Guest speaker sessions

In these most disruptive of times, this conference provides the opportunity to step back to identify and critically reflect on the core purpose(s) of academic advising. Offering international perspectives, our joint keynote will consider complexity – and the urgent need for action – related to contemporary themes of relevance, such as: different models of advising, including curriculum embedding; the challenges of supporting connections and the well-being of students (and staff); and, advising in the face of AI. We will explore the tensions inherent in the academic advising remit, particularly the desire for professionalising and standardising while also being responsive to the diverse needs of individual students and communities across the lifecycle. We will frame academic advising as fundamentally about purposeful meaning-making and agency, for both students and advisors. And we will emphasize the shared responsibility of academic advising to make a positive difference in the education of students and in the communities we serve through our collective work.

Executive Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, Professor of History, and Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning at Elon University, North Carolina, USA

Professor Peter Felten is Professor of History, Executive Director of the Center for Engaged Learning, and Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning at Elon University, US. He has published seven books about undergraduate education, including Connections are Everything: A College Student’s Guide to Relationship-Rich Education (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2023) co-authored by Isis Artze-Vega, Leo Lambert, and Oscar Miranda Tapia – with an open access online version free to all readers. His next book, The SoTL Guide: (Re)Orienting the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, is co-authored by Katarina Mårtensson and Nancy Chick, and will be published (open access) in October. He is on the Advisory Board of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and is a Fellow of the Gardner Institute.

Higher Education Consultant, President, Australian Learning and Teaching Fellows (ALTF), Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Fellow, Victoria University, and Honorary Professor: University of Southern Queensland

Professor Sally Kift is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), and President of the Australian Learning and Teaching Fellows (ALTF). She has held several university leadership positions, including as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at James Cook University. Sally is a national Teaching Award winner, a national Program Award winner and a national Senior Teaching Fellow on the First Year Experience. In 2010, she was appointed an Australian Discipline Scholar in Law. In 2017, Sally received an Australian University Career Achievement Award for her contribution to Australian higher education. Since 2017, Sally has been working as an independent higher education consultant.

SFHEA, Programme Director for the Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education, University of Sheffield

Andrew Stork is an academic and Programme Director in postgraduate medical education in the School of Medicine and Population Health at the University of Sheffield.  Andrew is co-author of three highly regarded texts on personal tutoring and academic advising, a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, has delivered keynote conference presentations on personal tutoring, and is a personal tutor. Andrew has experience of a wide range of educational sectors and contexts, and has taught on and led postgraduate education programmes across a range of sectors. Previously, Andrew was cross-institutional quality lead for personal tutoring and student experience, and has held a wide variety of curriculum leadership, quality, learning & teaching enhancement and staff development positions.

SFHEA, Senior Lecturer in Educational Development, Oxford Brookes University

Ben W. Walker is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at Oxford Brookes University, where he leads on academic advising, is the EXPLORE Experiential Scheme Leader (overseeing Fellowship of Advance HE applications), delivers staff development, and is an active educational researcher. For NACADA (the Global Community for Academic Advising), he is the UK representative on the Global Steering Committee. A keen writer and researcher in education with over 20 years’ experience in teaching and teacher education, he is committed to developing the field of student support further. As co-author of practitioner texts and journal articles on personal tutoring/academic advising, he is at the forefront of professional development and research in this area.

Operations Manager, Ann Craft Trust

Dave Lochtie is the Operations Manager for the Ann Craft Trust, a national charity dedicated to safeguarding adults, based at the University of Nottingham. He is a Co-Chair of the Association of Peer Learning Support, founding member of the Safeguarding in Higher Education Network, and former Chair of UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT). His work on advising and tutoring, coaching, mentoring and peer support has been published and cited extensively.

Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol

Nienke Alberts is a Higher Education researcher, whose work focuses on educational inequalities, fair access, and personal tutoring. Nienke is currently working with the Sutton Trust, a charity that aims to improve educational opportunities for young people from non-privileged backgrounds and increase social mobility. Nienke is an Honorary Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol, where she led The Personal Tutoring Project, a research project investigating personal tutoring at the University of Bristol and across the sector.

SFHEA, Senior Lecturer and Senior Tutor, University of Lincoln

Alison is a Senior Lecturer/Programme Leader at the University of Lincoln, where she is also responsible for personal academic tutoring. Alison has spent most of her career working with international students, firstly as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language and School Director in Poland, then at Nottingham Trent International College, and most recently working with the British Council on Accelerating English Language Learning in Central Asia.  She has completed a PhD (Prof) in Education around Chinese students’ experiences of personal tutoring in the UK and also holds SFHEA. She has authored texts around personal tutoring and is keen to conduct further research in this area.

A transformative student experience lies at the intersection of personal and academic engagement, connection and growth. Achieving intentional and individualised student development is best accomplished through a relationship-rich education, where the pursuit of a successful student experience is a collective priority.  In the context of higher education globally, this session will highlight a spectrum of advising practices at two Australian universities.  Through differing approaches, both institutions share a commitment to partnering with students to cultivate an experience that fosters belonging, self-efficacy, positive emotions, and well-being as pathways to engagement and success.  In doing so, the session will also reflect on the variety of approaches and practices highlighted throughout the day’s proceedings.

Associate Director, Academic Mentoring, The University of Melbourne, Australia

Catherine leads university-wide strategic enhancement of Academic Mentoring for undergraduate students at the University of Melbourne, working with academic leaders, professional stakeholders and students to build shared purpose and value, implement professional development and uplift the student experience. She has been a member of the UK Advising and Tutoring Association (UKAT) since 2015 and sits on the Global Initiatives Committee of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising.

SFHEA, Student Success and Development Coordinator, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Cat leads and implements a pan-university, embedded approach to student development focussing on cross-disciplinary skills and competencies within the curriculum. Her research interests include student engagement, student success and academic student success advising, with a focus on the regional university experience. In her current professional role, Cat is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has a keen interest in the recognition of integrated ‘third space’ practitioners who work across professional and academic boundaries.