Today (1 April) marks the first working day of Professor Deborah Gill as Vice-President (Education and Student Experience).
In this role, Deborah will take on the leadership of all our education and student experience activities, delivering our Education Strategic Plan and ensuring an exceptional student experience. As a member of the University Executive Board, she will play an important role in the delivery of our new strategy and our vision.
Our Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mark E. Smith commented:
“I am delighted to welcome Deborah to Southampton. She joins us at an exciting time, as we further develop our Education Strategic Plan in support of the new University Strategy. She brings a wealth of experience and I look forward to working with her.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Professor Alex Neill, who has made an enormous contribution to our University during the ten years he has been in this key role. I know he has made an immense difference to many of our educators and students in this time and he has brought great understanding of what matters to them to our leadership discussions and decision making – he will be much missed.”
An introduction to Deborah Gill
Deborah qualified in medicine in 1990 and combined her clinical and academic work for 20 years before shifting her focus to senior academic roles. She joins us from University College London (UCL), where she has been their Interim Vice Provost, Education and Student Experience since April 2021.
We asked Deborah a few questions, ahead of her first day.
Q During the process of applying for the role and preparing to join us – what have been your early impressions of our University?
Everyone has been incredibly supportive and welcoming. I have been included in lots of discussions and decisions and am quickly learning about strengths, challenges and ambitions.
Q What do you hope to achieve in this role?
The pandemic period has been a time of great challenge for our staff and students, but it has also been a time of learning about what we are capable of doing at scale and at great pace to deliver the best possible student experience and outcomes. I want to seize on that momentum and insights gained to create a step change in providing a contemporary education, in terms of content, delivery and focus for our learners that prepares them to thrive in a rapidly changing modern world. The triple helix at the heart of new strategy provides a really exciting framework upon which to build this contemporary education.
Q What is your proudest career achievement up to now?
In my former role I was responsible for the relationship between the University and the Students Union and ensuring the student voice was heard at every level of decision making. As I leave that role the relationship between the Senior Leadership Team of UCL and our student representatives is incredibly resilient and positive and no one sets up a project, meeting or initiative without hearing my virtual voice in their ear whispering ‘ have the students been included in this?’
Q Tell us something about yourself that we might not be able to tell from your CV or LinkedIn profile?
In my younger days I worked as a ‘crowd doctor’ for a premiership football club: looking after 40,000 spectators at a time. ‘Mass gathering medicine’ is a pretty niche specialism and calls for a very wide range of skills – dealing with scenarios ranging from mass casualty to drunk and fell over. I think it was good training for a senior leadership role looking after thousands of students!
Read the original announcement of Professor Deborah Gill’s appointment.
