Board of Directors

DSA-QAG is governed by a Board of Directors.  These directors are unremunerated, and have no vested interest in the quality assurance process. 

Two organisations, the Local Authority Regional Consultative Group (LARCG), and the National Union of Students (NUS), nominate a certain number of directors.  Other directors are independent, and are involved because of their interest and expertise.  The current board members are:

Chair: Stephen Brown
Dr Jane Andrews
Stephen Crutchley (LARCG)
Geoff Davies
June Diplock (LARCG)
Adam Hyland (NUS)
Alex Kemp
David Malcolm (NUS)
Jackie Royston (LARCG)

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and the Student Loans Company (SLC) also nominate one observer each to the Board.

Chair of the Board

Stephen Brown is the current Chair of the Board of DSA-QAG.  He is the public affairs officer for Volunteering England, and was formerly the National Secretary of the National Union of Students between 2006 and 2008.  Prior to that time, he was Vice President for Student Development at Wolverhampton University Students' Union.

In his time as National Secretary of NUS Stephen was been one of the key elected officials in charge of the reform both the staffing and democratic structures of NUS, helping set a new strategy for that organisation and building consensus around the need for change.  He plans to use this experience to lead the next stage of DSA-QAG's development.

LARCG Directors

Stephen Crutchley joined the DSA QAG Board of Directors in 2006. Stephen is the DSA officer for Staffordshire County Council and has worked in student finance for 20 Years.

June Diplock joined the DSA QAG Board of Directors in 2006. June has been a Local Authority Officer with Kent County Council for 18 years and has spent some time on secondment to the Student Loans Company and the Department for Education and Skills (now DIUS).

Jackie Royston joined the DSA QAG Board of Directors in 2006. Jackie is the Principal Student Support Officer for West Sussex and Portsmouth and a Regional Representative (South Coast) for the Local Authority Consultative Group.

NUS Directors

David Malcolm joined the DSA QAG Board of Directors in September 2006, and was acting Chair between June 2007 and June 2008.  David is the Head of Social Policy at the National Union of Students, where he has worked on student finance policy since 2003, and in 2007 took on management responsibility for other social policy areas including disabled students.

Adam Hyland became an NUS nominated director in June 2008, as the current Disabled Students' Officer for that organisation.  Adam was previously the President of the University of Bournemouth Students' Union and as a student received DSA funding.

Independent Directors

Dr Jane Andrews is an academic fellow of the business school of the University of Aston in Birmingham, lecturing in social policy and sociology.  A recipient of the DSA during both undergraduate and postgraduate study, she brings to the Board a wealth of experience in disability issues and wider social policy debate.

Geoff Davies, the former Head of Student Finance at Staffordshire County Council, worked in student support at Staffordshire local authority for more than 40 years.  Now retired, he maintains his vast knowledge and interest in student finance issues through voluntary work in the student advice centre at the University of Staffordshire Students' Union.

Alex Kemp joined the Board in September 2006 as an NUS nominee. His term of office as Disabled Students' Officer at NUS came to an end in June 2008 but he was asked by the Board to stay on as an independent director.  He studied at the universities of Bradford and Manchester and received DSA funding as a student.