The Champions Coffee Podcast

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo's Regional Director of Partners for EMEA  Hannah Gardner sits down with Tania Struetzel, Director of Student Success at Southampton Solent University. Tania is an experienced student engagement practitioner who leads the Student Success Service, which focuses on employability, student services, and achievement. With extensive experience working...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallett sits down with Chris Ronan, CEO of the Country Universities Centre (CUC) and National President of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA). With over a decade of leadership experience in the higher education sector, Chris has been at the forefront of equity and engagement initiatives aimed...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Professor Kylie Readman, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President of Education and Students at the University of Technology Sydney. A leader with extensive experience in higher education, Kylie is dedicated to enhancing student success, fostering inclusive communities, and driving innovation.

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Professor Alejandro Armellini, the Dean of Digital and Distributed Learning at the University of Portsmouth. Professor Armellini, a PFHEA ( Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy), FRSA ( Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts ), and National Teaching Fellow, has made significant contributions to the field of...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Don Albert Klinger, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Education at Murdoch University. Don plays a vital role in making higher education accessible and achieving high-quality outcomes for students, focusing on equity, diversity, inclusion, First Nations, and sustainability. He has held significant roles such as...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Ben Hallet and Chief Relationship Officer, Riley Batchelor sits down with Professor Jennie Shaw, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Adelaide. Professor Shaw has previously held leadership roles at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the University of New England. Throughout he...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Romy Lawson, the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Flinders University. With a distinguished career spanning over 25 years, Romy has significantly contributed to enhancing student learning experiences and academic leadership. Her expertise lies in curriculum design, quality assurance, and institutional stra...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Maree, the Deputy Vice Chancellor Students at James Cook University. With over 20 years of experience, Maree has made an outstanding contribution to innovative, contemporary, and authentic curriculum, assessment, and course design, engaging both students and colleagues. Her research focuses on health and p...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Martin McCarron, an Executive Director at the University of Adelaide. Martin brings expertise across all areas of management, staff development, strategic planning, communications, and project management. Known for managing complex change management projects with innovative approaches, Martin focuses on co...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Sammy Massia, Former chief information officer at the University of Northampton. Sammy is a digital information and technology leader known for delivering value through innovative technology strategies. He has led teams across infrastructure, service delivery, digital learning, cyber security, and more. He has also h...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Esther Spring, the Organisational Learning Lead (Digital and Data Capabilities, Innovation and Sustainability) at The Open University. Esther is an accomplished leader in learning and development, with extensive experience in online learning, digital transformation, and sustainability. She excels in developing strate...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Neville Hiscox, the Chief Student Services Officer at Curtin University. With executive accountability for strategic leadership across a diverse portfolio, He is dedicated to driving organizational growth through people development and modern technology adoption. Recognized for his inclusive leadership sty...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Regional Director of Partners for EMEA  Hannah Gardner sits down with Carmen Miles. She is the Interim Head of Digital Education and VLE Project Director at De Montfort University, where she leads the implementation of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and oversees the provision of distance learning. Carmen is an innovative leader and cr...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Jo-Anne Murray. She is the Vice-Principal Education at University of Aberdeen where she is responsible for the overall success of university partnerships and works with senior executive-level colleagues within Universities to define and deliver strategic vision for online distance learning. Jo-Anne is also a highly e...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Andy Beggan from the University of Lincoln. He is the Dean of Digital Education at the University. Andy is an experienced learning technologist and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy ( SFHEA )  with a successful track record of delivering digital learning to a global audience within the HE, corporate train...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Regional Director of Partners for EMEA  Hannah Gardner sits down with Monica Jones. She is the Chief Data Officer at the University of Leeds. Monica is a technical expert and leader with extensive education, science and technology, healthcare knowledge and experience. She is currently the Chair of Data Design Authority (DDA) at the Health Dat...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Chris Baker-Brown sits down with Caroline Tolond. Caroline is the Head of Careers and Employability at  Arden University. She is passionate about creating institutional-wide strategies for delivering excellence in employability and careers, building innovative and creative teams, and implementing technology to enable career information, advice, and...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Head of Partner Engagement for APAC, Lyndin Francis sits down with Hiedi Wilkinson from the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is currently the Equity Impact Evaluation Analyst at the University. She believes in doing work that matters, connecting with great people, and contributing to an extraordinary journey.

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder Ben Hallet sits down with Sukhwant Jhaj, Vice Provost for Academic Innovation and Student Achievement at Arizona State University. In his role as vice provost, Jhaj pursues ways to create greater levels of student success for all learners across all degree types. He works to identify new ways the university can improve learning out...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founders, Joel Di Trapani &  Ben Hallet sits down with Robert H. McDonald, Dean of University Libraries/Sr. Vice Provost of Online and Extended Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is active professionally with several national and international organizations and conferences, serving on the Association of Research Librar...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founders, Joel Di Trapani sits down with Paul Le Blanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University. Paul is also an Ascend Fellow at the Aspen Institute which is a premier leadership program advancing opportunity and equity. He was a winner of the Global Leadership Award in 2018. He is also a current Board advisor at the Guild Educatio...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founders, Joel Di Trapani & Ben Hallett sits down with Marie Papazian, the Executive Vice President of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Marie is an experienced higher education leader committed to innovation, impact, and inclusion with over a decade of experience as President & CEO of two public uni...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Regional Director of Partners for EMEA Hannah Gardner sits down with Mark Crittenden from the University of Greenwich. He is the Associate Director of Student Centres and Engagement. He was a member of the board of trustees in the Association of University Administrators (AUA).

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Ben Hallet sits down with Dr Ryan Goodwin from the University of Central Florida. He is the Assistant Vice President for Strategy & Innovation and Chief of Staff. Ryan’s research and practice focus on higher education innovations that improve access, success, and completion for all. He is particularly interested in the educational systems and or...

In this episode of the Champions Coffee Podcast, Vygo’s Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Joel Di Trapani sits down with Mary Ellen Wiltrout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the Director of Online and Blended Learning. Mary is also a Lecturer in Digital Learning. She enjoys training and mentoring postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates. She also manages three of the best onlin...