Winter Conference 2026: the Student Services effect

Luke Davy

Student Engagement & Retention Manager, University of Roehampton

Luke Davy is an experienced professional whose work at the University of Roehampton has established him as a leader in data driven student engagement and retention. As Student Engagement and Retention Manager, he has led university wide initiatives grounded in a preventative, proactive, predictive, and personalised framework, ensuring students receive targeted support throughout their academic journey. At Roehampton, Luke uses real time data and lead indicators to identify emerging trends, monitor risk, and design interventions that strengthen belonging, wellbeing, and academic achievement. His contributions include the creation of impactful pre-arrival and induction programmes, academic support campaigns, peer mentoring programmes, and community building activities which create a sense of belonging. With collaborative working, he has led his team in significantly reducing international student withdrawal rates and successfully transitioned engagement strategies online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before joining Roehampton, Luke spent ten years at Kensington and Chelsea College, where he developed a comprehensive student support and enrichment framework central to the college’s student support. He launched an Ofsted recognised Peer Mentor Programme, established strong community partnerships, and introduced systems that improved support for at-risk learners. Earlier in his career, he served as Programme Manager at Greenhouse Sports, designing accredited mentoring and sports based interventions for young people facing social and academic barriers. As Founder of Life Sessions Ltd, he created life-skills and mentoring programmes that empowered young people through practical, confidence-building learning.

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Dr Thandi Gilder

Researcher, Advance HE

Dr Thandi Gilder is a researcher at Advance HE working as part of the team delivering the pre-post arrival questionnaire project, supporting institutions to better understand studetns' expectations, preparedness, and early transition experiences.

Before joining Advance HE, Thandi spent over a decade working in higher education as a Senior Lecturer and Learning and Development Leader for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Alongside her academic role, she worked closely with professional services teams across student support, quality, learning and teaching and wellbeing, leading initiatives to address awarding gaps, improve retention and embed inclusion across the student lifecycle. 

Thandi has extensive experience working with Student Services colleagues to translate data into practical action, supporting evidence-informed decision making that centres student voice and lived experience. Her work has been particularly founded in understanding how structural inequality, belonging and institutional culture shape student outcomes. As a psychologist, Thandi also has a profound interest in student mental health and was an academic member of a Student Led Mental Health Strategy and Implementation group at her previous institution. 

: /thandi-gilder-80601282/?originalSubdomain=uk

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Csenge Ilyés

Student Representative, Rajk College for Advanced Studies, Hungary

Csenge Ilyés is a student representative from Rajk College for Advanced Studies, Hungary, which is a student-led democratic community. She is passionate about empowering and mobilizing students, and has been a member of Rajk College’s Student Board and Alumni Coordination, proactively organising their society of over 900 members.

Csenge holds a degree in International Relations and she is currently pursuing one in Public Policy and Management. She lived in Bangkok, Thailand, but now she spends most of her time at her College in Budapest.

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Professor Duncan Ivison

President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of Manchester

Professor Duncan Ivison, FAHA FRSN, is President and Vice-Chancellor of The University of Manchester. He holds degrees from McGill University and the London School of Economics Political Science. With over 20 years at the University of Sydney, Duncan has extensive experience in academic leadership, including roles as Dean and Deputy Vice Chancellor. A distinguished political and moral philosopher, he's received numerous awards and held visiting positions at prestigious institutions worldwide. Duncan is passionate about public engagement and building partnerships between universities, communities, industry, and governments.

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Hannah Jones

Welfare Lead, Balliol College, University of Oxford

Hannah Jones is the Welfare Lead at Balliol College (a college of the University of Oxford). Under her guidance over the past two years she has refocused the welfare strategy to encourage increased engagement with the Welfare Team through embedded termly initiatives. More recently she has added pre-arrival support into the welfare student journey, to support early engagement with the team and wider university welfare and support services.

Prior to starting at Balliol, Hannah worked in Specialist Designated Institutions for over 20 years, covering land-based provision and adult learning. Her roles were based within student recruitment, academic registrar's office, safeguarding and welfare management.

: https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/wellbeing-and-welfare

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Lorraine Lavery-Bowen

Head of Student Success Centre, Ulster University

Lorraine Lavery-Bowen leads the Student Success Centre at Ulster University. Over the past two years, she’s taken the Centre from an idea to a fully working model across the university’s campuses, building the vision, systems and support needed to help thousands of students every year. Under her guidance, the Centre has rolled out fresh approaches to student transition, induction and belonging, boosted academic and maths skills support, and strengthened the university’s focus on inclusion, early engagement and retention.

With more than 20 years’ experience in higher education, Lorraine has held senior roles focused on widening access and breaking down barriers for diverse groups of learners. She set up the Ulster University Schools Discovery Academy, an inclusive online outreach programme for schools across Northern Ireland, and developed Community Scholarships to open up opportunities for more students.

Lorraine has played a big part in shaping policy, strategy and practice across the sector. She’s passionate about inclusive education, collaboration and responding with care to student needs. Her work has been recognised with several awards for improving the student experience, including the Distinguished Collaborative Education Excellence Fellowship.

She’s also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a former Board Governor of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, and holds the title of Civic Ambassador at Ulster University in recognition of her contribution to the wider community.

: www.ulster.ac.uk/success
: lorraine-lavery-bowen-124b9b50

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Laura Martin

Head of Careers Service, CEU University San Pablo, Spain

Career Advisor and Talent Management professional with over 14 years of experience in higher education, recruitment, and corporate consulting environments. Laura currently serves as Head of Career Services, where she leads the strategic development of career and employability initiatives.

Since joining CEU University San Pablo in 2016, she has worked in different roles within the Career Services team, progressively increasing her level of responsibility. Throughout this time, she has supported several academic areas, including Business and Economics, Humanities and Communication, and Law, adapting employability strategies to the specific needs of each faculty.

Previously, Laura developed a solid professional foundation in recruitment and talent management, combining experience in consultancy with roles in Human Resources departments. In these positions, she led end-to-end recruitment processes for middle- and senior-level profiles, advised business leaders on talent acquisition strategies, and contributed to workforce planning and people development initiatives.

: /lauramartinrodriguezceu/

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Mirela Mazalu

Secretary-General, European University College Association (EucA)

Mirela Mazalu is Secretary-General of the European University College Association (EucA), a Brussels-based organization representing universities, colleges, and university residences across 17 European countries.

With over 15 years of experience in European higher education, Mirela specializes in establishing student affairs and services as a recognized profession in Europe, with particular expertise in student housing, university residential life, soft skills training, active citizenship, and quality mobility frameworks.

Through strategic partnerships with leading student affairs associations in USA, Africa and South Korea, Mirela facilitates knowledge exchange on residence life and student success best practices among European higher education leaders, global experts, and EU decision makers.

: www.euca.eu
: mirelamazalu

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Mariagrazia Melfi

Director for Professional Development and Research, EucA

Mariagrazia Melfi is a psychologist and professional counsellor with over 20 years of experience in student development and soft skills training in higher education. Her areas of expertise include communication, problem-solving, counselling psychology, and collaborative work with students and colleagues.

She serves in the management team of Fondazione RUI, a network of 14 Colleges of Merit across Italy, where she coordinates educational projects and cultural activities, oversees student selection and retention processes, and provides mentoring and tutoring to undergraduate and graduate students. She is responsible for delivering and assessing soft skills development programmes.

As EucA's Director for Professional Development and Research, Mariagrazia has been instrumental in advancing the professionalisation of student affairs across Europe. Since March 2022, she has co-directed the Master in Training of Experts in Student Affairs and Campus Life, a partnership between EucA and LUMSA University in Rome, contributing to the development of European approaches to student affairs practice.

: www.euca.eu
: mariagrazia-melfi-75b565a7

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Dr Michelle Morgan

Dean of Students, University of East London

Dr Michelle Morgan is a national and internationally recognised Student Experience Transitions Specialist across all levels of study and is extensively published in the area. She is Dean of Students at the University of East London. Michelle is a National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the HEA, Fellow of the AUA  and SRHE, recipient of the European First Year Experience Leadership Award, an elected council member of UKCGE and Student Minds Mental Health Charter Assessor.

During her varied career, Michelle has been a faculty manager, lecturer, researcher and academic manager. She describes herself as a ‘Third Space Integrated Student Experience Practitioner’ who develops initiatives based on pragmatic and practical research. Michelle has over 50 publications and has presented over 100 national and international conference papers (including 60 keynotes and 40 invited papers). She has developed a free portal for staff which provides a range of information and links for anyone interested in improving the student experience in higher education www.improvingthestudentexperience.com

: https://www.improvingthestudentexperience.com/

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Ángel Bartolomé Muñoz de Luna

Vice-Rector for Students and Campus Life, CEU University San Pablo, Spain

Ángel Bartolomé Muñoz de Luna serves as a Vice-Rector for Students and University Life at Universidad CEU San Pablo since 2017. He is a full professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Communication Sciences at Universidad CEU San Pablo. Since 2023, he has served as Principal Investigator of the consolidated research group on competencies, employability, and talent development.

He is also Director of the Adecco Group Chair, Member and Chair of the Scientific Committee on Micro-credentials and Competency Assessment of the European University College Association (EucA), 2025–2026.

He holds a PhD in Communication from Universidad CEU San Pablo, a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from Universidad San Dámaso, and a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising from Universidad CEU San Pablo. He also earned a Master’s degree in Design Management from EOI and completed an in-house certificate program at Syracuse University. He holds the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) certification to teach the Leadership Essentials program. He has worked as an Art Director at several advertising agencies, managing international accounts such as Hoss Intropia, Smirnoff, Vodafone, Bimbo, and Renfe. Notably, he held senior responsibilities as Head of Marketing at Marco Aldany.

: /angelbartolome/?originalSubdomain=es

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Amanda Owen-Meehan

Managing Consultant, AHEP Consulting

Amanda Owen-Meehan is Managing Consultant with AHEP Consulting and an ILM Level 7 Executive Coach. She is also a certified Change Management Practitioner with over 25 years' experience leading transformation projects across UK higher education. Amanda has held interim Registrar and senior leadership roles at institutions including Birmingham City University, Leeds Arts University, and Corndel College London, and has led consultancy projects at UAL, UEL, Cardiff Metropolitan, Manchester Metropolitan, and the Royal College of Art. Alongside her consulting work, Amanda delivers leadership development programmes and executive coaching for professional services staff at all levels, with a particular focus on helping managers become confident, people-first leaders. She is keen to connect with colleagues across the HE sector. You can find her on LinkedIn using the details below.

: https://ahep.ac.uk/ahep-consulting/
: /amandaowenmeehan/

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Stephanie Pagio

Counselling Psychologist, University of Oxford

Stephanie Pagio is a Counselling Psychologist working for the University of Oxford Counselling Service, she is the College Counsellor at Balliol College, Oxford.

Stephanie provides individual and group counselling, runs workshops for students, and is a part of the service trauma clinic. She recently partnered with Welfare Lead Hannah Jones creating content and presenting at the Balliol College Wellbeing Welcome, providing added pre-arrival support for new students. Among her other support roles within the service Stephanie provides welfare supervision for five colleges, and undertakes the role of link college counsellor. She works as a duty counsellor, contributes to peer supervision for therapeutic modalities, and holds a liaison role with specialist NHS services.

As well as working for the University of Oxford, Stephanie works for Barnados, and has a small private practice. She is an active member of the Beds, Bucks and Herts Regional EMDR Steering Group, where she facilitates ‘Research to Practice’ events aimed at bridging the gap between academic evidence and clinical application. Previously she worked for the NHS, and Bexar County Felony Drug Court in San Antonio, Texas.

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Kristy Robinson

Student Support Development Lead, University of Westminster

Kristy Robinson, M.S.W., SFHEA, UKCP Reg. is a mental health practitioner and higher education leader with over a decade of experience spanning both the United States and the United Kingdom. Her career has focused on building inclusive, trauma-informed student support services and leading strategic wellbeing initiatives at institutional levels. Kristy’s clinical training and experience as a psychotherapist inform her approach to leadership and collaboration, where she advocates for meaningful change in student mental health and wellbeing.

Currently serving as Student Support Development Lead at the University of Westminster, Kristy leads on policy development and strategic advancement for the Student Support and Residential Life service provision. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has recently been appointed as a Trustee with the University Mental Health Advisers Network (UMHAN). Her work is grounded in a commitment to cultural humility, social justice, and ethical leadership in student mental health and wellbeing.

: kristy-robinson

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Paul Rossi

Head of Student Advice & Safeguarding Support, University of the Arts London

Paul is an AMOSSHE Executive Member and Head of Student Advice & Safeguarding Support at University of the Arts London.

: https://www.amosshe.org.uk/about/our-team.html

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Angela Scanlon

Director of Student and Graduate Success, Ulster University

Angela is an AMOSSHE Executive Member and Director of Student and Graduate Success at Ulster University.

: https://www.amosshe.org.uk/about/our-team.html

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Helen Tompkin

Head of Hallam Help and Accommodation Services, Sheffield Hallam University

Helen Tompkin is Head of Hallam Help and Accommodation Services at Sheffield Hallam University, leading a cross-university support model that responds to over 200,000 student enquiries annually across multiple channels. With 24 years of experience at Hallam in both central and academic-aligned roles, Helen has developed expertise in empowering people, pastoral support, and driving change.

She currently oversees the design and delivery of frontline services, using knowledge management, data, and emerging AI technologies to gain insights into student needs and enhance service accessibility. Helen leads a team of around 50 staff, ensuring high-quality, student-centred support aligned with industry standards for a diverse student community.

Her professional interests include creating inclusive services, embracing digital transformation to improve retention and attainment, and leveraging technology for early intervention strategies. Helen recently completed an MBA focused on evaluating the role of artificial intelligence in supporting student success.

: helen-tompkin-2552a4356

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