About SPA

Janet Graham
Director

When the SPA Programme was set up in 2006 Janet was appointed its first Director to establish and lead the Programme in developing fair admissions, good practice and enhancing professionalism in admissions to universities and colleges. She is a member of a number of national groups including the Delivery Partnership on Improving Applications to HE. Prior to joining SPA Janet was Head of the University of Cambridge Admissions Office, managing teams in admissions and data services, widening participation, and publications and information. She chaired the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Aimhigher Area Steering Group and was a member of the Schwartz Admissions Review Group. Her previous experience includes 12 years at the University of Leicester, where she was Director of Admissions and Student Recruitment and Director of one of the first HEFCE Widening Participation to HE projects. She was a Fulbright Fellow (for academic administrators) in Michigan, USA in 1994. Earlier she worked at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University) in roles including Head of Admissions.

Leslie Currie
Senior Project Officer

Leslie was formerly an Assistant Registrar at the University of Bath responsible for undergraduate admissions, student recruitment and widening participation and before that led Bath's International Office. He has been Chair of the South-West area of the Higher Education Liaison Officers Association (HELOA) and a member of the HELOA National Committee and been a member of the HE Advisory Team for the Welsh Baccalaureate, the Western Region Open College Network HE Advisory Group, the UK HE Committee for the Council of International Schools and a range of other national and regional groups. Before joining the University of Bath Leslie worked in international banking for 10 years. He studied Mediaeval and Modern History at the University of Glasgow.

Annie Doyle
Senior Project Officer

Annie took up her role at SPA in January 2007. Prior to this she was most recently Admissions Officer at the University of York, managing the admissions processes and developing policies based on fair admissions and good practice. Formerly she spent nearly 4 years at Newcastle University working in project management and business systems analysis for admissions software. This role involved the design, development and implementation of the software including communicating the requirements to the Admissions Officer and the technical staff working on the project. Prior to this she held a number of roles, both central and Faculty based, including admissions, at Northumbria University. While working there in 1997 she gained an MBA where her dissertation was on the response of the University to non-standard qualifications.

Dan Shaffer
Senior Project Officer

Prior to joining SPA in December 2008, Dan held the post of Assistant Registrar at Aston University for over 4 years, responsible for admissions, enrolment, examinations and teaching facilities. Before Aston University, Dan spent over 8 years in admissions at the University of Central England (now BCU), and spent two years as a part-time visiting lecturer in Psychology alongside his admissions duties. Whilst at both institutions Dan was responsible for developing policy and good practice in higher education recruitment and welfare activities, as well as gaining practical knowledge of the student experience beyond admissions and contributing to national discussions on good practice. He holds a BSc (Hons) Psychology from the University of Birmingham and a Postgraduate Certificate in Management Studies from UCE.

Ruth Burchell
Project Officer

Ruth joined SPA in October 2008 from Stroud District Council where she was a Business Support Officer supervising a large team within Development Services. Previously, Ruth worked as the School Coordinator (Photography) at the University College for the Creative Arts (now UCA) with duties covering budget management to student liaison. Prior to UCCA she held a dual role at the Natural Resources Institute (University of Greenwich) as a group administrator for Sustainable Livelihoods group and a Project Administrator for three large international government funded projects; duties included logistical organisation of research visits plus UK and International conferences, production of publications and presentations, as well as website design and maintenance. During the three years preceding NRI, Ruth worked for the University of Kent as a clerical officer and student liaison officer at Bridgewardens' College.

Sheila Ham
Administrative Support Officer

Prior to joining SPA Sheila held a strong background in administration, event management and catering. Her previous roles included Event Co-ordinator for Leatherby and Christopher, assisting with the organisation of the catering for the Gold Cup and Henley Royal Regatta, Administrator and Event Co-ordinator for Nikki Starkie Events and Marketing Management working with the regional Learning Skills Councils to organise Skills Festivals in Gloucester, Hull, Surrey and Shropshire.