Audit Committee
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Jamie Ross
ChairBiography
Jamie joined the DGC Board of Management in April 2022.
His career has spanned more than two decades in senior leadership positions across the transport sector.
Most recently he was Global Commercial Director for Menzies Aviation and a member of the Executive Management Board of John Menzies plc and prior to that he held senior commercial and business development positions at Serco and the Go-Ahead Group.
Starting his career within the Ferries Division of multi-national company Sea Containers, other roles have included operational and general management positions in the UK rail industry with GNER and Northern Rail and Jamie also had a four year spell as a Senior Civil Servant in the Scottish Government with responsibility for a wide-ranging transport portfolio.
Jamie was born and grew up in Stranraer and graduated with a law degree from the University of Aberdeen. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
Jamie is the Chair of Audit Committee and is a member of Remuneration, Board Development and Grievance Committees.
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Ann Hill
Non Executive MemberBiography
Ann is a highly experienced further and higher education professional, working at Director Level in the UK College sector. Her most recent post involved responsibility for improving quality assurance standards in respect of professional development for over 800 staff at a large college. This involved developing a successful and bespoke two year coaching programme for senior managers and governors. Alongside this, Ann was responsible for the strategic development of learning technologies/digital strategies across the College.
Ann left fulltime employment seven years ago, and is currently employed as an Independent Further and Higher Education Consultant, working primarily for the UK Quality Assurance Agency as a higher education Reviewer, and also as an Elite Independent Reviewer. She enjoys working with a wide variety of colleges and universities to improve academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities for students. She also works on academic appeals with the Quality Assurance Agency, and is experienced in judicial review processes.
Ann originally qualified in Librarianship and Information Sciences and practised as an academic librarian for several years, teaching Research Skills. She is experienced in commissioning new library builds, and particularly enjoyed a placement in Kentucky, USA, developing a new college library. She was awarded a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies (1985) and is vocationally qualified as an Assessor (Customer Care.) and as a Mental Health First Aider.
Ann relocated to Dumfries and Galloway two years ago, after spending many happy years holidaying in the area (from 1971). She also works for the Law Society of Scotland and was selected to sit on the Legal Aid Quality Assurance Committee, which monitors the work carried out by solicitors offering Civil Legal Assistance.
Implicit through all the work and life experience that Ann has, is her commitment to fairness and social justice, and the provision of life long educational opportunities for all sectors of our multi-cultural society.
Ann is a member of the following Committees: Audit, Learning and Teaching, Remuneration, Grievance and Appeals and HR Sub-Committees.
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Gillian Brydson
Non Executive MemberBiography
Gillian is the Director of Skills, Education and Learning with responsibility for all schools in Dumfries and Galloway. She has strong regional roots, a commitment to the students and employers in Dumfries and Galloway and over 25 years of education management experience from the College, University and School sectors.
In her early career she qualified as a physiotherapist and following clinical work for the NHS, gained postgraduate qualifications in Biomechanics from Strathclyde University and worked as a lecturer for Queen’s College and Glasgow Caledonian University. As a senior lecturer at GCU she was responsible for Masters programmes within the Faculty of Health which led to an ongoing commitment to develop routes for the professional accreditation of skills and work related learning. A change of direction to the school education sector brought the chance to return home to Dumfries and Galloway and she has worked for the Dumfries and Galloway Council Education Authority for the last 18 years in senior management roles.
She has a Doctorate in Education from the University of Glasgow which focussed on developing leadership of learning to shape schools for the future and is an advocate of lifelong and professional learning.
Gillian joined DGC Board of Management in April 2021 and is a member of the following Committees: Audit Committee and Learning and Teaching Committee.
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Kirsty Duncan
Non Executive MemberBiography
Kirsty is responsible for Built Environment Smarter Transformations Skills Infrastructure programme which looks to support industry, tertiary education, and schools to develop a workforce that can have a positive impact on the current skills imbalances within the built environment. Kirsty’s experience is within developing skills programmes and digital learning design and will be using this knowledge to grow and deepen relationships across the education and built environment sectors and build the necessary educational structures to support the delivery of a competent workforce.
Kirsty joined DGC Board of Management in September 2024 and is a member of Audit and Learning and Teaching Committees.
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Professor Alastair Irons
Non Executive MemberBiography
Professor Alastair Irons is a Professor of Computer Science, Deputy Principal and Deputy Vice Chancellor at Abertay University in Scotland. Before coming to Abertay in July 2022 he was Academic Director for Digital Education at the University of Sunderland, having previously been the Dean for the Faculty of Technology. Prior to joining the University of Sunderland in 2008 he worked at ONE North East, Northumbria University and ICI. Alastair became a National Teaching Fellow in 2010. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town in South Africa from 2013 – 2017 and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Johannesburg and at the British University in Egypt.
Alastair is currently Vice President (academic) of the British Computer Society (BCS) and is Chair of the BCS Academy board, he also sits on BCS Council and BCS Trustees and is a founding trustee of the BCS Foundation. He is also the UK representative on the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and serves on the IFIP Board.
Alastair joined DGC Board of management in September 2024 and is a member of Audit and Learning and Teaching Committees.
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Sue Irving
Vice Chair and Chair of Remuneration CommitteeBiography
Sue is Director of Housing Services for Loreburn Housing Association and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the award-winning Dumfries & Galloway Citizens Advice Service. Sue worked for many years with third sector organisations supporting people affected by homelessness and spent four years working for the Scottish Government as their Health and Homelessness Coordinator.
As well as being on the College Board Sue is also a non-executive Director of Dumfries & Galloway Chamber of Commerce and a Trustee of Centre Stage Youth Theatre. She has a Master of Business Administration from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and returned to her native south west Scotland in 2008 having spent 20 years living and working in the north east of Scotland. Sue’s other great passion in life is being a lifelong supporter of Liverpool Football Club.
Sue was appointed to the Board of Management in March 2021. She is currently Chair of the Remuneration Committee, is a member of the Audit, Board Development and HR Sub Committees and is also Vice Chair to the Board of Management.
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Will Dowson
Snr Independent MemberBiography
Will joined the Board of Management in March 2021 and is currently the Agent for Scotland for the Bank of England. He has a wide range of policy making and leadership experience in internal and external facing roles. He is well known and respected within the Scottish business community, public and third sector. He joined the Bank of England in Glasgow in 2015, he is also the mentor to the Scottish Chief Commissioner, Girl Guiding Scotland.
Since 2019 he has been a Member of the Industry Advisory Panel for University of Edinburgh Futures Institute and is also Director of The David Hume Institute, a public policy research organisation since 2020.
Will acts as Senior Independent Member for the Board of Management and is a member of Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee.
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