Gail Barnard

I have spent the last 17 years managing tertiary education campuses, creating and delivering organisational strategies, running a multi million rand budget and successfully developing and implementing HET and FET programmes. This encompassed many roles incorporating Marketing and Sales strategic planning,, budgets, Staff development and support as well as academic governance and facilities management. My most recent position is as GM at Dermatech (Educor) I am qualified with an Honours degree in Psychology from UCT and a diploma in Human Resources Management. This included both clinical and industrial Psychology. Overarching is my experience in running business operations in an educational environment. My interpersonal skills are welcomed by staff because I am supportive, a good listener and an able, inclusive problem solver. I keep a sharp eye on cash flows by ensuring achievable budgets.. I relate easily to senior management and continuously explore company growth opportunities. My experience in running businesses has taught me to be prepared for all contingencies and keep calm through challenges and put the needs of the student as paramount to business success. Having experienced challenges over time regarding cash flow, I investigated the reason for this and strategically addressed this by expanding the courses we offered to incorporate part time flexible modular courses under the FET system and introduced a new innovative method of running these diverse programmes, we could offer a much better offer to the students whilst delivering a surplus to the company. The most important job for an accredited tertiary campus is to keep up the defining standards of Quality Assurance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Staff management and impeccable academic governance. The greatest challenge is providing an excellent education, which ensures that the school balances its books, attracts more students and the parents feel that they are getting value for money.