Courses Accreditation Committee — special election of an academic staff

Candidates in ballot paper order

• Renata Grossi
• Nick Manganas
• Shankar Sankaran
• Stacy Blythe
• Karen Whelan
• Luis Lozano Paredes
• Endriana Audisho

Candidates’ statements

Renata Grossi

No candidate statement provided.

Nick Manganas

I am nominating myself for the Courses Accreditation Committee based on extensive experience in course governance, accreditation, and collaborative curriculum leadership. I have led the design, accreditation, and renewal of complex coursework programs, and managed large-scale reaccreditation processes during periods of significant institutional change. This work has required deep familiarity with AQF alignment, learning outcome design, Indigenous Graduate Attribute integration, and financial and operational sustainability. Equally important, my approach to accreditation is strongly team-focused. Across roles as Deputy Head of School, Interim Head of School, and Chair of Faculty Board, I have worked closely with course directors, coordinators, early-career academics, and professional staff to support shared ownership of curriculum quality and governance. I see accreditation as a collective moment to pause, reflect, and strengthen what we do together, supporting staff, protecting students’ learning experiences, and ensuring our programs remain purposeful, engaging, and resilient into the future.

Shankar Sankaran

Professor Shankar Sankaran joined UTS in 2006 and has over 25 years of experience in undergraduate and postgraduate accreditation at universities in Australia and overseas. He volunteers as a program accreditation team member as well as a team lead for the Project Management Institute ‘s (PMI) Global Accreditation Centre (GAC) since 2007. He served on the PMI’s Global Accreditation Board for six years and served as its chair for a year. He is also an external assessor for University of Malaya’s postgraduate programs and advises Norwegian University of Science and Technology on accreditation matters. He was a course director of the Master of Project Management Program at UTS for six years and has carried out internal accreditation for that course as well. He is a passionate educator who believes in the quality of education provided by UTS and his work has been recognized through UTS teaching and learning through awards.

Stacy Blythe

I am Stacy Blythe, Professor and Head of Discipline (Nursing) at UTS. I am nominating for the Courses Accreditation Committee as I am eager to serve the UTS community and contribute to our collective pursuit of academic excellence.

In my current role, I led the successful reaccreditation of the Bachelor of Nursing suite and am presently overseeing the accreditation of several postgraduate programs. This experience has provided me with a strong understanding of curriculum development, quality assurance, and institutional governance within the UTS context.

I believe that equity and excellence go hand in hand. My goal is to ensure our programs remain responsive to workforce needs while meeting the highest standards of scholarship. Currently serving on the UTS SONM Teaching and Learning Committee, I am committed to strategic service that supports colleagues across the university in delivering impactful, high-quality education.

Karen Whelan

I am confident that I would be an excellent representative on the Courses Accreditation Committee due to my comprehensive understanding of the Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF), UTS Policy, and my deep experience in curriculum design and academic governance. My in-depth knowledge of curriculum and the HESF ensures I can contribute meaningfully to discussions around compliance and quality assurance of curriculum. My hands on experience with curriculum design enables me to provide practical insights into the development, review and continuous improvement of academic programs, Importantly, I previously served on the Curriculum Standards Committee at QUT, where I actively participated in academic governance, course accreditation and approvals processes. This background has equipped me with a strong ability to critically evaluate proposals and collegially work with academic and professional staff. My commitment to upholding high standards and fostering innovation in curriculum makes me well-suited to positively impact the Courses Accreditation Committee's work.

Luis Lozano Paredes

I'm a Lecturer at the Transdisciplinary School, and I'm nominating for this position because I'm genuinely curious about how accreditation processes shape what students actually encounter in their degrees. I teach in the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation and the Transdisciplinary School's pan-university electives, which have given me a sense of how course design decisions ripple across disciplinary boundaries. I recently completed UTS's Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, and as Chair of the Transdisciplinary School AI Working Group, I've been working with colleagues on curriculum reform, particularly around how AI preparedness might be embedded into courses. The committee's mandate to identify emerging issues pertaining to courses seems like a valuable space for these conversations to inform practice, even incrementally. I see this as an opportunity to contribute to university governance while gaining insight into how UTS approaches accreditation decisions from the inside.

Endriana Audisho

I seek nomination to the Courses Accreditation Committee to contribute curriculum leadership and program development experience to UTS accreditation processes. As a Subject Coordinator across both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and former Electives Director in the School of Architecture, I have led curriculum reform initiatives that strengthen progression between subjects, clarify learning outcomes, redesign assessment structures and improve alignment across programs. This has involved reviewing subject documentation, mapping outcomes across year levels and disciplines, and contributing to discussions on program renewal and coherence. As the elected School of Architecture representative on the Faculty of Design and Society Board, I contribute to faculty-level governance and strategic discussions, engaging directly with policy and academic standards. I would welcome the opportunity to support Academic Board in ensuring UTS courses remain rigorous, coherent and strategically aligned

How to vote in an online ballot

1. Note your candidate choices and preference order
2. Log in to UTS: Elections Online Polling Booth
3. Choose the election you wish to vote in
4. Select the candidates you wish to vote for
5. Check your vote
6. When you are ready, choose 'submit' to record your vote.

Conduct

Participants in elections (candidates, their representatives and voters) are expected to follow the same high standard of conduct and behaviour during the campaign process as is expected on campus generally. The behaviour of election candidates and their representatives should meet expected standards of conduct. See Code of Conduct for UTS Elections.

Concerns about security due to election-related conduct should be reported to UTS Security. Phone +61 2 9514 1192, or dial ‘6’ on any UTS phone.

Further information

The schedule for this special election has information about the election rules, Returning Officer and Courses Accreditation Committee.

See Voting for information about votes, confidentiality and results.