Sue is now the Executive Head of Education at the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS), following a secondment as the institutional Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at York St John University in 2021/22.
Her personal experience as a first in family student and the life-changing impact of higher education drive her commitment to inspire all students to reach their full potential. Sue’s proudest achievement is in the successful creation, design and delivery of the Biosciences subject area at York St John University since 2015. The first three graduating cohorts gained over 85% 1st or 2.1 degree awards, with no differential outcomes for students with respect to UCAS points at entry, IMD (Index of multiple deprivation), POLAR groups, ethnicity, gender, declared disability, age or first in family status. In recognition of this sector-leading work, Sue won the national HE Bioscience Teacher of the Year award 2020.
As an experienced and effective colleague, Sue is regularly selected to lead cross-institutional and national working groups and steering groups to systematically drive change, support colleagues’ development, and deliver positive impact for students. Her sustained strategic leadership and transformative impact in higher education has recently been recognised by the award of Advance HE Principal Fellowship (PFHEA) and promotion to Associate Professor (Learning and Teaching route) in 2021. She has also been selected as Deputy Chair for the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement review panel for Biomedical Sciences (2022).
Sue continues to make outstanding and sustained contributions to supporting colleagues’ professional development. She has worked with and learned from approximately 100 UK-based and 40 international academic colleagues (Singapore, Sri Lanka and Malaysia), as an external examiner and/or panel expert at validation and accreditation events. Recently, Sue has been a major driving force in the development of a national mentoring network (the Biosciences Educators’ Network) and in the co-creation of a portfolio of inspirational, inclusive and high-impact Capstone Experiences resources. This exciting Capstone Experiences initiative won an Advance HE CATE award in 2021, acknowledging the outstanding positive impact on both national and global Biosciences communities.