As Chief Executive Officer, Rachel has overall leadership responsibility for the Highlands & Islands Students’ Association, working closely with elected student representatives, Association staff, the Association’s Trustee Board and staff in UHI, converting policy and strategy into action as well as building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders within the Partnership and beyond.
Rachel joined the Students’ Association in November 2023. Prior to that, she was Director of Faculty Operations for the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences at the University of Exeter, where she worked for 6 years and where she also acted as one of the University’s inaugural Speak Out Guardians. She joined Exeter in August 2017 from Aston University in Birmingham where she was the Head of Administration for Aston Medical School and, before that, Aston Business School over a 6 year period. Prior to that Rachel worked for the Open University for many years on a variety of change and student support projects.
Rachel has a BA in East European History from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, the University of London and a Masters in Education and an MBA with Merit from The Open University. Rachel is a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators and the Chartered Management Institute and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Rachel is passionate about equality, diversity and inclusion and believes that everyone should be treated with dignity & respect at work. Rachel has long standing personal links to the Highlands & Islands.