Meet the PD Committee
Sue Gollagher (James Cook University), Committee Chair
Sue has been an academic language and literacy educator in universities in Australia and overseas since the early 1990s. Besides her specific interest in collaborating with academics to design, deliver and manage adjunct and embedded discipline-specific support programs, she is a teacher trainer with 20 years’ experience supporting ELICOS academic language teachers on DELTA and university lecturers on CLIL and HEA Fellowship programs. She hopes to use this experience to contribute to the professional development of ALL practitioners.
Steve Campitelli (University of Melbourne) , returning
Steve has been involved in education since 1988, first as a Primary Teacher then as an English Language teacher working in Japan for 6 years. He moved into the University sector spending 15 years at RMIT as an academic English teacher and curriculum and assessment manager, before moving to UniMelb in 2010, where he has been since, as an Academic Skills Adviser and Learning Strategist. His teaching interests lie in language and assessment.
Alice Lee (Australian Catholic University), returning
Alice is a Team Coordinator in Australian Catholic University’s Academic Skills Unit. She has 33 years of experience in the education sector developing learning resources, teaching English and cultural studies, and working as an Academic Skills Advisor. Before arriving in Australia, she worked in Japan and the USA. Her professional areas of interests include online learning/resource design, edutech, learner autonomy and feedback literacy.
Alexandra Garcia (University of Sydney), returning
Alexandra is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney leading the Learning Hub – Academic Language and Learning. The Learning Hub provides support in the areas of academic language and learning to UG, PG and HDR students. In addition to research in the field of academic support for tertiary students, she also investigates language and ideology from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics.
Dr Huifang Li (University of New England), returning
Huifang is a lecturer in academic skills, University of New England (Armidale, Australia). She has held various teaching positions in universities in Australia and China: Academic literacy, applied linguistics, TESOL and Chinese. Her research interests include classroom interaction, task-based language teaching and learning, and academic writing.
Rachel Barber, returning
Rachel has 20 years’ higher education experience spanning English for Academic Purposes, widening participation, enabling education, and 10 years learning advising. Rachel is committed to social inclusion and is passionate about supporting students from diverse backgrounds in her ALL-advising practice. Rachel has a keen interest in education research and, in her doctoral research, is investigating the first-year student experience of academic language and learning and its intersection with disciplinary learning.
Martin McMorrow, (University of Notre Dame), returning
Martin has been an academic skills advisor for 20 years in NZ and Australia. He coordinates a small team of ALL advisors at the University of Notre Dame. His background is in ESOL teaching and teacher training. He has recently published “A Student Guide to Reflective Writing” (Bloomsbury, 2024) and a series of videos on tricky aspects of English grammar and is currently researching the experiences of Catholic international students in Australia.
Hollie West, (University of Tasmania), new committee member
Hollie has 15 years’ higher education experience, primarily in peer learning where she has coordinated academic skills and transition programs. Hollie has been a learning adviser for the past four years. Hollie is curious about learning adviser identity and professional practice development and has a keen interest in collaborating with other ALL practitioners. Hollie is passionate about inclusion in education and has a particular interest in research that enhances support for autistic university students using a strengths-based approach.
2026 PD
2026 PD sessions will again consist of the Connect Inspire Share (CIS) series held every other month from April. This year, CIS will be a conference encore series featuring inspiring presenters from the 2025 AALL Conference. The Talking AALL series of vodcasts will continue and the year will finish with an online symposium, hosted by CDU. Stay tuned.