Sally Smith
Sally Smith

Prof Sally Smith PFHEA FBCS

Head of Graduate Apprenticeships and Skills Development and Professor

Biography

Professor Sally Smith MA MSc DBA PFHEA

Sally is Head of Graduate Apprenticeships and Skills Development at Edinburgh Napier. She has an MA (Hons) in Mathematics from Aberdeen University, Scotland, an MSc in Computer Science from City University, London and a DBA from Edinburgh Napier University. Sally is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has previously worked in the telecommunications and aerospace industries in the UK and Europe.

She is the Director of the Centre for Higher Education Research at Edinburgh Napier University and Project Director of e-Placement Scotland, creating paid placements for computing students across Scotland.

Sally leads the Data Education in Universities workstream of the Data Skills Gateway of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland Region City Deal.

Sally’s research focus is on the impact of work placements and graduate apprenticeships, especially on under-represented groups.

Previously, Sally was Dean of Computing 2008-2020. Between 2011 and 2018 she was on the committee of the UK Council of Professors and Heads of Computing, serving as Chair between 2014 and 2016.

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • SQA Advisory Council
  • Sally Smith has been appointed to the Shadbolt Review Group

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy
  • Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy
  • Conference Chair Horizons in STEM Higher Education
  • UK STEM Conference June 2016: A new conference for teaching and learning research in STEM subjects.

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External at Birmingham City University

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Connect Tech 100
  • Fellow of the British Computer Society
  • Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Sally Smith and Bill Buchanan in Tech 100 for Scotland

 

Media Activity

  • Graduate Apprenticeships - doubling of places
  • Edinburgh Napier University – Bridging the digital skills gap
  • Edinburgh Napier gets major funding to teach digital skills
  • Scottish Business News Network
  • Times Higher Article
  • The code for future success is investing in our graduates
  • Edinburgh Napier takes over as parent organisation to GGS

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Principal Fellowship of Higher Education Academy
  • Fellow of the British Computer Society

 

Date


85 results

Supporting student transitions to placement: developing a new self-identity.

Conference Proceeding
Smith, S., & Smith, C. F. (2015)
Supporting student transitions to placement: developing a new self-identity. In QAA Enhancement Theme
Employer expectations of graduates, as evidenced by the job descriptions of graduate vacancies, often include relevant work experience; however meeting student demand for plac...

Can pay, should pay? Exploring employer and student perceptions of paid and unpaid placements

Journal Article
Smith, S., Smith, C., & Caddell, M. (2015)
Can pay, should pay? Exploring employer and student perceptions of paid and unpaid placements. Active learning in higher education, 16(2), 149-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787415574049
Students can benefit from applying their emerging skillsets through a work placement, both in terms of consolidating their learning and in gaining a better appreciation of the...

A Unified Platform for the Dynamic Evolution of Context-Aware Highly Agile Services

Book Chapter
Liu, X., Jaroucheh, Z., Smith, S., & Zhao, H. (2014)
A Unified Platform for the Dynamic Evolution of Context-Aware Highly Agile Services. In Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, Third Edition, (2806-2815). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-5888-2.ch274
No abstract available.

A Software Engineering Framework for Context-Aware Service-Based Processes in Pervasive Environments

Book Chapter
Jaroucheh, Z., Liu, X., & Smith, S. (2014)
A Software Engineering Framework for Context-Aware Service-Based Processes in Pervasive Environments. In Software Design and Development, (71-95). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-4301-7.ch005
Context-awareness is considered to be the cornerstone technique for developing pervasive computing applications that are flexible, adaptable, and capable of acting autonomousl...

From employability attributes to professional identity: students transitioning to the workplace.

Conference Proceeding
Smith, S., Sobolewska, E., & Smith, I. (2014)
From employability attributes to professional identity: students transitioning to the workplace. In 2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings. , (1197-1204
In order to realize the employment ambitions of graduates we can work with students to facilitate the construction of their identity as members of a global engineering profess...

Computer Science: Driving Entrepreneurship.

Presentation / Conference
Smith, S. (2014, October)
Computer Science: Driving Entrepreneurship. Paper presented at 10th European Computer Science Summit, Wroclaw, Poland
No abstract available.

What’s in it for me? Making the case for paid student placements in computer science.

Presentation / Conference
Smith, S., & Smith, C. F. (2014, July)
What’s in it for me? Making the case for paid student placements in computer science. Paper presented at STEM 2014, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Recognising the need for skilled computer science graduates, the university funding body in Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is supporting a Scotland-wide student ...

Positioning placement on the STEM student journey

Presentation / Conference
Smith, S., Smith, C., & Allford, R. (2014, April)
Positioning placement on the STEM student journey. Presented at HEA STEM Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2014, Edinburgh
Smith, S., Smith, C., & Allford, R. (2014, April). Positioning placement on the STEM student journey. Presented at HEA STEM Annual Learning and Teaching Conference 2014, Edinb...

e-Placement Scotland - Defining the placement landscape for computing

Report
Allford, R., & Smith, S. (2014)
e-Placement Scotland - Defining the placement landscape for computing. Edinbrurgh Napier University: e-Placement Scotland
This publication aims to introduce employers and employer bodies to e-Placement Scotland and its work with Scotland’s Universities to produce quality work placements in the co...

Building Employer Partnerships: a regional placement perspective.

Presentation / Conference
Smith, S., & Smith, C. F. (2013, July)
Building Employer Partnerships: a regional placement perspective. Paper presented at HEA Annual Conference, University of Warwick
The case for paid placements as transformational for students has been made; indeed the Wilson report (A Review of Business- University Collaboration, http://www.gov.uk) exhor...

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