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Skills: Delivering a Demand Led System!

Tuesday 22nd April 2008, Galgorm Resort and Spa

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Confirmed Workshop Speakers

 

John Stone

John Stone, LSN

John Stone is the Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Network (LSN). At LSN he leads an organisation which supports excellence in Learning and Skills . It does this through delivering quality improvement and staff development programmes that support specific government initiatives, through research, training and consultancy; and by supplying services directly to schools, colleges and training organisations. Prior to joining LSN, John was Principal of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College - one of the UK's largest colleges as a result of a successful merger.

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Mitch Benson

Mitch Benson, Microsoft

Mitch Benson is the Worldwide Managing Director of Education with Microsoft. He has global responsibility for ensuring Microsoft is delivering solutions that address the most pressing, difficult and important challenges facing students, educators, schools and universities. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2006, Mitch was the Chief Technology Officer at WSIPC, one of the largest technology services cooperatives in the US - serving several million users in the educational sector. In prior positions, Mitch served as a director with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and in technical leadership roles with both school systems and educational service agencies. He also has experience in operations, sales and technical management with one of the largest service bureaus serving the legal and financial service sectors in the United States, Corporation Service Company.

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Gerri Fiala

Gerri Fiala

 

Gerard (Gerri) Fiala is Director of Workforce Research for the Workforce Development Strategies Group at the National Centre on Education and the Economy (NCEE). She plays a key role in examining the implementation of the Illinois Critical Shortage. This aligns economic and workforce development programmes to meet the needs of employers for skilled workers in key industries. She also manages NCEE's partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to test ways to help community colleges in four states better align education, workforce development, and economic development priorities in support of regional economic growth strategies. In addition, she recently managed a project to help the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) strengthen the customer focus of its labour market information systems. She coordinated exchanges between the Department of Labour and DEL to strengthen the FE sector's agility to respond to changing business and industry skill needs.

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Derek Longhurst

Derek Longhurst

As Chief Executive of Foundation Degree Forward, Derek has led initiatives with organisations such as Regional Development Agencies, the Skills for Business Network and the British Chambers of Commerce to enhance partnership working between employers, universities and colleges and stimulate education provision that directly meets industry and business needs. Most recently he has initiated collaborative partnerships with major employers such as Tesco, the RAF and the NHS to develop bespoke Foundation degrees that advance the knowledge and skills of their workforces.

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Mike Campbell

Mike Campbell

Mike is Director of Research and Policy at the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).  He is responsible for advising Government on the policies, strategies and targets required to reach the World Class Skills ambition and for assisting the UK's progress towards it.  Previously he was Director of Development at the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) where he was responsible for championing and leading the Skills for Business network's thinking and evidence base on the skills and productivity agenda.  Mike was advisor to the Leitch Review of UK Skills Needs; is a member of the Northern Ireland Skills Expert Group; advisor to the Welsh Assembly Government on its skills and employment plan; a member of the Scottish Funding Council's Skills Committee and a member of the Government's Migration Advisory Committee. Mike is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Investors in People Ambassador. He also holds a Visiting Professorship of Economics at Durham Business School and he was awarded the OBE for services to economic development in the 2004 New Year’s Honours List.

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Dr. Bruce Leslie

Dr. Bruce Leslie

Dr. Bruce Leslie has served as a senior college manager for over thirty years, twenty-three as president or chancellor. Due to the predominantly urban nature of the colleges and systems he has led, Dr. Leslie has developed a particular interest in developing and applying effective strategic, performance based planning models to more effectively and efficiently administer large, complex and under-funded institutions, and to increase student access, retention and success. Both Houston Community College and The Alamo Community Colleges are initial participants in the Achieving the dream program, focusing on creating a "Culture of Evidence" in assessing and improving strategies to increase student access and success. Thus. Dr. Leslie's focus on reaching the undereducated and improving economic growth has been reinforced by this Lumina Foundation funded national project.

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Trevor Neilands

Trevor Neilands

Trevor Neilands is Director and Chief Executive of the Northern Regional College formed through the merger of Causeway, East Antrim and North East Institutes in August 2007. He had previously been Director of North East Institute and before that had filled the post of Deputy Director in East Antrim and Belfast Institutes. He has spent over 30 years in the education sector as teacher, lecturer, administrator and senior manager. Trevor is a member of the Northern Ireland Economic Development Forum and its Skills Sub Committee.

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Catherine Bell

Catherine Bell

Since 2005 Catherine Bell has been Deputy Secretary in the Department for Employment and Learning where she is responsible for Skills, Further Education, Higher Education and Student Support in Northern Ireland. Prior to this she was the Director responsible for the strategy, policy and funding of the Further Education sector and for Qualifications and Learning Policy. She led the review of further education which has resulted in the re-structuring of the sector into six Area-Based Colleges and the implementation of "FE Means Business" to ensure that Further Education's primary aim is to support economic and workforce development. Catherine moved to education administration from the Education and Training Inspectorate where she was Assistant Chief Inspector responsible for the organisation and management of inspections in further education and work-based learning. She introduced the self-evaluation model "Improving Quality: Raising Standards" across all providers. During her period with the Inspectorate she played a key role in the development of Northern Ireland's strategy for Lifelong Learning. Catherine began her career in Personnel Management and after 10 years moved to further education where she taught business and management subjects.

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Robson Davison

Robson Davison

Robson Davison has been Deputy Secretary, Department of Education since April 2006 after seven years in the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL). In his earlier career he was a teacher and subsequently, a school inspector. In 1994 he transferred to the administrative Civil Service. He was in charge of policy in respect of Further and Higher Education from 1994 to 2001 and from 2001 to 2006 was responsible for Employment Policy and for Finance and Corporate Affairs in DEL.

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Sue Abrines

Sue Abrines

Sue is Head of Information and Learning Technologies at Ealing Hammersmith and West London College. Sue's responsibilities as head of ILT at the College are to develop , oversee, implement and monitor the ICT Strategy. The ILT Department encourage and enable individuals and teams to engage in highly creative projects, promoting a culture of change and innovation. They promote and support the college's leading edge learning technology developments and roll out these developments across the whole college when appropriate. Sue is also responsible for developing the Learning Centres as areas which directly support the curriculum through a wide range of resources including independent as well as time tabled access to technology and on-line curriculum.

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Martin Rosner

Martin Rosner

Martin is Director of Collegiate Services at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College. He is responsible for a range of functions including Professional Development. he has been coordinating links between EHWLC and the Northern Regional College and welcomes the opportunity to share new ideas and developments. He has also been a tutor on the Northern Ireland ILM programme.

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Tom Heaney

Tom Heaney

Tom Heaney is currently employed as a Senior Lecturer at Northern Regional College's Centre of Excellence in Built Environment which is renowned for its expertise in the use of AutoCAD and ILT. Tom has wide experience in the development of new courses including GCSE Construction and more recently, QCF first's in construction. He also coordinates the VEP provision across a large part of the college. This includes an extensive E-Learning sector working with schools and C2K. He is also a past winner of the BT ILT Award, and has recently won a City & Guilds Lion Award for his Senior Award Project 'Maximising the impact if Lecturers into Industry'.

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Heather Urquhart

Heather Urquhart

Heather is Depute Principal at Cumbernauld College in central Scotland. Heather has held a range of management and curriculum posts in Further Education including Curriculum Coordinator, Business Development Manager and Associate Principal. She is passionate about lifelong learning and learners and has a particular interest in the Quality of Learning& Teaching. She holds a BA Commerce, PG Cert. in Education and PG Cert. in Management for Tertiary Education. Prior to entering Further Education, Heather worked for a major brewing company in the private sector.

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Robert Conlon

Robert Conlon

Robert has combined a private sector management background with time spent teaching in colleges and school. he now works internationally as a learning and development consultant specialising in executive education and change management. As well as authoring a number of booklets and reports for LSDA NI he has also written for Reuters and Guardian Learning Things.

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Natasha Calvert

Natasha Calvert

Natasha Calvert is a researcher in the Evaluation and Skills Unit at Learning and Skills Network, based in London. She has experience carrying out a range of research and evaluation studies within the learning and skills sector across the UK. She is currently working on some research looking at mergers.

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Brian Lister

Brian Lister

Brian Lister joined SFEU in April 2006 as Chief Executive. Having started his career with the Scientific Civil Service, Brian Lister become a secondary teacher before joining Lauder College in 1981, progressing to Depute Principal from 1996. He was appointed Principal of Cumbernauld College in 1999. He also serves on the board of Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire and the Strathclyde European Partnership; he is vice-chair of COLEG (the Colleges' Open Learning Exchange Group) and chairman of the North Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Forum.

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Prof. Ed Sallis

Ed Sallis

Professor Edward Sallis has been for the last ten years the Principal & Chief Executive of Highlands College in Jersey. A lifelong educator, he has been involved in a variety of national initiatives including directing a major project for the British-Irish Council and being a Trustee of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership. He is the author of 'Total Quality Management in Education' and writes on issue of quality and leadership. He is currently involved in the formation of the new national improvement body that will bring together CEL and QIA.

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Dr. Dermot Douglas

Dr. Dermot Douglas

Dermot Douglas qualified as a zoologist in UCD, too many years ago to boast about. Currently Secretary/Senior Executive Academic Affairs with IOTO, the representative body for 13 Institutes of Technology. Over the past 10 years he was deeply involved in the change management process required in the IOT sector especially in response to the new curricular requirements of the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 1992 and to the establishment of the National Framework of Qualifications. Currently plays an important role in strategic development of the sector.

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Bryn Davies

Bryn Davies

Bryn Davies is the Principal of Ystrad Mynach College, and he is also Chairman of Venture Wales. He has worked as a civil servant, teacher in a school and lecturer in colleges. Bryn Davies was the Managing Director of a sizeable commercial training company, set up an Enterprise Agency and has been the Chairman of two different Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sussex and Somerset. He is a director of Fforwm and is a member of the City and Guilds Wales Advisory Committee, the Welsh Director on the Board of the Lifelong Learning UK and Chairman of Niace Dysgu Cymru. He is also on the Board of UFI Learndirect and Chairs Groundwork Caerphilly.

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Neil Fletcher

Neil Fletcher

After teaching in schools and FE Neil's career developed politically, becoming Deputy Leader of the London Borough of Camden, and Leader of the Inner Education Authority. He chaired the ILEA Further and Higher Education Committee for 6 years, where he had responsibility for over 35 colleges and 5 polytechnics (now universities), personally overseeing the formation of the London Institute from 7 constituent art, design and communication colleges (now University of the Arts London). He chaired the formation committee and the governing body of the LI, and chaired the governing body of the City Literary Institute, as well as serving for a time as a governor of the London School of Economics. His professional career resumed in 1998 as the Head of Education for the Local Government Association and he now works as a consultant.

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Shaun Lincoln

Shaun Lincoln

Shaun Lincoln has recently joined the Learning Skills Network (LSN) as associate director to head up it new Leadership and Management Unit. The unit delivers an exciting package of leadership and management programmes and services that combine practical tools and techniques, whilst continuing to draw of the Solution Focused approaches colleges have found so useful on the leaders as Coaches programme he ran from 2004 to 2008.

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Maria Hughes

Maria Hughes

Maria Hughes is an independent consultant, but was previously the research Manager for the Learning and Skills Development Agency's Vocational Learning, Skills and Work research centre. Her work has considered a range of issues concerning the skills agenda, employer engagement and improving the quality of vocational and work based learning.

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