesia. She has taught in a range of settings including planning/design studios, rural community development, short courses and training for regional development in provincial governments in Indonesia and more recently worked with Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to develop training (based on AQF standards) for researchers in PNG, Indonesia and Cambodia.   

Mr. Paul Reynolds

Qualifications: M Phil

Now retired, Paul has been an Associate Professor and Program Manager at Northern Territory University, Southern Cross University, and the University of South Australia. He has been a visiting Professor at several international Universities including Waseda (Japan), Anahuac (Mexico), and Toulouse le Mirail (France). His research specialisms are Service Industry Management and Cross-Cultural Management. 

Dr. Lorraine Bennett

Qualifications: CertAcademicLeadership, TSTC, GradDipMediaStudies, Dip(PhysEd), MA, MBA, PhD

After an extensive career in university senior leadership and academic roles, in mid-2015, Lorraine established her own Learning and Teaching Consultancy, primarily servicing the Independent Higher Education Provider market. She specialises in providing advice on academic governance, scholarship of learning and teaching, change management, quality assurance and improvement, and, organisation and staff capability building. Throughout her career,

Lorraine has attracted over $4.5 million dollars in funding for learning and teaching projects and research and in 2013, her leadership in the scholarship of learning and teaching was recognised with a $10,000 national Citation (AAUT). In 2019, she was appointed as a member of the TEQSA Register of Experts.

Lorraine continues to actively participate in academic endeavours and regularly writes and presents papers for conferences and publication. Considering the impact of COVID-19 on the educational landscape, her current academic interest is improving the quality of digital learning and teaching by drawing upon contemporary research from neuroscience on how learning occurs in the brain.

Prof. Barry Burgan 

Qualifications: BEc(Hons)

Barry commenced an academic career 30 years ago after commencing his professional career in the public-private sector and management consulting. Over his academic career, he has taught and researched mainly in the areas of financial and public economics, and quantitative methods.

He has published some 50 academic publications focusing on cost-benefit analysis and infrastructure valuation and maintained a strong applied engagement in consulting work. Over the time he has taken on various University administrative roles including Dean of the Business School at the University of Adelaide, Deputy Dean and Associate Dean Development at Bond University, Academic Director at Torrens University, and Director of the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies.

Over the last ten years, he has been heavily involved in international accreditation with AACSB and EQUIS and is currently a member of the Initial Accreditation Committee of AACSB and serving on School Review panels.   

Dr Antonio Dottore,

Qualifications: Dip Fin Planning, GAICD Grad Cert Online Learning (H.Ed.), BEc(Hons), MBA (Insead); PhD

Course Development and Advisory Committee

A/Prof Gail Wilson,
Independent Member 

Chair of the Course Development and Advisory Committee

Qualifications: PFHEA, BA(Hons), BEd, MEd, PhD 

Gail is an Associate Professor in SCU's Emeritus Faculty. She is one of a small team of editors for the UK-based journal Research in Learning Technology (RLT). She is an assessor for the AAUT national teaching awards and was recently appointed to the TEQSA Experts Register for a period of three years.

Gail's research interests focus on online professional learning for teachers in higher education, resource-based learning, assessment design, and peer review in the context of online and blended learning environments using a conversational approach to give and receive feedback between staff.

She is keenly interested in teachers as designers and ways in which learning design principles and good design practice can be shared with academics. She has worked for four different universities in Australia and an independent provider of higher education.

Currently she works part time as an independent consultant in higher education.

Prof Andrew McAuley,
CEO ex officio 

Invitee Board of Directors, Member Academic Board
 
Qualifications: Dip Fin Planning, GAICD Grad Cert Online Learning (H.Ed.), BEc(Hons), MBA (Insead); PhD 

Andrew has over 30 years of experience working in higher education in the UK, and Australia. Most recently he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Southern Cross University. Currently, he is CEO of Global Higher Education, based in Adelaide, and, in addition, CEO of Banksia Institute Australia, based in Sydney. He has published in many leading marketing journals and is a founding co-Editor of the Journal of Social Marketing launched in 2011. In addition, he is a past Chair and Vice President of the UK-based Academy of Marketing.