Gus Guthrie (Panel Chairperson), Consultant, Gus Guthrie Consulting P/L
Gus Guthrie has held senior management positions in higher education in Australia and in a major professional body in the UK, as well as having an international reputation as a researcher in organic chemistry. Gus holds BSc, PhD and DSc degrees from London University, and is a Fellow of several organisations: the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Following academic positions at Leicester and Sussex Universities, he played a significant role in the establishment of Griffith University, Brisbane as the founding Dean of Science. He then moved back to the UK as Secretary General of the Royal Society of Chemistry for four years. In the ten years he was at NSWIT/UTS (1986-96) as President and then Vice-Chancellor, he successfully led the NSWIT/UTS transformation, as well as the bigger task of the amalgamation of UTS with Kuring-gai CAE. In April 1996 he left UTS and established Gus Guthrie Consulting Pty Ltd. He was commissioned by the Queensland Government to conduct the negotiations with the Smithsonian Institution that lead to the Memorandum of Understanding between the two bodies. His most recent major consultancy was to lead the team that produced the ‘Guthrie Report’ for DEST (in the National Protocols for HE Approvals). He was a Ministerial appointee on the Council of the University of the Sunshine Coast (1999-2005), and an auditor for NZUAAU.

Robyn Harris Audit Director, AUQA
Robyn joined the staff of the Australian Universities Quality Agency in January 2002 and aside from audit related activities, takes primary responsibility for the Agency’s publications and training. Prior to joining AUQA, Robyn was Academic Audit Officer and then Acting Director at the New Zealand Universities Academic Audit Unit based in Wellington. She joined the AAU at the commencement of the Unit’s second cycle audits in 1999 and was directly involved in audits of seven of the eight universities. Previously, she worked at the University of Otago in the positions of Research Assistant and Research Fellow and is co-author of a number of publications in the fields of neurobiology and medical ethics. Robyn is a graduate of the University of Canterbury and holds an MA (first class) in Psychology.

Roger Field Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Lincoln University, NZ
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Lincoln University, New Zealand, having previously been Pro Vice-Chancellor, since 1993 and Professor of Plant Science, since 1986. Prior to undertaking senior management responsibilities, a significant research career in plant physiology with over 150 scientific publications. Major areas of current responsibility include academic policy development and operational implementation, related to the range of activities that impact on students, academic staff and academic programmes. The development of academic quality assurance processes that provide a quality education for students. A major role in the development of the University’s international business, including internationalisation of on-campus activities, the development of partnerships with international organisations and institutions and ensuring that the University has a strong international perspective. Currently Chair of Lincoln University’s Academic Board, and a member of the University Council. A major contributor to academic policy development for the New Zealand university system and the wider tertiary sector. Close involvement in the policy work of the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee, through membership of the Committee on University Academic Programmes and the Joint Consultative Group that is the joint policy forum for the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. Currently Convenor of the Sub-Committee on University Entrance for the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee and a member of the Learning and Qualifications for Secondary Education Advisory Committee established by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

Jan Lowe Director Strategic Policy, South Australian Government
Ms Jan Lowe is the Deputy Director of the Office of Regional Development, South Australia. She has worked across the senior levels of the three spheres of government, the nongovernment sector, and the private sector, in a range of positions and consultancies including policy, change management, human resources, executive management, independent investigation, planning, quality assurance and organisational development. Jan has a longstanding interest and involvement in higher education. In South Australia, for example, she chaired the SACAE Sturt Campus merger with Flinders University, the review of the University of South Australia legislation, and was a member of the SA Government review of university governance. She is a member of the University of South Australia Council. As Special Adviser to the Higher Education Council she was involved in the commissioning of research and policy development, including quality, and advice at the national level. More recently, she has been involved in universities and regional development at the State and national levels. Jan also chairs the Board of the Community Business Bureau, an organisation providing business services to the community services sector.

Hilary Winchester Pro Vice Chancellor and Vice President: Strategy and Planning, University of South Australia
At the University of South Australia, Professor Winchester is Pro Vice Chancellor and Vice President: Strategy and Planning. Her responsibilities as a member of the Senior Management Group include strategic planning, load, quality, staff equity, particularly gender equity and Indigenous staffing, and line management responsibility for major service units: Information Strategy and Technology Services, Planning and Assurance Services, and the Centre for Regional Engagement which includes the University’s Northern Adelaide Partnerships (UNAP) unit. A human geographer, Professor Winchester completed a BA (Hons) and D Phil at Oxford University and worked in Oxford, Cheltenham and Plymouth before coming to Australia in 1987 as a Research Fellow (University of New England). Professor Winchester was appointed an AUQA auditor in August 2001 and since then: served as an audit panel member or panel chair for three AUQA audits and on trial audits for four Australian universities managed the AUQA audit preparation for UniSA undertook internal audit of UniSA’s transnational programs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and China reviewed Chancellery Services for Swinburne University. In 2007, she was appointed auditor for the Quality Assurance Council of Hong Kong and Chair of the audit for Hong Kong Baptist University (2009). Other appointments include: Social Sciences Panel, Australian Research Council (1998-2000) Australian Institute of Geographers Australian Institute of Company Directors South Australian Training and Skills Commission AVCC representative on the Australian Qualifications Framework Advisory Board Working Party on the Recognition of Prior Learning Co-Convenor of Executive Women, Universities Australia (2004 - 2006) when she led a research project published in 2005 as, The Great Barrier Myth: an investigation of promotions policy and practice in Australian universities and led development of the Second AVCC Action Plan for Women Employed in Australian Universities 2006-2010 Priority Projects Standing Committee of the Carrick Institute (from 2006).