Links – Relevant Organisations
This section of the website provides links to relevant higher education and public health organisations.
AMOSSHE is the UK student services organisation. It informs and supports the leaders of Student Services in the UK, and represents, advocates for and promotes the student experience worldwide.
Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland)
The primary aim of the Department’s policy for higher education is to promote and sustain the development of an internationally competitive Higher Education sector, accessible to all who are able to benefit and which meets the needs of the Northern Ireland economy and wider society.
Environmental Association of Universities and Colleges (EAUC)
The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC) is a not-for-profit charity with a membership of over 200 universities and colleges, supporting sustainability within the UK tertiary education sector.
The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is the standard setting body for specialists in public health in the United Kingdom. FPH is a strategic organisation and, as such, works collaboratively, drawing on the specialist skills, knowledge and experience of our members as well as building relationships with a wide range of external organisations.
This is the virtual home for the national Healthy Further Education and Skills programme which began life in 2009 as a sector quality improvement initiative. It provides a support tool for education and training providers who want to improve the health, wellbeing and safety of their learners and staff as one of the ways they improve outcomes in learning.
The Higher Education Academy (HEA) provides value to the higher education sector by focusing attention on the contribution of teaching to the wider student learning experience.
Higher Education Funding Council for England
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) aims to create and sustain the conditions for a world-leading system of higher education which transforms lives, strengthens the economy, and enriches society.
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) regulates fee levels at universities, ensures a framework is in place for assessing the quality of higher education and scrutinises the performance of universities.
Improving performance through wellbeing and engagement
This HEFCE-funded project www.wellbeing.ac.uk focused on staff performance, engagement and wellbeing – and finished in 2011. The legacy of the project has been handed over to the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which will take forward the work.
Leadership Foundation for Higher Education
The Leadership Foundation is committed to developing and improving the management and leadership skills of existing and future leaders of higher education. Wherever the opportunity arises we shall work in partnership with a range of organisations within and outside of higher education for the benefit of the sector.
Learning in Future Environments (LiFE)
Learning in Future Environments (LiFE) is a comprehensive performance improvement system developed specifically to help colleges and universities to manage, measure, improve and promote their social responsibility and sustainability performance. It has been developed and delivered by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges with generous support from its partners.
NHS Health Scotland is a national Health Board working with public, private and third sectors to reduce health inequalities and improve health.
Public Health England protects and improves the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduces health inequalities. It is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department of Health.
Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland)
The Public Health Agency was established in 2009 to provide a renewed and enhanced focus on public health and wellbeing by bringing together a wide range of public health functions within one organisation. It is a multi-disciplinary, multi-professional body with a strong regional and local presence – focusing on: health and social wellbeing improvement; health protection; public health support to commissioning and policy development; and research and development.
Public Health Wales aims to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities in Wales. It has launched its Healthy and Sustainable FE and HE Framework – which uses a matrix approach to map and assess progress in relation to six health-related topics that across four aspects of college and university life.
Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)
RSPH is an independent, multi-disciplinary charity dedicated to the improvement of the public’s health and wellbeing. Formed in October 2008 with the merger of the Royal Society of Health and the Royal Institute of Public Health, we help inform policy and practice, working to educate, empower and support communities and individuals to live healthily. Its vision is that everyone has the opportunity to optimise their health and wellbeing.
Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council
The Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) is the national, strategic body that is responsible for funding teaching and learning provision, research and other activities in Scotland’s 25 colleges and 19 universities and higher education institutions
Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA)
UCEA is a membership organisation representing HE institutions in the UK as employers. It provides advice and guidance on employment matters relevant to the HE sector and supports effective employment relations, practice and reward strategies within its member HE providers. It also works to provide opportunities for members to develop their engagement and wellbeing practices.
Vicki Squires, PhD
As an Associate Professor in Educational Administration and as the Associate Dean, Research, Graduate Support and International Initiatives, Dr. Squires is very invested in leadership education. She began her professional career as a special education teacher and then as a vice-principal in Saskatoon Public Schools. Upon completion of her PhD, she moved to the University of Saskatchewan to serve as the Manager of Planning, Program Development and Assessment in the unit formerly known as Student and Enrolment Services Division (SESD) which now is the Teaching, Learning and Student Experience portfolio. Her experience as a manager and then as an Associate Director in SESD afforded her an opportunity to learn more about administration and governance in higher education. Dr. Squires worked collaboratively with leadership in SESD to construct integrated four-year strategic plans that focused the work of the division on the priorities of the university.
Dr. Squires became a faculty member in the Department of Educational Administration in September 2014. Because of her experiences in campus administration, she led the development of an undergraduate certificate and Master’s degree field of specialization in leadership in PSE, launched in May 2016. These courses have been well-received by the campus community, and the students she supervises are usually interested in researching topics regarding PSE leadership. Dr. Squires has had the opportunity to mentor students in developing conference presentations, writing journal publications and engaging in research for developing their theses. To date, she has supervised six Master’s students to thesis completion, two doctoral students to dissertation completion, and is currently supervising one Masters and five PhD students. Additionally, Dr. Squires has served on many thesis and doctoral student committees. She also serves the college and university through her committee work and has been on several boards including CHEP Good Food Inc., a non-profit organization focused on addressing community food insecurity. Currently, she is a board member of the Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education.
Her research areas include post-secondary students’ well-being and success, as well as leadership and organizational development in post-secondary education (PSE) institutions. She has been a guest lecturer and presented at national and international conferences on post-secondary topics, such as health promotion, achieving innovation on campus, student transitions, student mental health, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Squires brings expertise in policy development processes, and teaches classes on governance and policy-making, teaching and learning in PSE, student services in PSE, and PSE administration and governance. She is also the Assistant Editor of the Higher Education and Leadership division of the Journal of Global Education and Research, an international open access journal.
Dr. Squires has presented on and written in the field of leadership and the field of student services. Several of her published articles examine a number of higher education issues such as the needs of student parents, use of learning analytics to improve student performance, use of e-learning technologies in classrooms and the development of threat assessment protocols on campus. In addition, she has published articles on adaptive leadership models and networked learning communities that are applicable to the K-12 education sector. Because of her wide range of educational leadership experiences, Dr. Squires brings a unique background to her teaching and her research.
Dr. Squires has conducted 8 research projects as Principal investigator, including a Tri-Council funded study that concluded June 2022, with a virtual symposium examining health promoting networks and the role of collaborative leadership in supporting well-being on campus. This virtual one day event, the International Health Promoting Campuses Symposium, was held as a pre-congress event for the international 2022 congress.
Dr. Squires, together with her co-investigator, Dr. Chad London, has presented widely on her research regarding the implementation of the Okanagan Charter on Canadian campuses. They also have two co-publications recently released as noted below.
Squires, V. & London, C. (2022). The Okanagan Charter: Evolution of Health Promotion in Canadian Higher Education. Canadian Journal of Higher Education. 51(3), 100-114. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.vi0.189109
Squires, V., & London, C. (2021). Collaborative leadership as an approach to promote wellbeing on post-secondary campuses. In B Kutsyuruba, S. Cherkowski, & K. Walker (Eds.) Positive leadership in education: Stories of flourishing in diverse contexts, pp. 259-274. Canadian Scholars Press