Tackling harassment and sexual misconduct through effective partnerships

Spencer Davies

Head of Advice and Response, University of Manchester

Spencer Davies is Head of Advice and Response at the University of Manchester, where he leads the University’s support for gender-based violence (GBV) and serves as the operational lead for all student safeguarding matters. He holds Designated Safeguarding Lead qualifications in both Further and Higher Education. His remit also encompasses student investigations, and conduct and discipline, bringing extensive experience of both managing and personally conducting complex investigations.

Spencer led the University’s response to E6 and the University’s achievement of the Emily Test, GBV Chartermark.  He is co-Chair of the GBV Action Network for Students, sits on the Manchester Safeguarding Partnership Adult Executive, and plays a senior role in a wide range of other cross-institutional work including Student Safety, Harm Reduction and Campus Relations work.  Spencer’s approach is guided by a belief in the student at the centre of all decision-making.

: spencer-davies-246b2b148

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Jenny Glover

Head of Student Casework, Keele University

Jenny Glover is Head of Student Casework at Keele University, with responsibility for student discipline, academic misconduct, appeals and complaints. She brings a career background in victim support and specialist domestic and sexual abuse services.

Jenny has played a central role in implementing the Office for Students’ Condition E6 and developing the University’s NeverOK approach to harassment and sexual misconduct. Her work connects specialist student support, casework, policy and training, with a focus on trauma informed practice, survivor choice and fair processes. A particular focus has been strengthening collaboration between Student Services and People and Organisational Development, including jointly developing bespoke training for staff misconduct investigators. This work draws on specialist casework expertise to support greater consistency in the student experience across different university processes.

Her previous experience includes managing a victim support service working alongside the police, alongside roles delivering outreach support, recovery programmes and work with perpetrators. This breadth of experience informs her approach to supporting those affected by abuse, preventing harm and addressing behaviours through appropriate interventions.

 

: https://www.keele.ac.uk/neverok/

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Freya Jackson

Senior Student Welfare Advisor, Manchester Metropolitan University

Freya Jackson is a Senior Student Welfare Advisor at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she has worked since January 2025. Freya is leading the development and delivery of a comprehensive student facing training programme which responds to the OfS E6 Compliance requirements, focusing on a proactive and preventative approach to harassment and sexual misconduct. Freya is also part of the Student Welfare team, who are responsible for supporting students who are affected by challenging personal circumstances or difficult situations, including those who have experienced discrimination, hate incidents, sexual violence or domestic abuse.

Previously Freya worked at the University of Sheffield delivering equality, diversity and inclusion campaigns and training for students, including a programme of in-person race equality and consent training.

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Tony Kane

Mental Health Strategy, Training & Partnerships Manager, University of Strathclyde

Tony Kane is Deputy Head of Service for Disability & Wellbeing at the University of Strathclyde. His career has spanned inpatient and community mental health services, health and fitness, and primary care, where he spent three years managing community link workers across Deep End GP practices.

Tony co-chairs the national suicide prevention network for universities and colleges and leads the implementation of Strathclyde’s Suicide Prevention Strategy. His work focuses on translating strategy into meaningful day-to-day practice, strengthening external partnerships, and improving support and outcomes for students and staff.

He has a particular interest in organisational culture and believes that sustainable strategies are built not simply through policies and action plans, but through the culture, relationships and behaviours that underpin them. Tony is passionate about bringing people and organisations together, learning across sectors and developing practical approaches that make a tangible difference to university communities.

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Sally Lambah

Head of Student Support and Wellbeing, Wrexham University

Sally is an AMOSSHE Executive Member and Head of Student Support and Wellbeing at Wrexham University. 

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

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Dr Emma Maslin

Senior Policy and Research Officer, AMOSSHE

Emma Maslin is the Senior Policy and Research Officer at AMOSSHE, supporting members on policy and research initiatives. She’s worked with HEMHIT and UMHAN (University Mental Health Advisers Network) to produce a sector resource to inform the use and adoption of case management systems. Emma recently completed a PhD exploring the experiences of commuter students in the UK.

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

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Sean McCann

Deputy Head of Wellbeing, Clinical Lead for the Counselling Service, University of Strathclyde

Sean McCann is Deputy Head of Wellbeing and Clinical Lead for the Counselling Service at the University of Strathclyde. He is an accredited psychotherapist with BABCP and COSCA, an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), and teaches part-time at the University of Glasgow and The Open University.

At Strathclyde, Sean has a particular interest in trauma-informed practice, recovery, prevention and early intervention, and the development of effective partnerships to support student wellbeing. He has been involved in the development of the University’s partnership with specialist sexual violence support services and is currently helping to develop Strathclyde’s wider public health approach to student and staff wellbeing. He is also a member of SCOTSMART and SMARTEN.

Sean’s career has spanned addiction, recovery, trauma and student mental health. He previously worked with Forth Valley Alcohol and Drug Partnership, where he was involved in developing the Forth Valley recovery community, before working as a trauma therapist with Combat Stress.

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Ian Munton

Director of Student Services, Aberystwyth University

Ian is an AMOSSHE Executive Member and Director of Student Services at Aberystwyth University.

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

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Melissa Reilly

Head of Student Support and Designated Safeguarding Lead, UA92

Melissa Reilly is Head of Student Support and Designated Safeguarding Lead at University Academy 92 (UA92). Melissa leads UA92’s disability and inclusion, wellbeing, and counselling and mental health services, and is the institutional lead for Office for Students Condition E6.

Melissa has worked on responses to gender-based violence in UK higher education since 2016. From 2018 to 2024, as Advice and Response Manager at the University of Manchester, Melissa set up a specialist support service for students affected by gender-based violence, and investigated serious cases of sexual misconduct, harassment, and hate. In that role, Melissa founded the Gender-based Violence Action Network for Students, which brings together Manchester’s universities, students’ unions, police, local authority, and specialist services, and continues to chair it.

Melissa is a qualified Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) and a MAPPA lay adviser, and previously sat on the Higher Education Advisory Panel of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). Melissa’s practice is trauma-informed, values-led, and evidence-led.

: melissa-reilly-a37632137

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Will Roberts

CEO, British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS)

Will Roberts is the CEO of British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), the member association for Higher Education providers of sport and active participation. With a background in sports governing bodies and school and youth sport, Will was COO of the Youth Sport Trust before joining BUCS in June 2024. Since then, Will has led the modernisation of BUCS' governance, sports programme and oriented the organisation's offering to focus on inclusiveness and extending the positive impact of being active to more students.

: www.bucs.org.uk/get-involved/club-culture
: will-roberts-6b4a6863

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Andy Shanks

Director of Student Wellbeing, The University of Edinburgh

Andy is an AMOSSHE Executive Member and Director of Student Wellbeing at the University of Edinburgh.

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

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Ceri Wilcock

Deputy Director, Student Experience, The Open University

Ceri Wilcock is Deputy Director, Student Experience at The Open University in Wales, where she leads a broad portfolio of work focused on improving student experience, support, learner engagement and success.

 Ceri began her career as an advice and guidance practitioner and has worked across student-facing services and higher education leadership for over 20 years. This practitioner background continues to shape her approach, with a strong interest in how institutions design support around the needs and experiences of students, particularly those who may face additional barriers to participation and success. She is also a Trustee of Cardiff Metropolitan University Students’ Union, bringing an additional perspective on student voice, governance and the relationship between universities and students’ unions.

Alongside her role at the OU, Ceri leads and contributes to Wales-wide partnership work and is currently co-leading a Medr-funded national project exploring how the Welsh higher education sector can strengthen its approach to violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence (VAWDASV). The project reflects her wider interest in collaboration, student safety, equality of opportunity and translating policy and regulatory expectations into practical improvements for students.

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Dr Emma Young

Deputy Director of Student Services (Health and Wellbeing), Manchester Metropolitan University

Dr Emma Young is Deputy Director of Student Services at Manchester Metropolitan University where she has worked since March 2023. Alongside management and leadership of a range of student services, as part of her role, Emma chairs the University’s Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Operational Group and the Harm Reduction Policy and Operations Group, driving forward work on all forms of harassment and sexual misconduct alongside harm reduction approaches to substance use and gambling.

Prior to joining Manchester Met, Emma worked in senior management roles at several other HEIs in the UK, including most recently at the University of Bradford where, as Associate Director Student Success and Wellbeing, she was the project lead for an OfS-funded project examining South Asian student perceptions and experiences of mental health support.

: https://www.mmu.ac.uk/student-life/safety/sexual-harassment-and-sexual-violence
: emma-young-068bb4117

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