Our Staff

Belinda Tynan - is Academic Director, Faculty of the Professions, University of New England. Professor Tynan has held numerous academic positions in the UK, Australia and Japan. She leads numerous grants and is Director for DE Hub: innovation in distance education, a commonwealth funded research project. Her research and publications cover areas such as distance education, academic staff development, new technologies and regional issues. She is also the Treasurer for the Open and Distance Learning Association Australia (ODLAA).

Nathan Wise - has a BA Hons (First Class) from UOW and PhD in history from UNSW. Nathan was formerly employed as an Associate Lecturer at the University of New South Wales and as a Research Officer with the Refugee Review Tribunal and he is currently an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Humanities at UNE and the Project Manager of DE Hub.

Trish Andrews - has worked as a lecturer in higher education for more than 15 years. She has considerable experience in the areas of open, distance, flexible and blended learning and has a strong background in research and development relating to new and emerging learning environments. She has extensive experience in supporting innovative curriculum development with a particular focus on integrating technologies into higher education programs. Trish has had many successfully completed and current grants from local, national and international granting agencies. Current grants include an ALTC leadership grant exploring rich media and an ALTC priority projects grant developing a comprehensive evaluation model for learning spaces.

Cherry Stewart - has over 25 years of practical experience in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Ms. Stewart has recently provided academic development services to the Faculty of the Professions for the University of New England, supporting the redesign of online learning programs in the Schools of Education and School of Health. Ms. Stewart has held senior management positions in NSW TAFE, and advised business and government in educational design programs for rural and remote learners. Ms. Stewart's current research activity is focused on educational design, professional development, and transformational learning in organizations. She is investigating change processes for all stakeholders in the move towards interactive networked learning.

Rosalind James - has a BA Hons (First Class) from UNE and PhD in Environmental Science from UNE, and is the DE Hub Communications and Funding Officer. Before returning to academia, Ros worked as an ICT consultant around the world. She has also worked for NPWS (archaeologist, reviewer of EIA reports and research designs) and as a private archaeological consultant. At UNE, Ros has worked as a Faculty Mentor for transitional students, Academic Skills Advisor, Course Co-ordinator/Lecturer for a foundations unit, as a research assistant re-designing/re-writing units and on the staff helpline for two online Learning Management Systems, as well as having written the staff and student user-guides.

Alan Wylie - has worked within the University sectors for 20 years. He has held positions as an Educational Developer, Head of the Materials Development and Operational Head of the Distance Education Centre at the University of New England, lecturer in Educational Design at The University of Queensland, private Education Consultant for the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Learning Designer and the Service Manager - Media Development at the Queensland University of Technology. His interests include the evolution of distance education, flexible and online learning, learning environments, Activity Design theory, Phenomenographic research and the management of teaching and learning in mediated environments.

Carina Bossu - is a Research Fellow in the Distance Education (DE) Hub, University of New England. Carina Bossu has recently successfully completed her PhD with the University of New England (December 2009) titled "Higher Distance Education in Brazil: Policies, Practices and Staff Development". While completing her PhD, Carina worked in several research projects at UNE with the most recent one being “Peer Review of Tutoring” with the School Rural Medicine in the second semester of 2009. Carina has also taught at higher educational, vocational and TAFE levels in Brazil. Areas of interest include: staff development, higher and distance education, educational change and policy development, OERs and empirical research methodologies.

Kate Reed - is a PhD student in the Distance Education (DE) Hub, University of New England. Her research focus is attrition in distance education. She has a particular interest in improving student outcomes within institutions of higher education. Kate completed an honours degree in primary education at the University of Wollongong in 2009. Her undergraduate research investigated the effects that adolescent peer groups have on psychological, social, academic and emotional development.

Lindy Klein - is the Web Support Officer for the Distance Education (DE) Hub, she is responsible for the technical development and maintenance of the DE Hub website and online presence. Lindy has a background of direct involvement with distance education during the last 20 years. Lindy is interested in the investigation and implementation of effective ways to incorporate technology and educative methods to produce an enhanced distance education experience.