CISG-PCMG19

In Mary’s nearly 30 years career in Higher Education she’s undertaken virtually every type of IT role HE has need of. She is now the Digital Skills Manager at Sheffield Hallam University, and has a passion for tech and getting value for money. It doesn’t matter if you have the fastest infrastructure, the most robust security, and the most interconnected applications, what’s the point if you don’t have engaged staff and students to use them.

Deborah joined UCISA as CEO in May of 2019, bringing with her a wealth of marketing and Higher Education experience, most recently as Director of Student Recruitment at the University of Hull following five years as Chief Executive of Marketing Leeds and 5 years at Leeds Beckett University, where she was a member of the Executive Board. She is no stranger to leading member organisations, having led the Law Society’s regional team earlier in her career, supporting 14,500 solicitors in Yorkshire and the North East and introducing a wealth of new initiatives and services, resulting in her receiving the Yorkshire Enterprise Award and being recognised as Yorkshire Lawyer of the year in 2007 for her services to the profession.

An experienced Project, Programme and Portfolio Manager who is leading the development of the Portfolio Management Office at University of Liverpool. With a passion for never standing still, culture development and risk based decision making, Fiona has grand ambitions for the future of the PMO at UoL!

Seema is currently the Head of Business Systems at Goldsmiths, University of London and has been working in the higher education sector for over 12 years. She also volunteers her time to the STEM Girls Career Roadshow, where they go to local schools and share stories and advice with the new cohort of STEM girls.

Kate started her career at the Bank of England. Since joining ARU in 2015 Kate has delivered projects including reimplementing the Student Records System, rollout of a new Learning Management System and now manages the digital portfolio across the University as the Head of the Projects Office in IT Services.

Bridget’s IT career begun over 25 years ago at Woolworths. She later moved to QVC before joining ARU in 2016 where she has run projects including Placements (SITS) and Student Mobile App. Now as Programme Manager for “Better Working Together” she is overseeing the implementation of O365 for staff.

Stuart have worked at the University of Strathclyde for over a decade designing and developing systems like HR, Payroll, Website and Data warehouse. He, along Harry now lead the re-development of the Universities main Applicant, Student and Staff portal to a modern technology stack with a strong user focus.

Harry has worked at the University of Strathclyde for over a decade designing and developing systems like HR, Payroll, Website and Data warehouse. He, along Stuart now lead the re-development of the Universities main Applicant, Student and Staff portal to a modern technology stack with a strong user focus.

Lara has been in her current role since July 2016 but has also developed and deployed Lean Six Sigma programmes within Travel and Tourism, NHS and Military sectors. She began working life as a physiotherapist so has simply moved from problem solving on humans to problem solving within processes/services!

Chrissie has been at the University of Derby for 10 years to date, starting in Timetabling, progressing to CRM Analyst in Admissions and moving to IT Services 5 years ago as Project Manager. Chrissie now manages the IT Project Management team (within the IT Portfolio Office) and has responsibilities of Project and Programme management across a range of initiatives.

Susie has worked in HE for ten years. In Admissions as Data Analyst, progressing to managing a team as Admissions Operations Officer. Moving to University of Derby, as a Functional Analyst, then to IT services as Project Manager (3 years), where she manages large scale digitisation and business transformation projects.

James Smith is Chief Information Officer at Birkbeck, University of London, where he is responsible for the delivery of Library and IT services that are relied upon by Birkbeck’s staff, students, and commercial customers. The services provided support student engagement with the life-changing educational opportunities that are central to the institution’s mission, internationally recognised research, and the administration of the enterprise. Prior to his current role, James has worked on corporate system implementation projects (on both the customer and supplier side), small and large scale institutional change projects, process discovery and improvement. James has been a UCISA trustee since 2021 and is chair of UCISA-CISG.

Andrew heads the Service Operations branch for IT Services. The Service Operations teams covers everything from first- and second-line support for our applications and devices, through to applications development, testing and of course Integration. Andrew has overseen the introduction of the University’s first integration platform, and the forming of the dedicated Integration Team, who are transforming how services are delivered.

Megan manages the student recruitment engagement and conversion strategy at the University of Aberdeen. By leading both the digital marketing and enquiry teams Megan has a focus on the end to end customer journey, and is passionate about utilising CRM technology to both improve the customer experience and meet ambitious recruitment targets.

As Development Manager at Henley Business School, University of Reading, Hugh’s primary responsibility is to develop Henley Business School’s alumni and corporate collaboration portfolio. With a strong interest in in corporate social responsibility, innovation and research, Hugh is committed to helping effect industry transformation through applied education.

Gareth specialises in nanomedicine and advanced therapeutic development. He has been extensively involved in the development of novel therapeutics for asthma, infectious diseases and cancer throughout his career, and is currently a Senior Lecturer and Associate Director of Enterprise & Innovation for Swansea University Medical School.

I’ve worked in the higher education sector for over 14 years firstly at Aston University and now Staffordshire University. At Aston I led implementations/upgrades of their Agresso finance system. At Staffordshire I led the team that recently implemented Oracle Fusion, the first University to move from Oracle EBS to Fusion.

Fraser is the SharePoint & CRM manager at the University of Aberdeen, his career has spanned all aspects of IT – from software developer, business analyst, project manager, to team manager. Fraser leads a team of software developers delivering software projects supporting the University’s digital transformation.

Leading the infrastructure design team at London Business School, he’s been part of a team that has navigated many transitions of the infrastructure at the School over the years. His main specialism has been networks but turns his hand to the entire infrastructure stack.

Andy has been at King’s College London for 3 years, starting out as a project manager and progressing to CRM Programme Manager.

After giving up a career in law to pursue a dream of running her own business, Priya built and sold a successful food brand. She then established a social enterprise before starting a tech company that brings together AI and education in order to understand how students learn and provide educators with an insight into how to create personalised education.