The Observatory's Global Advisory Council (GAC)

The Global Advisory Council (GAC) has been established to create an international advisory group of higher education, Government, and private sector professionals to support the mission and goals of The Observatory. It is envisioned that this body would provide consultative and advisory commentaries on a range of issues and initiatives related to cross-border higher education. Moreover, members of the GAC would be expected to engage in the following activities to support the mission and goals of The Observatory:

• Promote the mission, goals and services of The Observatory to external global organisations, institutions and agencies;
• Advocate the value of subscribing and becoming member organisations in The Observatory;
• Provide recommendations, feedback and commentary on research topicsw, marketing activities, partnership proposals, conference and seminar events, and general services of The Observatory;
• Serve as a reviewer of research mauscripts that align with the GAC member's expertise, experience and training;
• Advise the Chief Executive of The Observatory on potential funding opportunities and sources that align with the mission and goals of The Observatory; and
• Serve as sponsors, speakers and hosts at sponsored meetings, seminars and events organised by The Observatory.

GAC Governance

The GAC will be managed by a Chair and Co-Chair elected for two-year terms from among the members. The Chief Executive of The Observatory will serve as an ex-officio member of the GAC. The GAC Chair and Co-Chair will be primarily responsible for managing GAC meetings and communicating recommendations and commentaries to the Chief Executive and to the Chair of the Advisory Board.

The Observatory recognises that the GAC, while global in scope and membership, may build greater continuity by facilitating working relationships among members from the same geographic region to support The Observatory’s mission. As a result, the initial membership of the GAC has been established by geographical GAC Regional Committees comprising members in that a particular part of the world. These will include:

• International and National;
• Europe;
• North America;
• Africa and the Middle East;
• Central and South America; and
  
• Australia and Asia
  

The GAC Chair and the Chief Executive of The Observatory will be jointly responsible for submitting an annual report to the Chair of the Advisory Board for review and comments by its members.

The role of the GAC is solely advisory, and approval and adoption of all recommendations by The Observatory will be subject to review and majority approval by the Advisory Board.

Global Advisory Council Members (2008 - 2010)

International and National Organisations

Dr Rajika Bhandari, Director of Research and Evaluation, Institute of International Education (IIE)

Eva Egron-Polak, Secretary General and Executive Director, International Association of Universities (IAU)

Dr John Flores, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

Professor Asha Kanwar, Vice President and Programme Director, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)

Anne K. Keehn, Vice President Global Sales, Marketing and Business Development, Higher Education and K-12, Pearson eCollege

Marci Powell, Global Education Market Manager for Higher Education, Polycom Inc.

Dr András Szucs, Secretary General, the European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN)

Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić, Head of the Section for Reform, Innovation and Quality Assurance, UNESCO

 

Europe

Professor David Bonner, Chair, Council of Validating Universities, University of Hertfordshire, UK

Professor Vaneeta D'Andrea, Carnegie Scholar and Director of Academic Affairs and Operations, Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, University of the Arts London, UK

Claire Dray, Programme Director, ESC Lille School of Management, France

Hendrik Jan Hobbes, Policy Officer, Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic), The Netherlands

Dr Antonis Lionarakis, Associate Professor of Open and Distance Education, Hellenic Open University; and President, the Hellenic Network of Open and Distance Education, Greece

Dominic Newbould, Director of External Relations, The Open University, UK

Dr Cathia Papi, Director, Technologie de L'information, Universite de Picardie Jules Verne, France

Dr Imma Tubella Casadevall, Rectora, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain

 

North America

Dr Joceylne Gacel-Ávila, Vicerrectoría Ejecutiva/Coordinadora General de Cooperación E Internatcionalización, University of Guadalajara, Mexico

Dr Darcy W. Hardy, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; and Executive Director of UT TeleCampus, The University of Texas System, USA

Dr Rory McGreal, Associate Vice-President Research, Athabasca University, Canada

Andy Ross, Vice President of Global Services, Florida Virtual School, USA

Dr Wells Singleton, Education Provost and University Dean, Fischler School of Education and Human Services, Nova Southeastern University, USA

Dr Wayne Smutz, Associate Vice President for Outreach; and Executive Director of the World Campus, Pennsylvania State University, USA

 

Africa and the Middle East

Professor Narend Baijnath, Vice-Principal Strategy, Planning and Partnerships, University of South Africa, South Africa

 

Central and South America

Dr Fredric Litto, President of the Brazilian Association of Distance Education, Brazil

 

Australia and Asia

Dr. Rozilini M. Fernandez-Chung, Principal Assistant Director, Malaysian Qualifications Agency, Malaysia

Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne, Associate Dean International and Director of the Faculty International Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia

Professor Abtar Kaur, Faculty of Education and Languages, Open University Malaysia (OUM), Malaysia

Professor John Spinks, Senior Advisor to the Vice Chancellor, The University of Hong Kong, China SAR

Professor Belinda Tynan, Academic Director, Faculty of the Professions, University of New England, Australia

Dr David Woodhouse, Executive Director, Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA), Australia