New College Head Aims For Peak Performance
10 December 2009
Mary Blauciak, Head of the College of Further Education, Buxton campus
I am thrilled to be joining the University of Derby and, especially, taking on the challenges of leading the Further Education department.
”Mary Blauciak
The University of Derby is delighted to welcome Mary Blauciak as Head of the College of Further Education at its Buxton campus.
Mary joins the University from The Manchester College where she was responsible for leading the Design, Visual Arts and Media department, which climbed from Ofsted Grade 3 to Grade 1 status during her time as Head.
Spearheading the University's Further Education strategy, Mary's initial focus will be on improving the curriculum and building relationships with businesses, schools and other educational establishments and industry specialists.
Speaking on her appointment Mary said: "I am thrilled to be joining the University of Derby and, especially, taking on the challenges of leading the Further Education department. In my experience, college students always achieve more and progress faster when they are in the same learning environment as University students.
"There's an aspiration to work on the same level as their higher education peers that motivates the FE student to a higher potential. I'll be looking to maximise mentorship opportunities which will benefit both FE and HE students during their time at the University of Derby."
Mary says her approach will be both inward looking; with particular attention being paid to quality, review and monitoring but also outward facing with an emphasis on collaboration, partnerships, maintaining dialogues, and being attuned to customers and stakeholders.
She explained: "I'm excited about further establishing the University's place within the education sector and to leading the college towards becoming a hub which links higher education, employers, sixth forms , Lifelong Learning Networks(LLNs), schools and adult and community education.
"This will enable the University, and particularly the FE department, to offer a clearly mapped, relevant, high quality and responsive curriculum to our students and potential students."
Mary's experience to date will help her achieve her goals at Derby. She has worked in the education sector since 1994. At The Manchester College, she was responsible for introducing initiatives including new diplomas, pilot apprenticeships and for maximising student choice at the college.
She also addressed low success rates on evening classes by introducing a successful 'cash back' model for adults.
Whilst at The Manchester College Mary was also:
- Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance (GMSA) Life Long Learning Network 'Champion';
- Senior moderator for Learning and Teaching;
- course leader at both FE and HE level;
- member of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) national group, that produced the benchmark statement for foundation degrees;
- co-chair of the Greater Manchester Creative Industries Sector Development Group;
- lead on the City College Media CoVE, a partnership between the learning and skills councils, partner colleges and industry representatives, which led to Mary's department being chosen to run the BBC Media Apprenticeship national pilot.
Dr Peter Dewhurst, Dean of Faculty at the University of Derby Buxton, said: "Mary brings with her a wealth of valuable experience, which is already being put to good use in supporting our mission of becoming the UK lead for high quality, student centred experiential learning."
For further media information please contact Annabel Harvey on 01332 593004 or email a.harvey@derby.ac.uk
