Professor Christy Collis 

Professor Christy Collis SFHEA, MAICD is Provost of two Institutes of Higher Education: Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC) and Endeavour College of Natural Health. Under Christy’s leadership AIPC achieved self-accrediting authority in 2025. She is the Chair of the Academic Bord of PSC Creative College and a member of the National Policy Committee of the Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia.

Christy makes higher education work; her experience in both public and private higher education gives her a unique perspective on the sector. In her one year as HERDSA’s President Christy has laid a strong governance foundation to take the organisation into the future, updating the Constitution to assure election processes, developing the organisation’s risk register and developing the case for a First Nations identified position on the HERDSA executive. She reduced executive costs, redirecting funds into more member awards and grants. Christy was co-convenor of the 2023 HERDSA conference and has successfully negotiated locations and teams for the 2027 and 2028 conferences. She devised a new financial structure for the HERD editorial team and supported the updating and relaunch of the SoTL modules. Christy has provided benefits to HERDSA’s members and built HERDSA’s reach and visibility by developing new partnerships for the organisation, bringing HEDx and AAUT into the HERDSA family of partner organisations. Under Christy’s leadership HERDSA has grown not only in membership but also in diversity, with the new Malaysian branch and the introduction of two new SIGs. Her overarching aim is to continue to build HERDSA as an inclusive, relevant, dynamic community, a place where people who care about higher education can find their intellectual home.

Leadership is about learning. When she took on the role of President Christy’s leadership strategy was to focus on the organisation’s governance, visibility and growth and to work hard and quietly in the background while supporting the awesome executive and members. But servant leadership has its limitations, particularly when our sector is undergoing a period of significant change. Recently members have advised Christy that they would like her to be more visible in the role. She learned that HERDSA leadership demands more than back office work. If she is re-elected this year Christy will continue with her program of organisational growth and diversification but she will also get out of the back office more via a weekly LinkedIn column through which she shares sectoral insights and the cool things that HERDSA members are doing. And HERDSA members are doing a lot of cool things.