We have established an international Expert Stakeholder Group to support our project development and impact through sharing of professional expertise. The Expert Stakeholder Group is constituted of international experts from varied backgrounds and includes representation from:
● International project partner leads from each participating university;
● Senior management teaching leads of participating universities;
● Representatives from governmental higher education regulatory bodies in each participating country
Dr Loretta O’Donnell, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
Dr. Loretta O’Donnell was appointed in 2013 as the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. Dr. O’Donnell is the co-founder and co-chair of the NU/KAZGUU Annual International Academic Integrity Conference. She presents on Eurasian Higher Education themes at international conferences including ASEF (Asian European Foundation) Rectors’ Conference; Eurasian Higher Education Leaders’ Forum; Times Higher Education Asian Universities Summit, the University Alliance of the Silk Road and the NU Annual Gender Forum. As an elected faculty member of the UNSW Academic Board, and as Associate Dean Education at the UNSW Business School, she combines academic policy development and implementation with her teaching, learning and research interests.
Ms Rauza Mendalieva, Ministry of Education and Science, Kazakhstan
Rauza Mendalieva has a Master’s degree at the University of Warwick (UK), with a specialty in Program and Project Management. Her dissertation was on the topic: ‘Application of risk management in projects and programs of the public sector’ (in the context of Kazakhstan). From 2010 to the present – she has served as a chief expert in the Department of Higher and Postgraduate Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Office for the Content and Internationalization of Higher and Postgraduate Education. Rauza work deals with the issues of attracting international experts to the top management of universities and the mobility of teaching staff. Part of her work involves the coordination of the work of universities in international and national rankings.
Dr. Blaid Bougadir, Vice President, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Dr. Blaid Bougadir is the Vice President of Cadi Ayyad University in charge of academic, cultural and sports affairs since 2014. He is a Professor in geosciences and geo-environment since 1991 and is currently the Director of the research laboratory in Applied Sciences to the Environment and Sustainable Development. Mr Bougadir previously held the position of Vice Dean for Pedagogical Affairs at the Faculty of Science and Technology in Marrakech between 2005 and 2010 and Director of the Higher School of Technology in Essaouira during the period 2010-2020. He is president and member of many commissions of assembly, execution and expertise of the pedagogical fields. Mr. Bougadira is leading UCA’s strategy in the practice of inclusive education and lifelong learning. In parallel, Mr. Bougadir is active in several NGOs with scientific, educational, cultural and social purposes.
Mr Mouhib Touhami, Vice President, Regional Council of Marrakech-Safi region , Morocco
Mr Mouhib Touhami is a State Engineer from the National School of Mineral Industry of Rabat in 1989. He is a political and associative actor. HE is the Vice President of the Regional Council of Marrakech-Safi region, since October 2015, in charge of Governance and Training. Mr Touhami is also a member of the steering committees for the elaboration and monitoring of the Regional Development Plan. He serves as the Vice-President of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Communal Councils and Vice-President of the Engineers Forum of the Authenticity and Modernity Party.
Professor Upasana Mahanta, Senior Additional Registrar (Academics), and Director, Office of Student Life and Cultural Engagement, O P Jindal Global University, India
Dr. Upasana Mahanta is an assosciate professor at O P Jindal Global University. Her research interests include the role of women in emergent political institutions; gendered understanding of conflict; women organizing and resisting in insecure contexts; and examining development through a gendered lens.
Professor Akinola Odebunmi, Director of the University of Ibadan Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Professor Akinola Odebunmi teaches English linguistics in the Department of English, University of Ibadan. He is a specialist in pragmatics and discourse analysis. He is interested in medical pragmatics, linguistic pragmatics, critical discourse analysis and gender linguistics. He has to his credit about 90 academic publications in these areas. He is an alumnus of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany; and has served as a consultant to the United Nations, under the direction of the International Labour Organisation, on academic and research-based projects. He is currently the director of the University of Ibadan Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
Ms Kikelomo Ladipo, Principal Accreditation Officer, National Universities Commission, Nigeria
Kikelomo Ladipo has worked with the National Universities Commission (NUC), the regulatory agency for university education in Nigeria for over 11 years. She has worked in the Student Support, Quality Assurance/Accreditation directorates. Currently, at the Academic Planning directorate she plans the establishment of new academic programmes and/or units and facilitate the introduction of innovation and new thinking in programmes establishment to mention a few. She holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, a Master of Arts Degree in International Education from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom and currently a PhD Researcher in the School of Education at the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. Personally and professionally, Kikelomo is interested in exploring how we can revolutionize our world through education.
Dr Susan Smith, Associate Dean for Education and Students, Business School, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
Susan Smith is Associate Dean (Education and Students) at the University of Sussex Business School. Susan is a Senior Lecturer in Accounting and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Susan is also a Principal Fellow of Advance HE. In 2021 Susan won the Learning Together Award at the University Education Awards for her work with a staff-student partnership to revise the Business School assessment criteria. She previously won the Learning Together Award in 2019 as part of a collaboration with students.
Ms Kathryn Harrison-Graves, Director of Membership and Accreditation, Advance HE, UK
Kathryn is responsible for the leadership and management of the UK Higher Education Academy’s (HEA) global partnerships team, with its focus on maximising the benefits to the Higher education sector of working on a global basis. As a member of the senior leadership team she is engaged in working to drive a culture of internationalisation through the organisation, lead global business development and planning, contribute to and operationalise strategy.