Leadership

Dr Dickson commenced his professional career as a physical education teacher, then further education led him to an academic role at the University of New England in Armidale (1991-2004) where he completed his PhD in the development and assessment of occupational competencies and used elite soccer referees as a case study. Dr Dickson assumed the role of Dean at the Australian College of Physical Education in 2004 where he facilitated an expansion of their program offerings, diversifying delivery methods and improved the quality of the institution through numerous academic initiatives.

In 2012 Dr Dickson was appointed as Dean at The Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP) and was responsible for leading multiple business units that comprised of Navitas Professional Institutes such as ACAP, the Navitas College of Public Safety and Health Skills Australia. During his tenure at Navitas, Dr Dickson led a series of successful course accreditation and registration processes culminating in NPI being awarded self-accrediting authority in March 2017.

During his academic career, he has led research projects for many national sporting organisations and departments of education; served on numerous national and state-based committees, and most recently served on a Federal Government’s QILT committee charged with overseeing the introduction of quality indicators in high education.

Beyond his work, Scott is an avid sportsman. Whilst having been active in soccer and cricket for many years, he now is a keen cyclist. He regularly commutes to work by bike and regularly participates in annual Gran Fondos such as L’Étape du Tour in the Snowy Mountains and the Bupa Challenge in Adelaide.

Assoc Professor Beulah Moses, is the General Manager of Higher Education Quality.

Assoc Professor Beulah Moses, has 30 years of university and private higher education leadership experience in Australia and overseas. During her academic career, has been involved in the setup of a new private higher education provider, and set up partnerships with universities. Her PhD is in the area of Artificial Intelligence from the University of South Australia and the Australian Defence Automation Department. She is a TEQSA expert in the area of IT, governance and quality assurance. She has significant skills in Private Higher Education and has held several senior academic leadership roles.

Assoc Prof Beulah has expertise in course development, course accreditation, renewal of registration, CRICOS renewal, risk management, policy management, and governance.

Professor Rouse has a career working in and contributing to knowledge in both Higher Education and Industry. His passion for Education, Global Health and empowering all people – together with expertise in leadership and management, information management and cultural diversity has led him to make significant contributions to many people in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region.Ian brings a wide range of leadership, management and people skills developed over 30 years of experience in senior management roles in large information, analysis and research organisations, tertiary institutions and government departments. Ian also offers a diverse range of knowledge and management experience in numerous NGO, community and sporting organisations in Australia and overseas. Professor Rouse has significant knowledge and skills in Higher Education. He has held senior academic positions including acting Vice Chancellor of the Fiji National University, the Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Fiji National University, Executive Dean of the Division of Health, Engineering and Sciences at Victoria University, and Associate Dean of Research and Enterprise Development and Head of the School of Public Health at Curtin University. He currently holds the position of Associate Dean, Scholarship and Research in the Education Centre of Australia and adjunct Professorial roles with Monash and Federation Universities in Melbourne Australia. His current teaching roles are in Leadership and Management, Health Information Management, Field Epidemiology, Data for Decision Making, Research Methods and Project Management.

Elena (Lena) Shifrina is the General Manager, Higher Education Operations. Lena is an experienced education leader, having worked in private Higher Education in Australia for the last 15 years. Her main areas of expertise lie in student recruitment (both domestic and international), admissions, compliance, student experience and service, and overall student journey from enquiry until graduation. Lena is passionate about providing outstanding service and support for international students, with a particular interest in student wellbeing. At ECA, Lena is involved in all operational areas supporting and promoting student experience, and student engagement.

Emeritus Professor Annabelle Duncan is a Microbial Ecologist by training, who was educated at Otago University in New Zealand, La Trobe University, and Monash University. She has completed a Senior Executive Management course at Harvard University as well as the Director’s course and the Advanced Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She worked sixteen years at CSIRO, initially as a research scientist and later in science management. As the Chief of CSIRO Molecular Science for six years, she supervised the spin-off of six start-up companies.

From 2005–2007 she was Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Bio21 Institute at the University of Melbourne. From 2007–2010 she was the Executive Director, Science Collaboration at the Biosciences Research Centre, a joint venture between La Trobe University and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.

Emeritus Professor Duncan has acted as an adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on biological weapons control and in this capacity represented Australia at international arms control meetings. She was awarded a Public Service Medal in 1996 and an Honorary DSc from Murdoch University in 2005 for her work in arms control. She has also served as a biological weapons inspector with the United Nations in Iraq.

In 2019 she was awarded an Honorary DSc from La Trobe University for achievements in academia and contributions to science.

Emeritus Professor Duncan joined the University of New England in late 2010, initially as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research). She later became the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and in late 2014 was appointed the Vice-Chancellor, serving in this role until mid-2019.

She currently serves as a non-executive director on boards and chairs the NSW Physical Sciences Fund.

For over 25 years Peter has been actively involved with a number of tertiary education providers, specialising in the areas of regulatory approvals, quality assurance, and corporate and academic governance.

In 2015 Peter established HELI as a new education enterprise aimed at fulfilling a niche role in the independent higher education sector through the delivery of global best-practice advisory services and professional development to independent higher education providers.

As well as being a director of HELI, Peter is also Chair of the Board of Directors of two of Australia’s largest private higher education providers: Australian College of Applied Professions and SAE Institute, as well as Director and Treasurer of the International Centre of Excellence in Tourism and Hospitality Education (THE-ICE), an international accreditation body.

Emeritus Professor Downes has worked with universities, educational systems, and schools, for nearly 40 years. She is a highly experienced senior educational leader, having had long term leadership roles at two universities.

In 2018 she retired from the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic at Charles Sturt University, having also served as an Executive Dean in earlier years. In her senior executive roles in higher education, she has demonstrated ability at the organisational and sector levels in strategic planning, governance, change management, financial management, quality assurance and stakeholder engagement, particularly with governments, professions, and Indigenous organisations and communities.

Emeritus Professor Downes professional and research interests focus on improved educational outcomes in universities and schools in the effective use of digital technologies, in gender and technology, and in teacher education policy and practice.

Her work included numerous research and professional projects, over 70 publications, international and national professional presentations and workshops and over $1 million in grants and consultancies. She has been a keynote or distinguished speaker at international conferences in New Zealand, USA, England, Switzerland, Hungary, PNG, Thailand, Hong Kong, Wales, China, Finland and Norway.

She currently serves as a non-executive director on a number of boards, as a member of academic boards and advisory committees, and as an external consultant and reviewer of educational programs and organisational units.

Emeritus Professor Cummins has extensive experience in educational leadership and governance and has served on several incorporated and advisory Boards including the ACT Board of Studies, The Australian Catholic University Senate Limited, Marymead Child and Family Services Limited, Marist Youth Care Limited, St Edmunds’ College Canberra Limited, the Council of St Ignatius College Riverview Limited and Sydney College of Divinity Limited.

From 2009 to 2018 she served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Learning and Teaching) at the Australian Catholic University and before that as Dean of Students at the Australian Catholic University in 2008 and 2009.

Emeritus Professor Cummins worked for many years in the Catholic secondary education system as a teacher and secondary college principal in New South Wales and the ACT. She is currently a Director of Catholic Schools NSW Limited, the Chair and Director of Catholic Employment Relations Limited, The Chair of the Stewardship Commission of the Sisters of St Joseph.

John Jenkins has extensive academic governance and leadership experience and is currently Chair of Academic Board and member of the Governing Council at JMC Academy. His previous appointments include: Professor, Chair of the Academic Board and Member of the University Council at Southern Cross University (SCU); Director of SCU Online; Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic at SCU; Chair of the Academic Board and member of the Governing Council at TOP Education Institute. John has also held previous appointments at Central Queensland University, the University of Canberra and The University of Newcastle as Associate Professor. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of the Register of TEQSA Experts and an Adjunct Professor at SCU. John has published a large collection of books, book chapters, refereed journal articles and reports, which are listed here: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2569-4531 John is the Director of John M. Jenkins Pty Ltd, providing consultancy services to higher education institutions in the areas of corporate governance, academic governance, course accreditations and curriculum development, academic policies and procedures, research strategy, and student matters, including student appeals, complaints and grievances.

Professor Bennett is Assistant Provost and Director of the Transformation CoLab with Bond University. She is an experienced senior leader, an educational reformist, and a passionate educator. Dawn’s expertise is the enhancement of student success and graduate employability through data-driven approaches to student retention and engagement, teaching, curricular reform and work-integrated learning.

Dawn is also a staunch advocate for student equity and addressing the impacts of disadvantage. She has a long history of respectful partnerships with first nations communities and is co-author of a national Framework for Respectful Work and Learning with Australia’s First Peoples. Dawn is an internationally known researcher with a world-class publication record. Her EmployABILITY Thinking initiative engages over 60 institutions globally and the dataset is now the biggest collection of student-derived confidence data in the world.

Dawn is also a passionate educator. She has won a national citation and Australian national teaching award and she is a Senior National Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow. Dawn is a Principal Fellow with the Higher Education Academy and Vice President of the Australian Learning and Teaching Fellows.

Dawn is heavily involved with governance and compliance with Bond University and is a member of the executive committees. She is an eternal member of two academic boards and one course quality committee. Dawn’s fields of education are Education, the Arts, and Business.

Adjunct Professor Robertson is an experienced academic with over 25 years experience in higher education. Adjunct Professor Robertson was the Dean of the School of Nursing, Sydney at the University of Notre Dame(UNDA) and prior to this the Associate Dean, Learning and Teaching. During her time in the School of Nursing she led both undergraduate and post graduate curriculum development, led the expansion of post graduate programs and engaged with industry partners to develop industry based graduate certificate programs. She has previously worked at a non self-accrediting higher education provider where she was responsible for program development and both internal and external accreditation.

Adjunct Professor Robertson has extensive experience in learning and teaching, curriculum development and stakeholder engagement. At UNDA she served on Academic Council, was the Chair of the Educational Technology Advisory group and the Chair of the University Learning and Teaching committee.

Adjunct Professor Robertson is passionate about nursing and education and has a keen interest in learning and teaching, curriculum development, standards and accreditation.

Professor Reid is Emeritus Professor of Education at Charles Sturt University. Prior to her retirement in 2018, she served as the Presiding Officer of the CSU Academic Senate, Associate Dean Teacher Education, and Head of the School of Teacher Education. She completed her professional qualifications at the University of Queensland and her PhD at Deakin University. After teaching with the Education Department of WA she worked casually at the University of Western Australia, Murdoch, Deakin, and Monash Universities while completing her doctorate, and then at the Universities of Ballarat and New England as a full time academic prior to joining Charles Sturt in 2002.

Professor Reid remains active as a researcher and publisher, and over her career has won a range of ARC and other National Competitive Grants focussed on literacy and English teaching, teacher education, Indigenous and overseas-born teachers, as well as rural teacher education. She has been co-editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education and has recently been appointed to the editorial board of this journal. She is a past president of the NSW Council of Deans of Education, the Australian Teacher Education Association, and the Australian Association for Research in Education.

Professor Reid has a keen interest in university governance and has led external review processes at the Course, School, Faculty, and Academic Board level across a range of Australian institutions.

Professor Rouse has a career working in and contributing to knowledge in both Higher Education and Industry. His passion for Education, Global Health and empowering all people – together with expertise in leadership and management, information management and cultural diversity has led him to make significant contributions to many people in Australia and the Asia-Pacific Region.Ian brings a wide range of leadership, management and people skills developed over 30 years of experience in senior management roles in large information, analysis and research organisations, tertiary institutions and government departments. Ian also offers a diverse range of knowledge and management experience in numerous NGO, community and sporting organisations in Australia and overseas. Professor Rouse has significant knowledge and skills in Higher Education. He has held senior academic positions including acting Vice Chancellor of the Fiji National University, the Dean of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Fiji National University, Executive Dean of the Division of Health, Engineering and Sciences at Victoria University, and Associate Dean of Research and Enterprise Development and Head of the School of Public Health at Curtin University. He currently holds the position of Associate Dean, Scholarship and Research in the Education Centre of Australia and adjunct Professorial roles with Monash and Federation Universities in Melbourne Australia. His current teaching roles are in Leadership and Management, Health Information Management, Field Epidemiology, Data for Decision Making, Research Methods and Project Management.

Dr Cavaleri has a background in languages, linguistics, academic literacy and TESOL and she has worked in both teaching and specialist learning support roles. Prior to joining ECA, Dr Cavaleri worked as a lecturer in teaching methodology and curriculum design at Western Sydney University and as the Manager of English Language Proficiency and Learning Support at Navitas. She has taught a range of students including undergraduate, postgraduate, domestic, international and online students and is passionate about helping students develop their academic skills and reach their educational goals.

Dr Cavaleri’s teaching experience ignited her interest in feedback and academic writing development, which led to her PhD research examining technology-mediated feedback. Her research investigated the effect of different modes of feedback given to first-year undergraduate students and the variables that affect students’ uptake of teachers’ feedback, such as level of English language proficiency. She completed her PhD at western Sydney University and was awarded the Australian Postgraduate Award. Dr Cavaleri has presented her research at national and international conferences and has been invited to facilitate faculty development sessions at a number of Australian universities. Michelle’s current research areas of interest include feedback literacy, academic writing development and supporting first-year students.

Dr Cavaleri holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics, a Masters in TESOL and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Languages and Linguistics from Western Sydney University.

Over 20 years, Dr Khalifa led multidisciplinary healthcare and information technology teams to develop and implement evidence-based solutions to direct healthcare strategy and operations of healthcare services. Using health analytics and business intelligence, Dr Khalifa led diverse projects, enhancing patient safety, healthcare effectiveness, efficiency, and timeliness. Over the last 10 years, Dr Khalifa published +50 journal papers and book chapters and was granted an innovation patent from IP Australia in 2018.

Before joining CHS, Dr Khalifa served as the Digital Health Officer of the Australian Digital Health Agency and as Researcher and Consultant of Healthcare Strategy and Analytics at Macquarie University, Sydney. Dr Khalifa was the Director of Healthcare Strategy and Performance Improvement at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Saudi Arabia. He also worked as Director and Instructor of the Healthcare Management Program at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. Earlier to that, Dr Khalifa served diverse positions, focused mainly on healthcare strategic management and performance improvement, health informatics project management, healthcare business intelligence, and healthcare big data analytics.

Dr Khalifa is a medical doctor, got his MBBS – Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt in 2001, Post Graduate Diploma of Healthcare and Hospital Management from the American University in Cairo, Egypt in 2004, a MSc – Master of Science in Health Informatics from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom in 2012, and a PhD in Health Innovation from Macquarie University, Sydney in 2020. Dr Khalifa is an FAIDH – Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, an MRCSEd – Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom and he is also a CPHIMS – Certified Professional in Healthcare Information Management Systems, an Accredited CPHIMS Trainer and an Advisor on the Technical Committee of the CPHIMS exam, HIMSS – Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, United States. Dr Khalifa is also a member in the HIMSS and the AHIMA – American Health Information Management Association, United States.

Dr M. Ashiqur Rahman has been a teacher and lecturer since 2001 and before joining APIC in 2018 has taught at Western Sydney University, Education Centre of Australia and the North South University in Bangladesh. Dr Rahman completed his undergraduate studies and Master of Civil Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering before pursuing a Master of Environmental Management at the Australian National University. Ashiq gained his PhD in Project and Environmental Management from the University of Sydney.