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Academic Team

A solid higher education background along with extensive hospitality experience
Jack Iveson's Story as Head of Academic Operations in The Hotel School Sydney
A solid higher education background along with extensive hospitality experience
Academic Team

Brisbane Staff

Allison Knight
Lecturer and Tutor, Brisbane
Dedicated online and face to face lecturer with twenty years' experience in teaching undergraduate students’ hospitality, tourism, human resource management and business-related subjects in Sydney, Brisbane, Australia and Birmingham, UK. Offer a proven track record of commended performance teaching, with a passion for education and the service industry. I have developed subject outlines and course material. Assisted the implementation of courses to facilitate positive and collaborative relationships between students, teachers and stakeholders across the community to drive program implementation that is tailored to meet site specific, cultural and student needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Masters Social Science, Leisure and Tourism
  • Grad. Cert Education/Higher Education Administration
Mathew Little
Head of Campus - Brisbane
Mat’s expertise is the product of a lifetime in the hospitality industry combined with extensive experience in the Higher Education sector. Prior to joining The Hotel School to lead the Brisbane campus, Mat was a Lecturer in Business and Tourism at Southern Cross University. At SCU, Mat designed, coordinated, and delivered courses in Hospitality, International Tourism and Management. Mat also collaborated with Le Cordon Bleu to deliver the Master of Gastronomic Tourism. A firm believer in applying critical theory with ‘real world’ use, Mat implements practice-based coursework—tours of regional tourism/hospitality venues, internships, and networking—to connect students with industry leaders to achieve tangible results. Mat’s favourite thing about his role at The Hotel School is the close relationships fostered between staff and students and is excited to launch their international careers in Hotel Management from beautiful South-East Queensland.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master of Business Administration, Bond
  • Master of Project Management, Bond
Sarah Keast
Lecturer and Tutor, Brisbane
Learning & development runs through my veins, it's my passion and I love to learn as well as help others to learn too. I have over 10 years of corporate Learning and Development experience and now I am thrilled to be assisting the new generation of business professionals to find their way. Specialities: Managing the training function in an economic downturn, developing and delivering program material, policy & procedure writing and implementation, business process mapping and re-engineering.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master of Business Administration, University of Liverpool

Melbourne Staff

Gareth Eldridge
Academic Support and Lecturer
Gareth has over twenty five years' experience in teaching English and providing academic support to speakers of other languages. Moreover, he has experience in teaching Academic English, Business English and a variety of exam preparation classes. He is also a Cambridge speaking examiner. Additionally, he has worked in academic management as Director of Studies both in Eastern Europe and London, and is a registered Trinity College teacher trainer and Cambridge CELTA trainer. Gareth spent 15 years working for The University of the Arts London, which includes The London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martin’s school of art and design, providing In-sessional and Pre-sessional support to international students. In addition, He has also provided language support to asylum seekers and refugees within the ESOL sector. Gareth has been with The Hotel School Melbourne since September 2018 and enjoys helping students with their assignments and making the most of their university studies.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching from Kings College London
Jasmine Pham
Lecturer and Tutor
Dr. Jasmine Pham acquired her PhD degree from La Trobe University in 2018. Her research, which was funded by Australian government under the Australian Awards Scholarship, examined disaster risk management behaviour in the context of climate change. Prior to joining The Hotel School Melbourne, Jasmine has had 15+ year combined experience in higher education and HR management across various institutions, both in Australia and overseas. Jasmine loves teaching subjects with numbers, from economics to statistics, finance, and accounting. She is keen on investing in the Australian property and stock markets, and has started her journey there a few years ago.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • PhD degree from La Trobe University
Jordi Datzira Masip
Postgraduate Program Co-ordinator
Jordi Datzira Masip is an Early Career Researcher and recent doctoral candidate at La Trobe University (Australia). He is the Postgraduate Program Coordinator at The Hotel School (Melbourne), in partnership with Southern Cross University. His major research interests relate to the management of tourist destinations from a local community perspective. He specialises in policy, planning and development, strategic marketing, destination branding, and socio-cultural impacts as they relate to tourist behaviour.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master in the Management of Urban Tourism, University of Barcelona
  • M.Sc in Tourism Planning and Development, University of Surrey
  • Bachelor in Tourism Management, University of Girona
Gregor Blair-Smith
Lecturer and Tutor Melbourne
Gregor’s educational background began in biochemistry. He left this vocation to join the family business in construction and worked on industrial and high rise projects for many years as a project manager before turning to Hotel Management. After 20 years in hotels as a Hotel General Manager, he turned to teaching in vocational hospitality and tourism, and then higher education for the past 11 years. He currently teaches hospitality and tourism operational subjects for The Hotel School Melbourne and management subjects for the RMIT College of Business.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master of Business Administration, University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry)
Nadia Vago
Lecturer and Tutor Melbourne
Nadia joins the Hotel School Melbourne at SCU with over 10 years tutoring experience at La Trobe University in the Business School (Tourism & Hospitality) and over 10 years industry experience in the Hospitality and Hotel Industry in operational, supervisory and managerial roles in properties, including The Langham Hotel Melbourne, Sheraton Towers Southgate, Quest Serviced Apartments and Le Meridien at Rialto. Nadia has completed a Diploma in Hospitality followed by an Honours Degree in Business (Tourism and Hospitality) at La Trobe University in 2000. In 1998, during Nadia’s degree she was also awarded the “Best of La Trobe University” by the School of Tourism and Hospitality and a panel of industry judges. Most recently Nadia has also completed her Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. In July 2016, Nadia was also awarded the “Pro Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Support Staff Award” from La Trobe University, Melbourne. This was in recognition of enhancing the overall student learning experience by contributing to subject development and improvement.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Diploma in Hospitality
  • Bachelor of Business (Tourism and Hospitality) (Hons.), La Trobe University

Sydney Staff

Cary Budd
Lecturer | Unit Assessor | Senior Undergraduate program Coordinator
Cary's career starting in the Advertising industry (agency side) making strategic recommendations then jumping into the client side to make the decisions. He spent seven years in Interpreneurial roles in a government agency before being seconded to the OCA to head up a project (the GamesInfo website) for the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games. It became the NSW Government site with the highest hits in history. This career foundation provided insights into the difference between small entrepreneurial start-ups, private companies and public organisations. He then supported a number of NSW Government Agencies with their online strategies before an ongoing mix of project management, CRM roles, marketing consulting and education consulting as he continued his training delivery roles. Cary has been a teacher/trainer/lecturer since 2003. Involved in VET and HE program management and faculty management roles. Cary still consults to industry. Cary is passionate about guiding students through the process of changing the way you think, how organisations tick, and by sharing his stories and other examples of why 'it is all about being well informed and making good decisions'.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master of Business in Marketing (UTS)
Kerrie King
Lecturer
A passionate educator and lifelong learner Kerrie has been teaching for 20+ years and in the online space over the past 10 years. She has worked on numerous projects developing and reviewing the course content. Kerrie has a background in tourism, retail, corporate travel, sales, training, development and tourism IT. Research interests include - tourism industry innovation and government policy.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Doctor of Business Administration (Candidate), University of Southern Queensland
  • Master of Higher Education (e-learning), Macquarie University Sydney
  • Graduate Diploma in Literacy and Numeracy Education, University of Technology Sydney
  • Bachelor of Business, University of Newcastle
The Yen Cao
Tutor
The Yen Cao joined The Hotel School Sydney as a student in 2015, studying her Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management and proceeded to pursue her Master of International Tourism and Hotel Management shortly after in 2018. She graduated with her Masters at The Hotel School Sydney in 2019 with a High Distinction and was awarded The Barry Poole Memorial Prize for being the graduating student with the highest post-graduate grade point average across Tourism, Hotel and Hospitality Courses within the School of Business and Tourism. During her studies, she had hands-on experience within the Hotel Industry, specifically Front Desk. Furthermore, prior to her position as a tutor, she volunteered in the Peer Assisted Learning Program offered by The Hotel School Sydney which provided students assistance in improving their studying techniques. Her passion to pursue an academic career at The Hotel School Sydney stemmed from the tremendous help and support of the teachers at this school during her studies. Her goals as a tutor are to inspire and motivate others as teaching is more than providing studying content but providing support in a way that changes the student’s perspective about their careers and their lifestyle.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management
  • Master of International Tourism and Hotel Management
Paul Weeks
Head Sydney Campus, Head Academic Programs
Paul joined SCU School of Business and Tourism in 1991 after 20 years managerial experience in hotel, motel and food service organisations, moving to The Hotel School Sydney (THSS) in 2000, and returning to SCU after 15 years in Sydney. His previous and current experience includes instructional design for subjects offered through the School’s distance education programs, development of curricula across a range of discipline areas, lecturing in management, services management and information technology. Paul has co-authored two Australian ‘hospitality’ industry texts: Club Management, and Managing Convention Businesses. Research interests include teaching and learning, IT in hospitality; history of hotels; convention services, and club management. Received an inaugural Vice Chancellor’s award for Teaching Excellence, and two subsequent VC’s Teaching Awards as a member of two teaching teams. With a colleague from SCU, Paul won a 2017 SCU Engagement Award for Engaged Learning. Paul is a member of the Emeritus Faculty at Southern Cross University.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • PhD candidate (SCU)
  • Master of Education (SCU)
  • Graduate Diploma in Education (Training and Development) (UNE-NR)
  • Higher National Diploma in Hotel and Catering Administration (Oxford Polytechnic)
  • Graduate of the Hotel, Catering and Institutional Management Association (UK)
Julie Luiker
Lecturer & Academic Support Coordinator
Joining The Hotel School in 1990, Julie remains one of the longest serving team members. Julie focuses communication and tourism across the bachelor program and coordinates the academic learning service to develop and ensure students are supported to maximise their academic results.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Master of Arts, Organisational Communication
  • Bachelor of Education, Adult Education

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