Our Advisors

Chair - Dr John Mumford OBE has been a champion of workplace skills andthe accreditation of workplace learning for many years. He occupied senior management positions at BP, was chairman of the sector skills council covering the oil, gas, chemicals and nuclear industries, and a board member of the Universities Vocational Awards Council.

He is visiting senior fellow at Surrey University School of Management and through his company, Reputation Risk Consultants, advises businesses on the management of risk and reputation.

Technical director - Prof. Simon Roodhouse has substantial experience as an educator, manager and researcher. He is professor of creative industries at the University of the Arts; London visiting professor at the University of Bolton and the National Institute for Work-based Learning, Middlesex University.

He was the first chief operating officer of the University Vocational Awards Council, and founding director of the Museum Training Institute. Senior management experience includes posts as dean of the School of Art and Design, University of Derby; head of the School of Creative Arts, Northumbria University, and head of academic development, Bretton Hall, University of Leeds.

Business Development Manager - Cathy Dunn is a learning and leadership development professional with extensive international experience and a successful track record managing global leadership development in one of the world’s largest companies, BP.

Her involvement in a project to accredit leadership development within BP has led to her involvement with HE@Work. Her experience ranges from large-scale change processes to individual development workshops.

Consultant - Lyn Brennan enables organisations to develop and enhance their training programmes and professional development activities so that they can be recognised and validated by universities.

She has authored or edited two UVAC guides to good practice in work-based learning and is working to develop and enhance strategies for employer engagement with both a regional and a national lifelong learning network and with Foundation Degree Forward.

Consultant - Dr Penny McCracken is experienced in higher education quality assurance. She was head of department at two universities then became assistant director at the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), with particular responsibility for higher education delivered in further education colleges and for foundation degrees.

From 2006 she was director of quality enhancement services at Foundation Degree Forward. She now combines consultancy with continued work for QAA.