Professor Kai-ming Cheng is Emeritus Professor at The University of Hong Kong. He was Chair Professor of Education, Dean of Education, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Senior Advisor to the Vice-Chancellor of the University. At the administrative level he worked in human resources and campus IT, but his major contribution was in fundraising and networking. He was Warden of student halls of residence for 18 years, and Master of Robert Black College, the University’s academic guesthouse. He is now Director of Education Policy Unit at the Faculty of Education. He taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education as Visiting Professor 1996-2007.
Trained as a mathematician, he was a school teacher and a principal before he pursued doctoral study at the London Institute of Education, in the realm of education policy and planning. He has been involved in institutional evaluation and accreditation, policy discussion and training in higher education in various jurisdictions. He participated in the institutional evaluation of major universities in China. Among others, he lectures at the National Academy of Education Administration, China, and SKOLKOVO, Russia.
He created the Summer Institute on higher education at HKU. His current attention is on the fundamental changes in society and their challenges to education, and the attention to learning as the core business of education. He was founding co-convenor of the Strategic Research Theme on Learning Science. He has been consultant with the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the Asian Development Bank. Currently, he is member of the National Advisory Committee on Curriculum Reform in China.
Locally he is member of the Education Commission and was instrumental in the comprehensive reform which started 1999. He chaired the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications (2002-08) and the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (2009-15). He also chairs the Hong Kong Regional Advisory Committee for PISA 2015. He publishes extensively, and has delivered over 200 keynotes in international meetings. He writes columns in Hong Kong Economic Journal Daily, Shanghai Education and Escuela (Spain).
Professor Beverley Oliver was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education in 2013, and leads Deakin's ambitious education strategy. Her portfolio includes oversight of the projects designed to enhance student learning and experience, as well as the University Library, Deakin Learning Futures, Deakin Learning Centres, the Centre for Research in Assessment for Digital Learning, as well as DeakinPrime and DeakinDigital.
Professor Oliver's leadership has been recognised through two national Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning and several nationally funded grants and fellowships, including a National Teaching Fellowship (Assuring Graduate Capabilities, completed 2015); Teaching Fellowship (Benchmarking Partnerships for Graduate Employability, 2010); Good Practice Report (Assuring Graduate Outcomes, 2012); Competitive Grants (Building course team capacity to enhance graduate employability, 2010; and 21C Credentials, completed 2016).
Professor Oliver researches and publishes in areas associated with graduate employability, graduate skills and capabilities, assessment and evidence of learning, digital credentialing, curriculum reform and digital innovation. She maintains a website related to these topics (Assuring Graduate Capabilities) and is editor of the Journal of Learning and Teaching for Graduate Employability.
