Wells Advisory

This week a remarkable deal was inked in the middle of tumbling markets and closing doors. The leading private higher education company in China, Hong-Kong listed China Education Group Holdings Ltd (CEG) became a long term partner of Richmond, The American University in London.

Richmond is – and remains – a not-for-profit liberal arts university, the only one of its type to offer dual accredited US and UK degrees. CEG will share its global resources, expertise and capabilities to support Richmond to further expand its international vision, making the University’s unique UK and US dual degrees even more accessible to students across the globe. Equally, Richmond provides CEG, with its 180,000 students across a network of 10 universities and colleges in China and Australia, a keystone partner in US and English higher education.

This partnership represents the future, one with deep channels and deep relationships across global markets, between organizations committed to quality education, and bringing old and new world assets to the table. Wells Advisory was lead commercial advisor to CEG on the deal.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the appointment of Emeritus Professor Mike Calford as Principal Adviser at Wells Advisory. Over the last 15 years, Mike has held a number of esteemed roles in Australian universities, including Provost at the ANU, Provost at the University of Tasmania, DVC R at Newcastle and PVC (Health & Medical Research) at Wollongong.

In addition to his distinguished university leadership career, Mike has been an eminent researcher in the field of neuroscience. After receiving a doctorate at Monash University, Mike held research and teaching roles at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne and at the ANU. He also worked overseas at the University of Oxford, the University of California Irvine and City University of New York.

We are delighted Professor Calford is joining Wells Advisory and we look forward to new opportunities to partner with the higher education sector nationally and internationally, drawing on Mike’s extensive experience in research, education strategy and management.

HNY everyone! Looking to the year ahead, we are seeing strong regulatory activity for existing and new higher education providers, increasing M&A deals across the Australia-UK axis, post-Brexit changes impacting UK and indirectly Australia, and continued evolution of the ‘deep channel’ model of private HE.

In this context, we are pleased to announce that Ms Kha Yen Prentice has been appointed Regulatory Consultant in our Australian team. Kha Yen has a wealth of regulatory experience having spent the last 20 years of her professional career working with Commonwealth and Victorian government agencies across diverse sectors, including telecommunications, energy, and most recently, higher education regulation.

“Kha Yen’s appointment reflects the growth of our firm and reinforces the senior expertise we offer our clients in the complex evolving higher education sector. Please join us in congratulating Kha Yen in her new role” – Michael Wells, Director.

Michael Wells and Professor Roger King will present a seminar on the topic of comparative developments in the Australian and UK higher education in Beijing jointly hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and the British Chamber of Commerce.

Visit here for more information and registration

Comparative developments in Australian and UK higher education (pdf – 778kb)

Today Wells Advisory in the UK announced a strategic alliance with Ranmore. Founded over 20 years ago they have built a strong reputation in higher education leadership development, both in the UK and increasingly globally. Its director, Michael Wells said “This alliance sees us join forces with one of the most respected higher education advisors in the UK and beyond.

Tom Kennie, its founder and Ranmore have built their reputation on developing top teams, high impact leadership programs and transition coaching for senior leaders – including many newly appointed Vice Chancellors, DVC’s and Provosts. Wells Advisory specializes in higher education strategy, organizational performance and quality assurance, and so we see this as a natural fit.”

The two organisations will partner on key projects for the benefit of their clients. We are very pleased to also announce that Tom will join us as a Principal Advisor to our Australian clients.

Get to know more about Ranmore Consulting here

Wells Advisory is proud to announce three new staff in our Australian office.

• Ms Julie Larsen, a specialist in policy writing within the higher education environment, has been appointed Consultant to our Regulation and Quality practice,
• Dr Guy Edwards, an experienced strategy consultant across higher education and the interfaces to global health & innovation, has been appointed Engagement Manager to our Strategy and Performance practice, and
• Ms Beatrix Gan, an experienced project coordinator across government and FMCG industries, has been appointed Projects & Administration Officer.

“These newly shaped roles reflects the growth of our firm and demand for our expert services. These appointments reinforce the senior expertise we offer our clients in the complex evolving higher education sector” – Michael Wells, Director.

Please join us in congratulating Julie, Guy and Beatrix on their appointments.

Wells Advisory was engaged to undertake a review of the School’s current teaching allocation model, based on qualitative and quantitative research.  This included an assessment of the structure of the teaching model and an analysis of the current allocations and expectations of staff, benchmarked against a limited number of other models.  The assessment of the model was coupled with interviews with staff to determine whether other factors such as structure, management and implementation impact the model.

Visit Campus Morning Mail for more detail.

Wells Advisory is proud to announce three new senior roles in our Australian and UK offices.

• Ms Sarah Griggs, a Principal with the firm since 2016, has also been appointed Practice Lead,  Strategy and Performance;
• Dr Paula Kelly, a Senior Consultant with the firm since 2016 has been appointed Principal and Practice Lead, Regulation and Quality; and
• Mr Leo Falcone has been appointed Principal, Global Operations, based in the UK, from where he will lead the development of our Global Operations platform.

In making the announcement, Michael Wells said “I’m delighted to announce these appointments today. They represent the growth of our firm and demand for our expert services internationally. These three appointments reinforce the senior expertise we offer our clients in the complex evolving HE sector.”

Please join us in congratulating Sarah, Paula and Leo on their appointments.

We are really excited to share that Alison Allden, OBE, is joining Wells Advisory HE in the UK.  Alison has a wealth of leadership and governance experience in higher education, until recently heading the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA, UK) as Chief Executive and in previous senior roles with both Bristol and Warwick Universities.  Her strategic leadership has driven successful innovations in many facets of the sector.  Alison advises on governance, strategy including digital and information strategy, and is an expert in HE metrics to inform evidence-based decision-making. We very much look forward to working with Alison.

Wells Advisory welcomes our colleagues in England and the beginning of a new chapter in our operations.

Our expansion into the UK market is timely in light of England’s new regulatory approach to higher education. The shift from quality assurance to risk-based regulation follows a model Australia adopted in 2012. As our Australian team can attest, the ensuing demands on the higher education regulator and providers are sizeable.

Read More