The Board of Governors

Professor Mark Hunt

Committees

Governing Body Chair

Relationship with the Academy

UCA Lead Sponsor of the Strood Academy

Profile

Currently Mark is Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University for the Creative Arts. His role includes support to the Vice Chancellor in the leadership and management of the academic and academic support functions of the University. He oversees the preparation and implementation of the Strategic Plan and the Corporate Planning Statement. Mark also chairs the University’s Quality and Standards Committee, Senior Planning Group and holds line management responsibilities for PVC/Executive Deans, Academic Registrar and the Director of Academic Services.

Mark’s planning responsibilities include strategic leadership and management of all aspects of the University’s business, advising on all matters relating to strategic planning and the academic operations of the University.  He ensures sound stewardship of student number planning and oversight of University resource planning. (University budget £55m, 7000 fte students), and also provides specialist advice to Governors to assist them in determining strategic planning goals and policy formation for the University as a whole.

Mark holds a BA (Hons) 3D Design (Ceramics) from Loughborough College of Art and Design (Loughborough University) and an MA 3D Design (Ceramics) from South Glamorgan Institute of HE, Cardiff (Cardiff School of Art).  He has pursued a career in education management and has held leadership and management positions in Higher Education for over 25 years (Including UCA, The Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College, London Guildhall University and Sunderland Polytechnic).  In 2002 he was awarded the title of Professor of Crafts Education and elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Richard Hart

Committees

Finance Personnel & Estates

Relationship with the Academy

Academy Principal & ex-officio Governor.

Profile

Richard grew up and was educated in Kent, completing his first degree at the University of Exeter in the 1970s. His career in teaching has spanned thirty five years in seven schools, including a period in the independent sector.

Following a deputy headship in Cranbrook and completing a Masters degree in curriculum development, he moved to Rochester in 2001 as head teacher at Thomas Aveling School. During the next seven years Thomas Aveling gained an Outstanding Ofsted grade and became a high performing specialist school.

Richard has served as a consultant head for both the Specialist Schools & Academies Trust and the National College supporting other schools and in head teacher training. He was appointed by the Sponsors for the new Strood Academy in the autumn of 2008 and began work full time in January 2009 to establish Medway’s first academy as the inaugural Principal.

Richard is passionate about developing an excellent new school for the Strood community and providing opportunities for young people to progress successfully from school to higher education or into the world of work.

Married with two grown up children who both attended a co-educational comprehensive school, Richard is a keen sportsman and a lifelong Gillingham supporter.

Alan Cooke

Committees

Board of Governors and Chair of Finance, Personnel & Estates Committee (FPE).

Relationship with the Academy

Lead Sponsor Board Member, Link Governor with Faculty of Business & Enterprise.

Profile

Alan Cooke, Pro Vice-Chancellor Corporate Resources, University for the Creative Arts.

Alan is an MBA qualified Chartered Surveyor with experience in both the public and private sectors.

Alan has been at the University for the Creative Arts and its predecessor (the Surrey Institute for Art & Design) for 16 years.  Before this most recent appointment, Alan’s roles included Head of Estate Services, Head of IT Services and Interim Head of Finance. Alan has been responsible for the development of the Farnham and Epsom Campuses’ Master Plans over the past ten years including over £30m of capital projects.

In his current role, Alan is responsible for Finance, Estate Services, Human Resources and Health & Safety at UCA.

Jill Greenleaf

Committees

Student Wellbeing.

Relationship with the Academy

Parent of a pupil in year 9

Profile

Jill is now a full-time carer to two people but has a very varied background.  She trained as a dancer and danced professionally after leaving school at 18, then used A levels and Secretarial training to work as a temp in London between dancing jobs.

Jill worked as a P.A. Secretary to the Chief Executive in a large property company for a number of years before moving into the same role in a large insurance company whilst becoming a part-time dance teacher in ballet, tap, modern and jazz.  Recent job roles have included being a letting agent, a school secretary in a large local infant school and working as a foreign exchange consultant.  Jill has a number of interests and hobbies including watching ice hockey, dancing, cooking and meditation.

Bob Moreton

Committees

Education Standards

Relationship with the Academy

Safeguarding, Mathematics Faculty.

Profile

Bob works as an education adviser and OFSTED inspector having been a headteacher; he has a strong belief in equal opportunities and is passionate about education and the importance of developing self belief and self esteem in young people. He believes strongly in young people and the contribution that they make to society.

Bob still enjoys sport and is a member of several sports clubs. He is married has two children and three grandchildren who take up an increasingly large proportion of his time. He is involved in fundraising for Leukaemia research .

David Mead

Committees

Chair of the Student Wellbeing Committee

Relationship with the Academy

Lead Governor for the English and Communications Faculty.

Profile

David was appointed to the Governing Body in November 2009 as a nominee of the University for the Creative Arts. Prior to his retirement in January 2004, David was a career Civil Servant in the Department of the Environment. He transferred to the Environment Agency on its formation in 1996 where his responsibilities included development of the new organisation and its corporate governance, external relations and influencing activities.

In the early 1990s, David served as Chairman of the Governing Body of the Primary School in Higham where he lives. In addition to his church commitments, he has developed new interests in the Voluntary Sector as Chairman of the Trustees of Gravesham Volunteer Centre and as a mediator with Medway Mediation, a community based mediation charity. He is also a part time volunteer helper in Year 6 at a Medway Primary School.

Lorina Pilgrim

Committees

Finance, Personnel & Estates.

Relationship with the Academy

Linked to the Performing Arts Faculty.

Profile

Lorina runs her own business which provides support for organisations that want to improve their business performance and managers that want to improve their leadership skills and behaviours. She helps them to work with Investors in People, an internationally recognised business improvement framework so that organisations can meet and exceed their goals and aspirations.

She has worked with all kinds of different organisations; large and small; public and private sector and particularly enjoys her work with Schools and Academies. Outside of business life, she spends time in France, teaching at a French University wishing her language skills were much better! She hopes that her experiences will prove useful for the Academy as she very much likes to help make a difference.

Angela Prodger

Committees

Student Well-being

Relationship with the Academy

Appointed Local Authority Governor in February 2011.

Profile

Angela served as a Councillor on Rochester City Council,  Vice-Chairman of Education Committee. Medway Unitary Authority, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Community Safety.  In her last year she was Mayor of Medway.  Retired from politics after 15 years, Angela has also served on Kent Police Authority and on the Kent Probation Board.  She was Chairman of Governors at Greenacre School.

Currently, Angela is Vice Chairman of Kent Peoples Trust, Chairman and Founder member of Streetcops Trust, a Medway based charity, special ambassador for the Medway Ethnic Minority Forum, and a Trustee of Medway Voice.  She is shortly to be working with Youth Empowerment, a charity helping young people to stay away from criminal activity.

Steven Munday

Committees

Finance Personnel and Estates

Relationship with the Academy

UCA appointed governor

Profile

After many years working in a variety of marketing, sales and general management roles in the private sector, at company director level, Steven now runs Kent County Supplies (KCS), the leading education supplies business in the South East.

His first degree in History and Sports Science was gained at Loughborough University, from where Steven also gained a Post Graduate Certificate of Education qualification. He also completed an MBA in 1995.

Steven still lives locally and is married with 2 school age children. He have always been interested in sports and although his representative days are long gone, he is still actively involved in athletics as a track team manager for Medway and Maidstone AC. Steven has also joined the Medway Coaching Academy.

Kim Godden

Committees

Student Well-being

Relationship with the Academy

Staff Governor, Assistant Faculty Leader for Design and Technology, Technology

Profile

Kim is a qualified teacher of Technology He is currently employed at Strood Academy, and before that at one of the predecessor schools where he held the position of Assistant Subject leader for Technology.

Kim keeps abreast of developments in education through examiner and moderator work with Edexcel.

Francine Norris

Committees

Educational Standards

Relationship with the Academy

Francine Norris is Head of School Crafts and Design at UCA, our lead sponsor.

Profile

Francine studied architecture at Manchester University in the 1980’s, and then worked in architecture practice in London before undertaking an MA at Middlesex University. In the 1990’s Francine taught on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Middlesex and the Kent Institute of Art and Design and began to undertake External Examining work in the UK and Europe. She went on to develop and run the postgraduate programme at KIAD, including setting up the MA Design (1997) and the MBA Creative Industries Management (2008).

Francine is a reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and as a Governor, chairs the Education Standards Committee. Throughout her career she has maintained her professional practice in design and is currently working on a range of architectural projects in London and the South East. Her research has focussed on light and representation in architecture, and in particular the relationship between architecture and the published image.

Wilma Millar

Committees

Education Standards

Relationship with the Academy

Staff Governor, Faculty Leader Business, Computing and Work Related Learning

Profile

Wilma is a qualified teacher of both Business Studies and Economics.

Wilma is currently empoyed at Strood Academy, and before that at one of the predecessor schools where she held the position of Business and Enterprise Coordinator.  Prior to that, Wilma has 20 years of teaching experience in comprehensive school, both mixed and single sex.

Wilma keeps abreast of developments in education through examiner and moderator work with Edexcel and through engagement in a variety of CPD opportunities at the Academy.