Thomas Roche

Biography

Professor Thomas Roche is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Quality) and Dean of SCU College at Southern Cross University, Australia. He is a specialist in the design, delivery and management of quality university programs. Professor Roche has significant teaching and senior management experience in Higher Education (HE) programs, helping students from diverse backgrounds reach their educational and personal goals. He also undertakes external quality assurance and program reviews for higher education providers in Australia and abroad.

As Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Quality) he leads the University’s strategic education quality initiatives, driving continuous improvement of our programs. He co-leads the University's Southern Cross Model, a whole-of-institution educational approach delivering better student learning outcomes through immersive block learning. He lead the development of institutional Academic Integrity, and Scholarship of Learning and Teaching Frameworks.

As Dean, SCU College (Pathways: Enabling, Diploma and Direct Entry ELICOS) he leads pathway and academic literacry development at Southern Cross University. The College provides University admission to students who are either novice, international or students from identified equity groups (e.g. low SES, regional/remote). He ensures our pathways deliver an inspired experience supporting novice students reach their potential.

Research

Professor Roche's primary research interests are in Higher Education (HE) Teaching and Learning (e.g. HE curriculum design, immersive block models, HE pathways, non-traditional students in HE); Applied Linguistics (focusing largely on Additional Language Development (L2), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), University Direct Entry pathway programs, and Academic Literacies - including digital literacy).

Thomas recently co-lead the University's roll-out of the Southern Cross Model, a whole-of-institution transformation delivering better learning outcomes for students through immersive block learning.

In 2018-2019, he co-led the UECA National External Peer-Review initiative, the External Referencing of the ELICOS Standards and International Education (ERESIS) Project. The project's focus on developing benchmarking practices of institutional processes, curricula and assessment items against the 2018 ELICOS standards with 20 Australian University English Centres and 60 assessors using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

He has also published on Middle Eastern cultural studies with a focus on the language of dress in the Sultanate of Oman.

Teaching

Professor Roche has significant teaching and management experience in HE direct entry pathway programs for international (e.g. Post- and Undergraduate Qualifying Programs) and domestic students (Preparing for Success - enabling program; Diploma of Business) in Australia; and, degrees (Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Education and Masters of Education (TESOL)) in the Sultanate of Oman in affiliation with The University of Queensland. Professor Roche also provides external curriculum reviews, benchmarking and quality assessments for university providers in Australia and abroad.

Other

• Member of the Australian Government’s TEQSA Register of Experts
• University English Centres Australia (UECA) national committee member
• Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) - College of Reviewers member
• Student Success Journal. Inaugural Editorial Board member