Simon’s directorate draws together the support for student representation structures at the academic partner and regional levels, democracy and insight capacity, and the students’ association’s Advice Service. His team includes HISA's four Development Managers who in turn manage Local Coordinators at campuses across UHI. He works closely with the Vice-President (Education) and other officers, and liaises with key UHI staff in quality enhancement, student experience and academic leadership roles in the development of successful staff-student partnership working.
Before taking up post in November 2023, Simon spent sixteen years at sparqs (student partnerships in quality Scotland) where he led institutional support and development, contributing to the enhancement of partnership at colleges and universities across Scotland and in many national forums. He was involved in many international projects through sparqs’ consultancy, most notably in Ireland, Armenia and various European-level arenas. He previously held roles at Glasgow University SRC and at UHI during its early developments in student representation prior to University title. He has passion and specialism in various topics including models and concepts of partnership, the interface of student engagement and educational development, and student engagement in quality enhancement, on which he has published and presented widely.
Simon has an undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen, where he was also students’ association President, and a postgraduate Masters in Student Engagement in Higher Education from the University of Winchester. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.