Continuous Professional Development

Steering Group Member

ALDinHE Chair

Kate is Associate Dean at BPP University. She is an Advance HE Senior Fellow, a Certified Leading Practitioner in Learning Development, a National Teaching Fellow (NTF), a Collaborative Award in Teaching Excellence (CATE) winner and an Associate Professor in Educational Practice. Kate joined the ALDinHE Steering Group in 2019 as Secretary and became Co-Chair in 2023 and Chair in 2025. Kate’s background includes working for City of London Law Firms and Investment Banks. She moved into higher education nearly 20 years ago; in her current role she is able to utilise her corporate experience alongside her academic credentials which she really enjoys. Kate undertakes research upon a wide variety of areas: resilience, student attainment, progression and retention, CPD, the award gap, as well as the impact of Learning Development.

Steering Group Member

Chair of the Continuing Professional Development Working Group

Sam Thomas is a Senior Academic Skills Tutor at Arden University. and she has worked in Learning Development for over eight years. She is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, an ALDinHE Certified Practitioner and an active member of ALDinHE. Her focus is to provide services to those with additional needs including non-traditional and distance learners, and to support colleagues to develop their skills through mentoring.