Innovative educator and equity champion to join UTS as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Education and Students.
Professor Kylie Readman is passionate about teaching excellence, learner engagement and student success. Photo by Cassey Santos, Murdoch University.
Professor Kylie Readman has been appointed as the University of Technology Sydney’s next Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education and Students, after an extensive international search. She will join UTS in November 2022.
Professor Readman is an experienced educator, most recently serving as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and Equity) at Murdoch University, where she built staff and student capacity in learning, teaching, support and wellbeing, while also leading equity and diversity, supported leadership in Indigenous education, and inclusive education initiatives.
UTS Vice-Chancellor Professor Andrew Parfitt said Professor Readman’s experience as an educator in digital learning, and as an equity and diversity champion, make her a good fit for UTS.
“Professor Readman’s prioritisation of student wellbeing, experience and learning, the importance of equity and diversity, as well as her focus on the role of a university in lifetime learning, will stand UTS in very good stead as we adapt to the new normal in this next phase of the pandemic. I’m excited to think about what UTS can achieve with her leadership and guidance,” he said.
Professor Readman said the pandemic provided an opportunity to reassess teaching and learning at UTS.
“From an Education and Students perspective, progressing to the next strategic iteration includes recognising the impact that COVID has had on reshaping all of our lives. Learning should not return to ‘normal’ without deliberation and reflection on how normal served us as individuals or as the UTS community.”
Professor Readman said she admires UTS’s dedication to education and student experience, and said she believes UTS is among Australia’s best universities on that score.
“From my early interactions with people here at UTS I can see it has heart – people are committed to the mission and that makes a huge difference to students,” she said.
After starting her career as a teacher, Professor Readman moved into academia at Queensland University of Technology and later joined the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), where she led the Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching, implementing educational redesign to support multi-campus synchronous and asynchronous teaching, including the use of a range of available educational technologies and USC’s inaugural Blended Learning Strategy 2014–2016.
Professor Readman has also excelled in her research work, securing more than $1,200,000 from external agencies and internal funding bodies in competitive and contract research into innovative education and leadership.
From my early interactions with people here at UTS I can see it has heart – people are committed to the mission and that makes a huge difference to students.
Professor Kylie Readman
Incoming Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President, Education and Students
As an academic leader, Professor Readman is passionate about leadership development, succession, and mentoring, and said she believes distributed leadership results in more positive and innovative outcomes across an institution. This was the basis for her PhD study which included a development program that supports emerging leaders in learning and teaching to develop their leadership skills.
Professor Readman said she is looking forward to joining at a pivotal time in its progression of the UTS 2027 strategy.
“Through the UTS strategy, I believe the university has the opportunity to positively shape the future for its many students, staff and communities in significant and enduring ways. I’m excited to be part of that.”