Ruth is a Professor of Public Services Education at Ulster University (UU). Her passion for teaching and transformational change is underpinned by a philosophy of practice-based and applied research-informed teaching that enhances capability and capacity across the public sector and encourages non-traditional learners into the classroom. Her educational motivation has been shaped by her roles as public sector researcher (1992), lecturer (1999), Head of Faculty Collaborative Provision (2002), Head of School (2010) and Associate Dean (2017).
She is now Director for Policing at Ulster University, driving criminal justice and wider public and private sector collaborations critical to front line service delivery. In each role, she has enhanced her own practice and that of students, strengthened civic engagement, and supported, shaped and transformed change across the public sector, with national and international reach.
Ruth is the lead agent at Ulster for education partnerships between UU and the Police College NI. Based on models of critical reflection and applied practice where academic and practical skills are complementary, she has built up a strong and highly respected skill base for delivering programmes that drive real change in practice. Paramount to the success of policing in NI is policing with communities and it is within this context that she has positively influenced and impacted upon the education and practice of police officers in NI, building upon proven success with applied learning approaches across the wider public sector. The learning environment creates greater challenges, but greater rewards, in building confidence in, and developing students to, their highest potential.
Ruth has co-designed programmes and established relationships to internationalise curricula including partnerships with Rider University (US) and the University of Guelph-Humber (CA). Within the EU she has contributed to several Horizon 2020 projects and ethics boards (APPRAISE, ITFLOWS, RESCUER) with resulting positive educational impact and vibrant curriculum design for students in the security domain. Ruth is also a Principal Fellow of Advance HE and was appointed as a member of the QAA Advisory Group for the Subject Benchmark Statement for Policing (2021), continuing to promote and develop the distinctive learning environment for policing in NI.
