Parveen Yaqoob appointed Deputy VC; Elizabeth McCrum and Julian Park Pro-VC (Education)
Wednesday, 04 December 2019
Professors Elizabeth McCrum and Julian Park
The University Council has approved the appointment of Professor Parveen Yaqoob as the new Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professors Elizabeth McCrum and Julian Park in a job-share as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education.
Both these appointments are effective from 1 January 2020.
Parveen has been in a job-share with Dominik Zaum as the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation since August 2018. As Deputy Vice-Chancellor, she will deputise for the Vice-Chancellor in both executive and ceremonial functions when he is unable to do so himself.
Elizabeth is currently the Teaching and Learning Dean responsible for Engagement and Future Direction while Julian heads the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. They will start their six-year term on 1 January 2020 – representing the second job-share arrangement in the University Executive Board (UEB). Parveen Yaqoob and Dominik Zaum have been working as Pro-Vice-Chancellors for Research and Innovation since August 2018.
Vice-Chancellor Robert Van de Noort said, “I am delighted with the appointments. Parveen has been a fantastic colleague in the University Executive Board. Her perspective and inputs have enriched our discussions and decision-making.
“For the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education), we set out to recruit the best candidate. In Elizabeth and Julian, we have two excellent educators who have taken different paths to their new role. They bring with them a wide range of experiences that will shape our discussion around how we deliver the best education and outcomes for all our students.”
Elizabeth and Julian said they were delighted to be working together. They noted, “We both have a long-standing interest in and experience of teaching and learning, but more importantly we have a clear vision of what we would like to achieve in the coming years.
“Our different experiences of working in a variety of roles provide us a good sense of what our students want from the University. We will work closely with colleagues across the institution to provide the best education and student academic experience.”
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education)
As Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education), Elizabeth McCrum and Julian Park will be responsible for ensuring that the University provides an excellent education to all of our students and makes significant progress towards its aspiration to be in the top quartile in the UK sector for teaching excellence, while ensuring that we remain genuinely people-oriented.
They will be an integral part of the University Executive Board, which is collectively responsible for the day-to-day management and leadership of the University.
Experienced academics
Elizabeth McCrum chairs the University Board for Teaching and Learning and leads a number of University-wide strategic projects in teaching and learning – including our Curriculum review; the Future Student project; and the Student Voice and Partnership project.
Before taking up her current role in 2015, Elizabeth was Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) for the Faculty of Science. She has a long-standing interest in teaching and learning, is a University Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2017 she was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.
Elizabeth’s academic discipline is Education. She came to the University in 2006 from Kingston University has been Programme Director for a number of large programmes including secondary teacher training programmes and the PGCap/Academic Practice Programme and was School Director of Teaching and Learning for the Institute of Education from 2010-2014.
Julian Park has been the Head of the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development since 2014. Before taking up his current role as HoS, Julian was the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning for the Faculty of Life Sciences. He has teaching interests in management and approaches to sustainable development and fieldwork learning, whilst his research focuses on sustainable farming systems, technology transfer in agricultural and environmental systems and rural development and environmental change.
Like Elizabeth he is a University Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2008, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy and in 2018 was part of a team with Chester and Sheffield that were awarded an AdvanceHE Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence for enhancing fieldwork learning.