Profile

A Principal Fellow of Advance HE, Dr Casey McQuinn Cross is recognised for sustained leadership in higher education and for building inclusive academic communities through co‑creation with students, colleagues, and external partners.

Dr Cross provides strategic leadership as Dean for Colleges and University Associate Academic Dean for Students at Lancaster University. In these roles, she oversees the collegiate system and leads institutional priorities relating to student engagement, belonging, transition, and partnership across the academic lifecycle. She leads complex, institution‑wide operations across the collegiate system, working with cross‑functional teams and significant resources to deliver strategic student priorities.

Her scholarship focuses on e‑pedagogy, educational technology, and student engagement, and directly informs her educational leadership and institutional impact. This work contributes to both scholarly and professional communities through peer‑reviewed conference publications and international presentations on teaching and learning, student transition, and digital education. Dr Cross is regularly invited to represent the University through educator development workshops and scholarly leadership activities, including sessions on student transition and e‑learning design for sector bodies and international partners.

Her scholarship underpins extensive knowledge exchange activity, including accreditation and advisory roles with EFMD Global (EOCCS), independent curriculum review and reform, and consultancy supporting institutional teaching innovation. She has also established and led institution‑wide scholarly initiatives, most notably the interdisciplinary Teach Learn Share programme, which enables horizontal sharing of evidence‑informed practice through symposia and workshops.

Dr Cross’s work has further informed institutional policy and sector‑level discourse, shaping approaches to digital innovation, online assessment, generative AI in education, and student engagement through the leadership of institutional working groups and collaboration with national and international networks. She has also contributed to national policy development, including work aligned with the UK Quality Code on Engaging Students as Partners. She currently leads institution‑wide initiatives on student success, academic integrity, cost of living support, and the responsible integration of generative AI in teaching and assessment and has played a key role in strengthening student voice and contributing to Lancaster University’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission.