Maureen McLAUGHLIN

Ms McLaughlin studied English Language and Literature and later a Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at Manchester University, followed by an MBA in Higher Education Management at the Institute of Education. Following a brief but illuminating first career as a HM Revenue and Customs Tax Inspector, Ms McLaughlin has worked in the further education and higher education sector since 1989 and held senior administrative positions, both central and faculty-based, in six universities in the United Kingdom (UK), including Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Liverpool, University of the West of England, Bristol, University of South Wales, University of Gloucestershire and The University of Warwick, as well as the post of Manager of the Committee Secretariat/Clerk to Council at The University of the South Pacific in Fiji. She was also the Secretary to the Academic Registrars Council Quality Practitioners' Group for 10 years. She is a member of the Quality Strategy Network and The Council of Validating Universities Executives, and the Association of University Administrators and the Association for Tertiary Education Management.

Ms McLaughlin originally joined Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) in 2009 as an Assistant Director and was the Institutional Review (England and Northern Ireland) Method Coordinator. She led the training and deployment of reviewers, including the introduction of student reviewers in England and Northern Ireland reviews; led review teams in the UK and overseas reviews of UK higher education provision in Singapore and China, and also the QAA's first formal overseas institutional review of the Macao Polytechnic Institute in 2013.

Ms McLaughlin briefly rejoined the higher education sector in early 2014 as the Dean of Quality and Standards at University of Gloucestershire where she led the University through its successful QAA Higher Education Review in April 2015. She has also been an external adviser to a number of UK and overseas institutions on approaches to quality assurance and preparation for external review.

Ms McLaughlin returned to QAA in autumn 2015 as the Head of Engagement leading on the Agency's wider engagement with the key higher education stakeholders. Following a restructure, she was appointed as the Head of Universities and Standards, working with cross Agency teams to develop and deliver stakeholder engagement, institutional liaison programme, the redevelopment of the UK Quality Code, and the development and delivery of services, events and activities for QAA's key stakeholders: students, institutions and professional, statutory and regulatory bodies.

Ms McLaughlin joined The University of Warwick in July 2019 as the Director of Education Policy and Quality, where she led the team in the management and coordination of quality assurance, enhancement, policy development and implementation and academic governance across the University. She took up the post of Academic Registrar at Northumbria University in September 2021. With over 500 staff, she leads a large and varied team which provides customer service and professional services to all students and contributes to strategic ambitions around learning and teaching, research and student employability across the University.