Academic Director
The Hotel School Partnership
Southern Cross University

Paul A Whitelaw (PhD) is the Academic Director, The Hotel School Partnership at Southern Cross University.  Prior to that he was the Associate Director Higher Education and Quality at William Angliss Institute (WAI),and before that he spent over 20 years at Victoria University.

After a lifetime of work in all aspects of the hospitality industry, and before joining academic leadership,  Paul lectured in research methods and quantitative and computer based hospitality management systems on undergraduate and postgraduate, and higher degree by research (HDR), programs.  Beyond his discipline specific interest in hospitality, tourism and events, Paul has developed a keen interest in teaching and learning.  Whilst his PhD sought to identify the skills and capabilities hospitality industry employees need to be successful, he has also undertaken several funded research projects to identify the best way curriculum and pedagogy can help students develop these skills and capabilities.

Some of the more notable projects in which he has been involved include: developing a suite of on-line learning resources for recently arrived Asian graduate business students; developing a suite of academic resources to help international undergraduate students, especially those from China, deal with the challenges of studying in university in Australia; investigating the development of the hospitality and tourism curriculum and the forces that shape it; investigating how to help Course and Unit Coordinators to develop and maintain academic integrity standards whilst also enhancing their own scholarship and academic careers; developing academic standards for hospitality, tourism and events undergraduate and post graduate coursework programs; evaluating the use of simulations in business courses; and, currently he is co-leading a team which is developing a framework for promoting best practices in assuring threshold learning outcomes in hospitality, tourism and events bachelors and masters coursework programs.  Paul also sits on the Executive of CAUTHE, and Chairs the Board of THE-ICE.