Prior to this role she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Northampton, and other executive roles she has held include Chief Operating Officer at London South Bank University and Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching at Buckinghamshire New University.
Shân’s first job was as a Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Roehampton, before she moved into the field of Education Development, during which period she was Co-Chair of the Staff and Educational Development Association. She has a track record of leading institutional transformation programmes including assessment at University of the Arts London, leading to a 12% uplift in the assessment and feedback questions in the National Student Survey sustained over ten years, digital transformation of the student journey at London South Bank University, which won a PwC award, and recruitment improvements at the University of Northampton, leading to an uplift in recruitment of 18-year-old students, ahead of comparable Higher Education Institutions.
She is Chair of the charity Unite Foundation, Chair of AdvanceHE’s Leadership and Management Strategic Advisory Group, and has published in the fields of linguistics, equality, diversity and inclusion, leadership and team development, and learning and teaching in higher education. Her current scholarly interests are leadership and governance from the perspective of diversity and inclusion, and higher education policy.
Shân studied English Literature and Language at the University of Oxford, and Sociolinguistics at the University of Strathclyde. She was a competitive rower for many years and has a rowing half-blue from Oxford. Shân holds a postgraduate diploma in Higher Education studies from the Institute of Education, University College London, she is a Professor of Teaching in Higher Education, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a National Teaching Fellow.