As Vice-Chancellor Professor Davis is Chief Executive Officer of the University exercising general superintendence over the educational and administrative affairs of the University.

Professor Davis was previously Vice-Chancellor of Griffith University in Queensland and has served as the most senior Queensland public servant.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with first-class honours in political science from the University of New South Wales and was awarded his Doctorate of Philosophy from the Australian National University for a thesis entitled 'The Political Independence of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation'.

His academic association with Griffith University began in 1985 as a lecturer in politics and public policy. The award of a prestigious Harkness Fellowship provided an opportunity to work at the University of California, Berkeley, the Brookings Institution in Washington and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, during 1987 and 1988.

Subsequently, as an Australian Research Council QE II Research Fellow at Griffith, Professor Davis published a series of articles and books on policy coordination and public sector change. He was appointed a Professor in 1998.

Secondments to the Queensland Government have included appointments as Commissioner for Public Sector Equity in the Queensland Public Sector Management Commission (1990-1993), as Director General of the Office of the Cabinet (1995-1996), and Director General of the Queensland Department of the Premier and Cabinet (1998-2002).

Professor Davis has written widely on policy and governance. His most recent publications are a third edition of The Australian Policy Handbook (with Peter Bridgman, 2004), The Future of Australian Governance: Policy Choices (coedited with Michael Keating, 2000) and Are You Being Served? State, Citizens and Governance (coedited with Patrick Weller, 2001).

Professor Davis was Foundation Chair of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) which is headquartered at the University of Melbourne.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and a Companion in the Order of Australia.

Her portfolio includes responsibility for student services, student equity, equal opportunity including equal opportunity for women in the workplace, Indigenous education, the University ombudsman and she is the licensee for the La Trobe University Children’s Centre.

Her previous experience has spanned 20 years with the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University.  She has held a variety of academic positions after her previous career as an occupational therapist with psychiatric services.  She has been the Head of the School of Occupational Therapy, Deputy Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at La Trobe University.

Her formal qualifications include a BA(OT), a Masters of Education in the field of counselling and in 1998 she was awarded her Professional Doctorate in Education. Her thesis critically evaluated the impact of health reform on the role of health professionals and service delivery.  This course of study included an intensive course on mediation and conflict resolution.

She continues to be a Clinical Member of the Family Therapy Association and is a trained mediator.  She remains committed to the quality provision of services in the Health and Education sector, particularly to disadvantaged groups in our society and also to redressing disadvantage in the higher education field and the continuance of student engagement at all levels in Universities.

For details on Professor Ferguson's presentation, Bearing Silent Witness, please click here

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Lin Martin is the Vice President and Council Secretary at Deakin University in Victoria.  This is the top administrative position at Deakin and Lin is responsible for about 450 staff and a budget of nearly $50m.  She is a member of the Senior Executive at that University.  Her portfolio includes responsibility for the Library and Knowledge Media Services for the University; student administration and all student support services; University planning, student equity and University governance.  She is also a member of the University’s Budget Management Group which formulates the University budget.

Before taking up this position in March 2005 Lin was Vice Principal and Academic Registrar at the University of Melbourne and was the Executive member responsible for all student and academic related administrative and support services and international marketing and recruitment.

Lin is best known in the sector for her work in national policy analysis and planning particularly in the student equity area.  Her work on equity performance published in 1994 as Equity and General Performance Indicators in Higher Education is still used by the Government today as the basis of funding for student equity and indigenous student support across the Australian higher education sector.

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She is the Executive Director of ECHO, Center for Diversity Policy in Utrecht, since 1999. Before that she was policy advisor at the Department of Higher Education in the Dutch Ministry of Education Culture and Science. She was responsible for the development of policy regarding the improvement of the participation and retention of ethnic minorities in higher education in the Netherlands. Mary participated internationally in the Council of Europe taskforce on "Access to higher education for underrepresented groups" in 1994/1995. She is also a founding member of the European Access Network (EAN) and a member of its Executive Committee.

ECHO works on the development of an integral approach for a policy of diversity in higher education. For this purpose ECHO develops and implements means in order to improve the matriculation and retention possibilities of ethnic minorities in higher education. These means are aimed at further developing the learning environment. In other words, an investment must be made in the revamping of the curriculum, the intensification of counselling and supporting students, the promotion of expertise / professionalism of teachers, study companions and student counsellors and the support of the administration of institutes of higher education by creating a strong base. From the acquired expertise around the participation of ethnic minorities in higher education, ECHO positions itself by signalling new developments, giving policy advice and organizing work conferences and training. Finally ECHO finds it important within a continuously changing society to direct itself to influencing the conceptualisation of ethnic minorities by, among other things, revealing their talent. (www.echo-net.nl)

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For details on Dr Vincent Tinto's presentation Access without support is not opportunity please click here

For more information on Vincent Tinto please visit:
http://soeweb.syr.edu/academics/grad/higher_education/vtinto.cfm

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Anne Ryan is professor and head of the Department of Adult and Community Education, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.  She is particularly concerned with access and equity in the provision of educational services.   Before coming to work in Maynooth, she worked in Australia for 7 years, China for one year and Zambia for 3 years.   She maintains a close involvement with education initiatives in Africa and Asia.

For details on Professor Anne Ryan's presentation The Role of Western Universities in Colonising Knowledge please click here

For more information on Anne Ryan please visit
http://adulteducation.nuim.ie/department_staff/index.shtml

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On 1 May 1997 Beth Wilson became Victoria’s Health Services Commissioner.  She is a lawyer by training, rather than by inclination, and has worked mainly in administrative law.  Beth has had a long-standing interest in medico/legal and ethical issues.

The Health Services Commissioner receives and resolves complaints about health service providers with a view to improving the quality of health services for everybody.  Prior to becoming Health Services Commissioner, Beth was the President of the Mental Health Review Board, a Senior Legal Member of the Social Security Appeals Board and the WorkCare Appeals Board.

Beth regularly conducts seminars, lectures and classes for consumers, health service providers and others.  She is a past President of the Victorian Branch of ANZAPPL (the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law). 

In October 2002, Beth was awarded Monash University’s Distinguished Alumni Award for her outstanding professional achievements and inspirational leadership.  In April 2003, Beth was awarded the Centenary Medal for her services to health, and in May 2004 Beth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from RMIT for her contributions to health education.

In her spare time, Beth is learning to play blues harmonica, mandolin, guitar and singing.

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Emeritus Professor Colin Bourke, MBE, an Adjunct Professor and Council member at Monash University, retired from the University of South Australia in 1998, while acting as Deputy Vice Chancellor, after serving several years as Dean of the Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies.

Professor Bourke spent some twenty years as a primary school teacher and principal in Victorian country schools. In 1975 he was Acting Supervisor of Aboriginal Education with the Victorian Education Department and in 1977 he was appointed Director, Centre for Research into Aboriginal Affairs at Monash University.

In 1981 he moved to Canberra to take up appointment as General Manager of the Aboriginal Development Commission. He later became Assistant Secretary, Department of Aboriginal Affairs and then Deputy Principal, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Studies.

In 1988 Colin was appointed as foundation Professor to the School of Aboriginal and Islander Administration at the South Australian Institute of Technology. When the Institute merged to become the University of South Australia Professor Bourke was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Aboriginal and Islander Studies.

Colin is still involved with university life through Monash where he also chairs the Equal Opportunity Committee and the University of Ballarat as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Committee. He is also an AUQA auditor.

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Professor Sharon Bell assumed her role as Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Canberra in May 2006. Prior to this appointment Sharon was Pro-Vice Chancellor (Equity and Community Partnerships) at Griffith University (2003-2006) where she was also responsible, as Provost, for the University’s Logan Campus. Sharon’s background is as a senior academic administrator, a documentary filmmaker and an anthropologist. She is Co-convenor of Universities Australia Executive Women (2005- ).
Previous university positions include Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts (1994-2001) and Dean of the Faculty of Arts (2001-2003) at the University of Wollongong, where she is an Emeritus Professor.
Before taking on senior university leadership roles Sharon was a member of Film Australia's Ethnographic Film Unit (1986-1989) and Head of Fulltime Program then Head of Studies at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (1990-1993). She is a member of Currency House and the Australian Screen Directors’ Association.  She is a board member of the Canberra Business Council, Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
As a senior academic leader Professor Bell has considerable experience in academic change management and leadership particularly through her role as Workshop Facilitator of  the Women’s Leadership Development programme, University of Newcastle (2005-2007), as a member of the National Steering Committee for the Carrick ‘Academic Leadership Capabilities in Australian Higher Education’ project and as a Facilitator AusAid Australia – South Africa HE Senior Staff Workshops (2005).
Her current research documents change, and the impact of this change, on women in the tertiary education sector.

For more information on Professor Bell's presentation please click here