Biography

Professor Gill Nicholls is the Vice President and Deputy-Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs at the University of Surrey. She is responsible for innovation in teaching and learning, quality enhancement, quality assurance, and the student experience.

 A graduate of the University of London, Gill has held the posts of

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Salford University; Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Student Experience) at Durham University, and Director of King’s Institute of Learning and Teaching (KILT) at King’s College University of London.  Prior to joining King’s, Gill was Professor of Education at Surrey University, where she was responsible for the Centre for Professional and Work Related Education Research.

 Memberships:

 All-Party Parliamentary University Group

• National Advisory Board for the Framework for Qualifications in Higher Education
• HEA Academic Council
• (Chair) HEA National DVC/PVC Network for Teaching and Learning
• HEFCE TRAC Advisory Group
• HEFCE TRAC Development Group
• HEFCE Widening Access and Participation Strategic Advisory Board
• (Chair) Leadership Foundation National DVC/PVC Network
• QAA Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers
• QAA Benchmarking Advisory Board for Education

Research Interests

Her research area lies within policy research in higher education, particularly professional development and teaching and learning environments. Gill has published extensively in journals, and has published nine books, the latest of which is The Challenge to Scholarship.  Other titles have included: Collaborative Change in Education; Developing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and Professional Development in Higher Education: New dimensions and directions.

She has been involved in many research and evaluation projects; the latest involving inter-professional education within medicine and the health related professions.  She is currently a visiting Professor at Wisconsin University in the USA, and has just finished her second term of office as Chair of the Society for Educational Studies.

Affiliations

• Assessment Agency for Research and Higher Education (AERES), France  (External Evaluator)
• AQU Catalunya (External Advisor)
• European Commission-University-Business-Cooperation (External Advisor)
• National Professional Standards for Teaching (External Advisor)
• University of Edinburgh, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment (External Examiner)
• University of Nottingham (External Evaluator for the Visual Learning Lab, CETL)