ASET Executive

ASET is governed as a charity by a Board of Trustees, and our Trustees contribute to the running of our organisation by being members of our Executive Committee. Our constitution allows our Executive Committee to have up to fifteen members who may be Trustees or co-opted individuals, and the Committee is also open to our President and the Chief Operations Officer in an ‘ex-officio’ capacity. There are currently three Officer Roles within the committee.

The Executive Committee meets five or six times a year either online, in London or in the North,  to conduct official business of the organisation, but also to plan for member activities, projects and new developments. If you are interested in how we are run please see our page on Governance. Our current Executive Committee is made up of the following Trustees:

• Francesca Walker-Martin, Chair
• Emily Timson, Vice Chair
• Andy Dodge, Treasurer
• Laura Bielby
• Laura Bradley McCauley
• Kimberley Harris
• Helen Hooper
• Seamus McConomy
• Vicki O’Brien
• Steve Osborne
• Lou Taylor-Murison
• Catherine Teehan
• Julie Udell

ASET Executive Committee :

Francesca Walker-Martin, CHAIR – University of Central Lancashire
Fran is a Reader in Work Based Learning in the Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise at UCLan, teaching a range of students from undergraduate to post-graduate. She has a specific commitment to providing them with the best possible work based learning experience, including research informed teaching.  In 2017 she enhanced her portfolio adding Degree Apprenticeships and is now Degree Apprentice Lead with a focus on quality in line with Ofsted and QAA requirements.

As a Chartered Member of the Chartered Management Institute and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy Fran has a wide network of colleagues who provide support and guidance to her students.  It is an understatement to say that Fran is passionate about work-based learning, it has been a key driver in her working life. She knows students who engage with the offer will transform, often beyond their wildest dreams.
Fran was elected as a Trustee in September 2015, became Vice Chair in September 2018, and was elected as Chair at the 2019 AGM.

www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-walker-martin-609bb317/

Emily Timson, VICE-CHAIR – Leeds Trinity University
Emily is Director of Graduate Outcomes and Enterprise at Leeds Trinity University, and is responsible for ensuring the provision of student opportunities, including placements, and graduate employment outcomes. She works alongside academic colleagues and with employer partners. Previously in a central role as Assistant Head of Student Placement at the University of Leeds, she supported several teams including Volunteering, Work Placement, International Employer Engagement, and the ‘Students into School’ programme.

Emily is CIPD qualified and has a master’s degree for which she explored the disconnect between employers and Higher Education in the context of supply of, and demand for, graduate labour. Emily has been an ASET Trustee since 2013 and was elected Vice Chair at the 2019 AGM.
www.linkedin.com/in/emilytimson/

Andy Dodge, TREASURER – Cardiff University
Andy is the Employability and Placements Manager for the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, where he has championed the concept of placement and WBL across the University.  He has embedded both short and long-term placement/WBL initiatives within the academic curriculum and supported the development of extra-curricular activities.  He has advised on good practice and provided training to colleagues at Cardiff. Prior to joining Cardiff, Andy worked for National Training Federation Wales (NTFW) – a pan-Wales membership organisation representing over 100 WBL providers, where he researched members’ views for responses to Welsh Government consultations and has presented evidence on behalf of NTFW to the Enterprise and Business Committee’s Inquiry. Andy was elected at the 2020 AGM after serving a year as a Co-opted Trustee, and has taken on the role of Treasurer from January 2022.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-dodge-94482b29/

Laura Bielby – Leeds Beckett University
Laura works at Leeds Beckett University in the Business Engagement Team as the Student Opportunity and Experiential Learning Manager. In this role, Laura manages a team which facilitates a large proportion of the University’s in-curricular placement activity, alongside another team which creates a range of experiential learning opportunities in the co-curricular space. Much of Laura’s role is focused upon establishing appropriate WBPL (Work Based Placement Learning) and WIL (Work Integrated Learning) policies and procedures across the institution. Prior to this, Laura worked on engaging students in Sandwich Placements and in a business development role with a particular focus on third sector and preparing students for working and volunteering in the local communities. Laura co-leads the Membership and Communications Working Group.
 www.linkedin.com/in/bielbylaura/

Dr Laura Bradley-McCauley – Ulster University
Laura is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Ulster University and a previous Placement Tutor and Faculty Employability Committee Chair. She sits on the University’s Sub-Committee for Employability. She has developed, and led, employability initiatives at both strategic and operational level within the faculty and University. Her research interests include employability typologies and profiling and she is actively involved in research on SMEs and entrepreneurship. Laura has presented at conferences on placement and employability including ASET, HEA and LTSE and published in Industry and Higher Education journals. She leads on a number of EU funded projects focusing on developing skills and best practice across Europe for young people and influencing policy through collaboration. Laura is also lead, and partner of Shared Island Funded Projects including Atlantic Futures and Social Entrepreneurship and involved with university consortiums developing research, applied programmes and funding applications throughout the UK and Ireland. She regularly undertakes consultancy with SMEs across the island of Ireland, and is a board member with third sector organisations and an external examiner. She supervises PhD students on the future of work and digital technologies. Laura is passionate about outreach and widening participation and has developed many programmes across schools in Northern Ireland to support skills development in young people in the areas of entrepreneurship. She has strong industry links and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ireland Management Group. She is also Ulster University Business School lead on the Help to Grow programme targeted at SMEs.

www.linkedin.com/in/dr-laura-bradley-b384b825/ 

Kimberley Harris – The University of Warwick

Kimberley leads Internships, Placements & Work Experience at the University of Warwick, as part of Student Opportunity.  Kimberley’s team works with students, employers and academic departments to increase the quantity and quality of placement learning across Warwick, providing practitioner toolkits and associated resources, contributing student learning programmes, employer engagement activities, and creating a focal point and centre of expertise for discussion around placements and other work experience. She is chair of the University’s Placements Practice Group and part of the Degree Apprenticeships Operations Group. Kimberley has been an ASET Trustee since 2018 and is a member of the Staff Development, and Membership and Communications Working Groups.

www.linkedin.com/in/kimberley-harris-8698761a/

Dr. Helen Hooper – Northumbria University
Helen is Director of Equality Diversity and Inclusion at Northumbria University. Helen realised the transformative impact that WBPL could have, after witnessing a student  progress from barely passing their first year, to obtaining a 1st class degree and progress to PhD research after undertaking a 2nd year placement. This inspired Helen to pursue WBPL enhancement opportunities for her students and Helen has since enabled WBPL experience to be recorded within the student HEAR, worked with employers to develop skills-based learning opportunities whilst on an HESTEM funded WBL-project, and supported an institutional review leading to a more flexible WBL-framework.
In her current role, Helen is also developing resources to promote Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, identifying perceived barriers to engagement in placement and work based learning and brings this expertise to the board of ASET Trustees. Helen is a member of the Research Working Group.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenthooper/ 

Seamus McConomy – Ulster University
Seamus is Work Experience & Placements Manager in the  Employability Business Services Unit at Ulster University, which has developed one of the largest Work-Based and Placement Learning (WBPL) programmes in UK.  At Ulster employability is embedded within the core University business of learning.  Seamus supports the Employability and Careers Department and provides training and professional consultation to academic and senior management across Ulster University which is a complex multi-site organisation.  Seamus has been providing leadership to the Regional Hub for Scotland & Ireland. After serving a year as a Co-opted Trustee, Seamus was elected as a Trustee at the 2020 AGM.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seamus-mcconomy-40148925/ 

Vicki O’Brien – University of Central Lancashire
Vicki is a Lecturer in Digital Marketing for the Digital Marketeer Degree Apprenticeship within Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise at the University of Central Lancashire. Vicki works with a diverse range of students and employers alike. Previously Vicki was responsible, as placement officer, for Postgraduate students and worked to implement the placement module for MBA students. Vicki is currently working towards her PhD. She enjoys research and completed a research project into the barriers and motivations to sandwich degree placements with the Lancashire School of Business and Enterprise. Vicki joined the ASET Executive as a Co-opted Trustee in September 2017, she now co-leads the Membership and Communications Working Group.
www.linkedin.com/in/vickilobrien/

Steve Osborne – Cardiff Metropolitan University
Steve is a Principal Lecturer in Employability at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Steve has worked and volunteered in industry settings for over 25 years and has 15 years’ experience in strategic leadership and non-executive director roles in public, and not for profit organisations. In HE since 2010 , he was seconded into his current role five years ago. He now has oversight of WBPL modules for 2500 sport and health science student placements annually, and leads a university wide working group to support professional services and academics with pedagogic frameworks promoting enterprise education, work-based, career development and WRL. Steve has extended the reach of this work leading a working group for the EASM network and an employability research stream for BUCS. Recently collaborating with CIMSPA he has influenced the development of; national degree accreditation frameworks, new national professional standards, employability guidance, new professional code of ethics/practice and influenced the overall chartered assessment process proposed for all sport roles in the UK. Steve is keen to bring this experience to the ASET Community and to promote discipline specific activities. Steve is a member of the Research Working Group.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmustevenosborne/

Lou Taylor-Murison – Keele University
Lou is the Head of Apprenticeships & Experiential Learning at Keele University. She leads on Apprenticeships at Keele and is developing placement and work-based learning as a broader experiential learning offer. Lou is a Senior Fellow of the HEA and has worked on a varied portfolio of Higher Education projects encompassing blended and e-learning, Curriculum Innovation, Student Finance and Widening Participation. Lou leads the Staff Development Working Group and is a member of the Research Working Group.

www.linkedin.com/in/lou-taylor-murison-68bb5a6/

Dr. Catherine Teehan – Cardiff University 

www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-teehan/

Dr. Julie Udell – University of Portsmouth
Julie has been the Placement and Employability Lead for the Department of Psychology at the University of Portsmouth since 2009. She has a wealth of experience having led the development of their innovative approach to experiential learning and each year supports over 100 students to secure placements. She has introduced course initiatives upheld as a model of good practice, showcased at Faculty conferences and adopted by other departments within the university. Julie is an academic delivering placement and employability provision and brings this particular perspective and experience to ASET, as Lead for the Research Working Group. Julie was elected at the 2020 AGM after a period as a Co-opted Trustee.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-udell-31b7261b/

We also are pleased to welcome our latest Co-opted Trustees who will be joining the Executive Committee in January 2023:

Sam McKinstrie, Robert Gordon University

Dr Lisa Taylor, University of East Anglia

ASET is also very pleased to have a President, whose role it is to advise the Trustees of the Charity but who remains an independent voice, to ensure the needs of the membership are being met. Our new President, Sarah Flynn, Associate Professor of Learning and Teaching in the Learning and Teaching Innovation Centre at the University of Hertfordshire, was appointed in February 2023.

Sarah Flynn – President
Sarah has been a long-time supporter of ASET, is highly committed to its success and a firm advocate of all things work based and placement learning. With a career spanning over 20 years in UK Higher Education, Sarah is now Associate Professor of Learning and Teaching in the Learning and Teaching Innovation Centre at the University of Hertfordshire. Her role provides support to academics across the University to develop their practice and curricula.  Sarah specialises in curriculum design, work based learning, employability, student experience and equality. A National Teaching Fellow, she currently teaches on the postgraduate programme in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. Sarah’s areas of expertise cover: work based learning, placements, employability, apprenticeships, professional development, academic identity, widening participation and social justice.  Her areas of research include work based learning, professional development and identity, and impact of Higher Education policy on practice.

Sarah is currently working with our outgoing President, Dr Geoffrey Copland CBE, as part of the hand over process.  In recognition of Geoffrey’s 16-year contribution to ASET as President we will be making a formal presentation at Conference in September.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-flynn-8985a912/

ASET Staff Team

The ASET Executive Committee is supported by a small staff team managed from the ASET Offices in Sheffield.

Ms Debbie Siva-Jothy, Chief Operations Officer

Debbie runs the ASET office and manages the organisation’s operations. She has been with ASET since 2009 having previously worked in retail head office management and in recruitment.

Ms Anna Worsley, Professional Development and Engagement Manager

Anna works closely with the Trustees to design, develop and deliver our programme of Staff Development events. Having previously worked in placement and project roles at ASET member institutions in the North and Northwest. She joined the staff team in September 2022

Ms Janet Aspinall, Membership and Events Co-ordinator

Janet works alongside Debbie in the office assisting with all aspects of administration, and with a key focus on Membership and Events.