English Language Intensive Course for
Overseas Students (ELICOS)

simon@healthcareers.edu.au

Simon serves as Chief Operations Officer with primary focus on business growth and effective implementation of IHM’s operational and strategic initiatives. Simon has over 10 years industry experience in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors developing and managing student recruitment and international growth strategies. Prior to joining IHM, Simon worked in senior management roles nationally and internationally as a communications, strategy and business consultant in education, health care and technology sectors in Australia, China, Philippines and other Asian countries.

pankaj@hcigroup.com.au

Pankaj has over 20 years of experience in the fields of accounting and finance which range from financial reporting and taxation to auditing. Pankaj has established skills in corporate finance, financial analysis, taxation, accounting and auditing. Pankaj holds Bachelor of Commerce degree and he is also a member of Certified Public Accountant (AUS) along with Chartered Accountant (India). Pankaj has served as CFO Health Careers International (and its subsidiary companies including IHM) for the past eight years’ and is responsible for managing financial aspects of the entire group of companies.

kogi@ihm.edu.au

Professor Kogi Naidoo has significant international experience in higher education teaching and in leading academic development, research and quality assurance projects in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia (University of Adelaide and Charles Sturt University). Professor Naidoo’s focus on the scholarship of teaching includes leading a national team to investigate the impact of academic development on first-year student learning at New Zealand universities. Professor Naidoo’s postgraduate research includes a focus on self-evaluation programs for staff development and designing systemic academic course quality assurance mechanisms.

Professor Naidoo is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK and is the recipient of prestigious academic awards and fellowships, including the South African Junior Technikon Fellowship Award, the Ernest Oppenheimer Gold Medal and the South African Association for Research and Development in Higher Education (SAARDHE) Young Achiever Award. Professor Naidoo was also awarded the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia (HERDSA) Fellowship in 2003. Professor Naidoo is HERDSA President Elect (2020) and will serve as HERDSA President (2021-2022)

Professor Naidoo has presented and published her research internationally and is a published author of two books, Working Women: Stories of Struggle, Strife and Survival, 2010, Sage, India and Live, Learn, Love: The Path to Your Prowess! (2012), Balboa Press, A Division of HayHouse.

joe.t@ihm.edu.au

Dr Joe Thomas (MSc, PhD) is an accomplished institution builder, academic, diplomat and a global leader in Public Health, Rights and Social Development. Dr Thomas has been active in Global Health and Social Development for more than 25 years. Comes with excellent leadership qualities and has a deeper understanding of social development's global dimension. He has extensive and exhaustive technical expertise in reproductive health and health rights, emergencies, data analysis and reports. In addition, he has proven excellent experience in administration and management of complex multi-stakeholder projects of high-level strategic engagements; and proven expertise in a cross-cutting, multi-cultural work environment in Africa and Asia regions. Dr Thomas is an expert in developing high-value strategic partnerships with Governments, UN agencies and non-state actors, drafting complex MoUs, strategic bilateral agreements and establishing multi-stakeholder alliances. He is a member of the board of directors of several NGOs joethomas.in

prerna@healthcareers.edu.au

Dr Prerna Khawas holds the position of Academic Registrar at the Institute of Health & Management (IHM). Dr Khawas has as her main responsibilities student support and administration. She has substantial experience in the theory, practice and implementation of learning and teaching at higher education. Her role at IHM is focused on providing a supportive learning environment to students and academic staff with greater understanding of the policies, processes and procedures which support learning and teaching including quality assurance and enhancement as well as the support mechanisms within the Institute.

Dr Khawas holds a PhD in Food Engineering & Technology and has previously worked in various research, development and teaching environments as a Research Fellow. She has published her research work in a number of international journals and books.

navjot@healthcareers.edu.au

Navjot serves currently as IHM’s on-campus and online Course Coordinator for the Graduate Certificate in Nursing and Graduate Diploma in Nursing courses of study. Navjot’s qualifications include a Master of Science Nursing (Baba Farid University, India), a Bachelor of Science Nursing (Baba Farid University, India) and a Certificate IV Training and Assessment (TAE40110).

anthony.welch@ihm.edu.au

Professor Anthony (Tony) Welch has held senior positions in the discipline of nursing in both the private and public sectors of the health care industry nationally and internationally (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong).

Such positions have included Hospital Manager, Director of Nursing, Deputy Director of Nursing, Senior Supervisor, Unit Manager, Principal Educator, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, and Director of Postgraduate Studies.

Professor Welch has also been a foundation member of two Schools of Nursing in Australia. Professor Welch serves currently as Assistant Dean Community Engagement, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Central Queensland University.

bijo@hcigroup.com.au

Bijo Kunnumpurath is the Founding Director of Health Careers International, a leading independent global provider of healthcare education and research. As the Managing Director, Bijo sketches the vision of the organisation on a global scale and oversees internal systems so as to ensure compliance with legal / statutory obligations as well as implementing policies in risk management and quality assurance.

Bijo is recognised as an accomplished entrepreneur with a remarkable business acumen. Bijo has integrated this acumen to bring about a proactive approach in business development, innovation, change management and governance, especially in the higher education and vocational education and training sectors.

Bijo has a Master of Business Administration complimented by undergraduate qualifications in Mechanical Engineering. Bijo has worked extensively worldwide and is esteemed as a notable socially-responsible personality in diverse communities across Australia, Malaysia and India. Bijo is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). A firm believer of continuous learning, Bijo is currently pursuing Ph.D. at the Swinburne University of Technology, in the field of good governance in independent education and training.

chandana@hcigroup.com.au

Dr Chandana Hewege holds a Ph.D. in Management from Monash University, a Master of Business Administration and B.Sc. in Business Administration (Honours) from the University of Sri J’pura, Sri Lanka. Dr Hewege’s academic and professional experiences are predominantly centred on teaching, research and industry consultancy. Dr Hewege has published over 45 refereed research papers and conference papers.

Dr Hewege’s academic research encompasses a wide spectrum of research areas such as corporate social responsibility, management controls of transitional economies, marketing, logistics, international business and research methodology. Dr Hewege is also accredited as a teacher in higher education by the Staff Education and Development Association, United Kingdom (SEDA, UK).

Dr Hewege possesses 20 years of teaching experience (undergraduate and postgraduate, local as well as overseas). Dr Hewege has won several awards for his academic and research excellence, including the best critical literature review award, Department of Management, Monash University; Emerald Literati Award-Social Responsibility Journal 2017; the Teaching Excellence Award by the Faculty of Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology: the best reviewer 2007 award, Contemporary Management Research Journal; and the best student Gold Medal award, Department of Business Administration, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

Dr Hewege has served previously on the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Ranking Panel for Marketing, Tourism, Logistics and Commercial Services Research Areas.

andrew@hcigroup.com.au

Professor Flitman is currently Principal of iMORSE, a higher education consultancy based in Melbourne Australia. Professor Flitman is also a Subject Matter Expert in Higher Education for Price Waterhouse Coopers (Melbourne, Australia) and a Honorary Professor, Torrens University Australia.

Professor Flitman holds the following governance roles:

• Chair Academic Board, and Non-Executive Member, Board of Directors for LCI Melbourne (a higher education design college).
• Chair, Nomination and Remuneration Committee, Institute of Health & Management.
• External Academic Expert Member, Academic Board, Victorian Institute of Technology.
• External Academic Member, Academic Board, Australian College of Applied Psychology.

Prior to his current roles, Professor Flitman was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) of Swinburne University of Technology from 2007-2012, including nine months as Acting Vice-Chancellor. In these roles, Professor Flitman is known for leading the project to make Swinburne a globally ranked university. Under his leadership, Swinburne improved from being unranked to being in the top 400 institutions in the world across all three main global ranking schemes (ARWU, Times Higher Education, QS).

Before Swinburne, Professor Flitman held positions as Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology at Deakin University and Head of School (Business Systems) at Monash University. In both roles, Professor Flitman was responsible for teaching programs and research activities as well as line management of all academic and professional staff.

Professor Flitman is an internationally recognised expert in business/strategic modelling. and has frequently applied his modelling expertise in leadership roles. For example, the application of various management science techniques to inform the decisions that underpinned the step change in Swinburne University’s global rankings during his tenure.

Since obtaining his PhD in Operations Research from Warwick University in the UK, on Visual Interactive Discrete Event Simulation, Professor Flitman has published well over 100 research publications and has authored many commercial reports. He also has a first class honours degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of York in the UK.

Professor Flitman is a Fellow of both the Australian Computer Society and the UK Operational Research Society.

daniel@hcigroup.com.au

Daniel Atkin is an experienced risk management professional who has worked across the public and private sectors in several education and health care related roles. Daniel’s experience includes working in the Federal and Victorian State public sectors, in Higher Education Regulation and providing risk management consulting to the Victorian Public Health sector as well as a range of other sectors, and in a privately listed for-profit health care environment. Daniel’s Board and Committee experience include the Scouts Victoria Risk Management Committee and as the Victorian Chapter President of the Risk Management Institute of Australasia.

Daniel serves currently as Group Risk and Compliance Manager for Integral Diagnostics – an Australian and New Zealand listed radiology group.

svetlana@hcigroup.com.au

With over 20 years’ industry experience, Svetlana’s professional career has been extensive and varied, ranging from accounting to consulting, internal audit and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) positions. Svetlana has a substantial amount of experience in all areas of business and in particular, driving process improvement and business optimisation. Some of Svetlana’s industry experience is in legal practice, professional services, retail, and hospitality. Svetlana’s Board and Committee experience includes serving as Victorian Treasurer of the Australian Legal Practice Management Association for the past five years.

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