Alison was previously a member of the Board of Northumbria University (chairing their Strategic Performance Committee) and Deputy Chair of Regent’s University London prior to its change of ownership in 2020.
Alison is a contributor to AdvanceHE governance events, including those run for new board members and more experienced members, with particular reference to strategy development, implementation and performance. In one university she has reviewed the approach to academic assurance to fulfil the governance requirements now expected by OfS and also chaired a board committee concerned with metrics and strategic performance. She has been involved with the recruitment of new board members and of a board chair and has undertaken chair performance reviews. She has also been involved in governance reviews at two universities as a governor. Most recently Alison has designed and delivered a specialist intensive induction for new lay members joining university boards to provide an fuller understanding of the HE sector – in particular governance and regulation.
Alison has contributed to the higher education sector at a national policy and governance level, including the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Leadership, Governance and Management Strategic Advisory Committee, the Higher Education Better Regulation Group and was on the Board of the Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc).
Prior to HESA, she was a member of the senior executive team at Bristol University with wide ranging responsibilities across the commercial, information and student-focused services, she was Director of IT at Warwick University and Director of Computing at Goldsmiths College University of London. Following her BA from Bristol University she began her career as an archaeologist, moved to the British Museum’s data collection programme and then gained an MSc from the London School of Economics & Political Science in computing and management as a mature student.
In 2016 New Year’s Honours she was awarded an OBE for services to Higher Education.
Blogs from Alison Allden
