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Following the successful launch of my University Futures website in 2006, I established Thinking Futures in 2007 to work with people to develop their capacity for long term thinking, and to translate that thinking into stronger strategy processes. I work mainly with educational, non-profit and professional organisations.
Until 2007, I held management positions in universities and TAFE (Technical and Further Education) institutes in Australia for more than 25 years, starting my career as a Graduate Clerk in a faculty at Griffith University in Brisbane. I then worked at La Trobe University, Footscray College of TAFE (as it was then), Chisholm Institute of Technology and then Monash University (following a merger), Swinburne University of Technology and finally Victoria University. Swinburne and Victoria are dual sector universities, and have vocational and further education and higher education sectors in the same institution.
During that career, I managed large faculties and planning units, and spent a fair bit of time in central governance and student administration units. I designed and led major change processes including organisational restructuring, process and functional reviews, developed and managed planning and quality frameworks, and worked with staff to develop positive and supportive work cultures.
My career has given me significant experience and expertise in not only how universities work, but also in how to develop effective strategy that works for them. Based on many years of immersion in their processes (some of which I helped to design, review and improve), I have a healthy respect for academic work and culture, and a commitment to ensuring participative and focused strategy development and implementation processes. Further details of my resume, publications and conference presentations are available.
I have worked with the Association of Tertiary Education Administration (ATEM) since 1987, including a stint as President from 2001-2003. Contributing to the development of the profession of tertiary education administration and management is a passion, and I am currently working on an Association-wide set of professional capabilities. My long-term involvement with ATEM has given me deep insight into the issues facing professional associations as they come to terms with their changing futures.
I discovered futures work in 1999, when I was lucky enough to be asked by my then Vice-Chancellor to set up an internal planning unit that was to integrate futures approaches into the University's planning framework. Knowing nothing about futures work then, I have completed the Graduate Diploma in Strategic Foresight at Swinburne University of Technology and am contributing to the futures conversation globally, in particular through my University Futures website, and my involvement in the Shaping Tomorrow Foresight Network.
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