ACU vice-chancellor summit 2024

15th May 2024

10:00-20:00

Central Hall Westminster, Storey's Gate, London, SW1H 9NH

Join us on 15 May for the ACU vice-chancellor summit 2024: charting the future of higher education through funding, employability, excellence, and the digital frontier - a series of strategic HE policy discussions with university vice-chancellors and ministers from across the Commonwealth.

This in-person event, open exclusively to ACU member vice-chancellors, will explore some of the most pressing issues facing universities and vice-chancellors today through a series of closed-door roundtables, covering topics including higher education funding, research management, and the implications of AI.

Outcomes from these dialogues will feed into the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) meeting in London on 16-17 May 2024. The ACU will be representing its members at CCEM through the new ACU-led Commonwealth Higher Education Taskforce.

The ACU vice-chancellor summit 2024 will provide an opportunity for attendees to contribute to high-level policy discussions and network with fellow vice-chancellors, policymakers and international higher education stakeholders from around the Commonwealth.

The ACU summit will open with a keynote speaker, followed by policy discussions and speakers throughout the day, culminating with an evening reception attended by Commonwealth, parliamentary and sector stakeholders.

Please note that this is an in-person and by invitation only event. Unfortunately we are unable to offer financial support for travel, accommodation or visas. For event queries please contact: events@acu.ac.uk

Conference themes

Finance and funding: making the case for higher education funding

Nurturing future-ready graduates: advancing employability and skills in higher education

Fostering excellence: global perspectives on research management, collaboration and assessment

Navigating the digital frontier: digital access and artificial intelligence in higher education

Programme

Time	Event activity
10:00 - 10:30	Registration and networking (refreshments served in the Foyer - Lower Ground)
10:30 – 10:40	Welcome (Aldersgate & Conservatory Room - Lower Ground) Professor Colin Riordan CBE, ACU Secretary General
10:40 – 11:15	Morning keynote (Aldersgate & Conservatory Room - Lower Ground) Ministerial addresses Honourable Ezekiel Machogu, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education for Kenya Honourable Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education of Ghana
11:15-11:35	Break
11:35 – 13:00	Morning breakout sessions Finance and funding: making the case for higher education funding, chaired by Dr Gavan Conlon, Partner at London Economics. (Dinsdale Young Room - Level 1) Navigating the digital frontier: digital access and artificial intelligence in higher education, chaired by Lord Kulveer Ranger, Member UK House of Lords and Board Member, TechUK and Prof Wendy Thompson CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of London (Maurice Barnett Room - Level 1)
13:00 – 14:00	Lunch
14:00-14:05	Welcome and introduction of next speaker (Aldersgate & Conservatory Room - Lower Ground)
14:05 – 14:30	Afternoon keynote (Aldersgate & Conservatory Room - Lower Ground) Bill Rammell, President, Zoom Abroad, former UK Minister of State for Higher Education, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Kurdistan Hewler, Iraqi Kurdistan Ministerial address
14:30 – 15:45	Afternoon breakout sessions Fostering excellence: global perspectives on research management, collaboration and assessment, chaired by Kathryn Bailey, Ethical Data Initiative. (Dinsdale Room - Level 1) Nurturing future-ready graduates: advancing employability and skills in higher education, chaired by Professor Moses Oketch, University College London. (Maurice Barnett Room - Level 1)
15:45-16:05	Break
16:05 – 17:05	Panel discussion and Q&A (Aldersgate & Conservatory Room - Lower Ground) Panel members Professor Colin Riordan CBE, ACU Secretary General (Chair) Professor Rhonda Lenton, Vice-Chancellor, York University, Canada Professor Dr Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, OP Jindal Global University, India Professor Sibongile Muthwa, Vice-Chancellor, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor, University of the West Indies, Jamaica
17:05-17:30	Networking and break
17:30 – 20:00	Evening reception (Foyer - Lower Ground) Speeches to start at 18:00 Speakers Professor Colin Riordan CBE, ACU Secretary General Mr Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Diana Barran MBE, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, Department for Education, UK

Confirmed speakers

Professor Colin Riordan

Secretary General and Chief Executive, ACU

Read bio

Dr Ezekiel Machogu

EGH, Cabinet Secretary for Education, Kenya

Read bio

Hon Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum (MP)

Minister for Education of the Republic of Ghana and Ghana Commission for UNESCO Chairman

Read bio

Hon. Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum (MP) is currently the Minister for Education of the Republic of Ghana and the Chairman of the Ghana Commission for UNESCO. He is the Member of Parliament for the Bosomtwe Constituency and hails from Jachie, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He was the CEO and Founder of New Designs
Educational Group, California, USA. He
has decades of experience in educational policy, planning, and administration. A philanthropist extraordinaire, within a period of three years, he has sponsored 150 students from the Bosomtwe Constituency to pursue programmes in Engineering and Medicine at various universities across the country. He obtained a bachelor’s degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and a postgraduate Diploma in Teaching (Teaching Credentials) from Chapman University, City of Orange, California, USA. He further acquired a Master of Education degree in Educational Management and Administrative Services from the University of La Verne, California, USA. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, USA. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Capacity Building Centre (CBC) in the School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Patron of the Africa Curriculum Association (ACA). The Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum is also a member of a High-level UN Advisory Group for Mission 4.7, a new global initiative to put into practice the vision articulated by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education. He has received many awards both locally and internationally including Association of Technical Universities and Polytechnics in Africa (ATUPA), Award of Excellence for the Development of Africa and National Union of Ghana Students’ (NUGS) Educational Leadership award for Visionary Leadership.

Bill Rammell

President, Zoom Abroad and Former UK Higher Education Minister

Read bio

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles

Vice-Chancellor, the University of the West Indies, Jamaica

Read bio

Professor Sir Hilary Beckles is Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies. He is a distinguished academic, international thought leader, United Nations committee official, and global public activist in the field of social justice and minority empowerment. Sir Hilary is a director of SAGICOR Financial Corporation PLC, the largest financial company in the Caribbean region, Chairman of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), the former chairman of The University of the West Indies Press, Chairman of the Caribbean Community [CARICOM] Commission on Reparation and Social Justice, President of Universities Caribbean, an editor of the UNESCO General History of Africa series and a Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. He has also served as an advisor to the UN World Culture Report and Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations on Sustainable Development. He is a past Vice President of the International Task Force for the UNESCO Slave Route Project and a past consultant for the UNESCO Cities for Peace Global Programme. He is a member of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the United Nations University. He has received numerous awards, including Honorary Doctor of Letters from Brock University, the University of Glasgow, University of Hull, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in recognition of his major contribution to academic research on transatlantic slavery, popular culture, and sport. In 2017, the Town of Hartford in the state of Connecticut (USA), declared 21st March, 'Sir Hilary Beckles Day' in recognition of his global contribution to social justice and human equality. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Award for global advocacy, academic scholarship and intellectual leadership in support of social justice, institutional equity, and economic development for marginalised and oppressed ethnicities and nations.
Under his leadership as Vice-Chancellor of The UWI, the institution established a fifth Campus – the Five Islands Campus in Antigua and Barbuda, and debuted in the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Ranking in 2019 when it was ranked in the top 4% of the world’s best universities. In 2020 The UWI earned a “triple first” accolade – as the number one university in the Caribbean, among the top 1% in Latin America and top 1% of worldwide universities between 50 and 80 years old. Continuing its upward trajectory, in 2021, The UWI was ranked among the top 1.5% of universities ranked globally by the THE. Sir Hilary has spearheaded an aggressive global reputation building strategy, which has resulted in ten global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. He also forged strategic industry partnerships to allow for the widened penetration of The UWI brand through new media channels and 24/7 cable television programming made possible by the creation of a public information and education service – UWITV. Sir Hilary has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas and has published over 100 peer reviewed essays in scholarly journals and more than 20 academic books.

Professor Sibongile Muthwa

Vice-Chancellor, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

Read bio

Professor Rhonda Lenton

President and Vice-Chancellor, York University, Canada

Read bio

Professor C Raj Kumar

Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, India

Read bio

Baroness Diana Barran MBE

Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, Department for Education, UK

Read bio

Mr Kailash Satyarthi

Nobel Peace Laureate and Founding President, Global Campaign for Education

Read bio

Mr Kailash Satyarthi, a prominent social reformer and Nobel Peace Laureate, stands out as an exceptional leader and an unwavering advocate for the marginalised and voiceless. He was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his tireless crusade against the oppression of children and youth, and his unwavering commitment to ensuring every child's right to education. With Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion, he exemplifies a life guided by compassion, setting an unmatched standard in the field of social reforms. He has played a pivotal role in shaping ground-breaking legislations worldwide, intending to eradicate violence against the powerless. Through Bachpan Bachao Andolan, he has been instrumental in liberating more than 115,000 children from child labour, slavery, trafficking and other forms of exploitation and developed a successful model for their education, rehabilitation and reintegration into society. The Global March Against Child Labor, which he led, galvanized support in 103 countries resulting in the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. He is also the founding president of the Global Campaign for Education, an exemplary civil society movement working to end the global education crisis. He successfully spearheaded a countrywide movement to make education a Constitutional Provision which subsequently paved the way for the Right to Free and Compulsory Education in India in 2009. Mr Satyarthi is credited for establishing GoodWeave International, a first of its kind certification and social labelling mechanism for child labour free carpets in South Asia. He has worked to advance ethical business practices, to help businesses liberate their supply chains from child labour. He has been at the forefront of driving child related agendas into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which resulted in the UN Secretary General appointing him an SDG Advocate in 2021. Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation is ensuring an end to exploitation of children in India and around the world. In 2016, Mr Satyarthi launched Laureates and Leaders for Children, a platform bringing together Nobel Laureates and global leaders committed to working together for the world’s most vulnerable children. Alongside former child labourers and students, he also launched the 100 Million campaign in 2016 to inspire and mobilize young people to stand up and act for their own rights and the rights of their peers. Mr Satyarthi has received several prestigious awards including the Parliamentarians for Global Action Defender of Democracy Award (2009-USA); Alfonso Comin International Award (2008-Spain); Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award (1995- USA); Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy); Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Human Rights Award (1999-Germany); Wockhardt Foundation, Lifetime Achievement Award (2019);Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice (2019); Rotary International Award of Honour (2022-USA); Honorary Doctorate Degree for Social Justice and Education, Amrita University (2022- India) among many other accolades. In 2017, he received the Guinness World Record for Largest Child Safe Guarding Lesson.