Dr Adam Dawkins

Dr Adam Dawkins is Deputy Academic Registrar (Student and Academic Governance) at the University of Sunderland, having taken up this new role in February 2024. Prior to this, Adam was University Secretary at the University of York from 2019-early 2024 and has previously held senior governance roles since 2008 at Northumbria University and Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL). Adam was also Deputy Chair of Trustees at Liverpool Guild of Students (University of Liverpool), until the end of two four-year stints in July 2023.

Institution

University of Sunderland

Job Title

Deputy Academic Registrar (Student and Academic Governance)

Adam was awarded an EdD research degree from the UCL’s Institute of Education (IoE) in 2015 in the field of university governing bodies and their institutional visibility as an effectiveness variable, and has published a range of journal outputs, book chapters and guides, including Trustee Responsibilities in Higher Education for Advance HE (2017) in its Getting to Grips series. He has contributed to a number of panels and training sessions for Advance HE in the last decade, and last year podcasted for Advance HE on EDI, governance and free speech, has written for WonkHE on free speech regulation, and previously in government guidance on the Prevent Duty and its implications for free speech and academic freedom. Whilst at York, Adam oversaw free speech policy, practice and partnership with colleagues, students and stakeholders and has first-hand experience of navigating the complexities associated with upholding free speech on campus. He continues to pay a key role in this at Sunderland.