Mrs Emma French
Professional Services
Current positions
Chief Academic Services Officer and University Secretary
Biography
I’ve been a member of the University Leadership Team since joining the University in February 2023. As University Secretary I hold a unique position within the team: I am a University senior leader, but I must also be independent from the University, in order to advise and guide our University Council and its Chair. As Chief Academic Services Officer, I am responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for delivery of services across Registry, Legal and Governance.
In my role of University Secretary, you'll often find me mentioned in policies or procedures as a last point of escalation, and some of this work I will undertake on behalf of Council. The University's Secretary's Office maintains the oversight of governance and assurance across the range of Council and executive committees, and plays a key role in helping me to enact my independent role.
I co-chair the Gender Equity Group with Jonathan Winter, the Chief People Officer, and through this, work to deliver the University's commitment to gender equity through action planning from our Athena SWAN Bronze award, and planning the submission for a Silver award in 2027.
In previous institutions, I have held a number of positions, including Academic Registrar and Director of Student Life (where I fulfilled my childhood dream of looking after a library!) and I've also managed the postgraduate admissions function and been the departmental manager of an academic STEM department in a large Russell Group institution. I've worked in and managed functions including admissions, student recruitment, marketing, assessment and quality assurance.
My career started in marketing, and I qualified as a chartered marketer, having worked in charities and small businesses, including the NSPCC, a psychometric test publisher and a software house. I started working in HE in 2008 and haven't looked back since. I love the mission and vision for universities, contributing to enriching people's lives, which is at the forefront of the philosophy and strategy of the University of Salford.