The Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning welcomes Maxwell Stevenson to the new role of Associate Director.

Maxwell hails from Victoria where he grew up and attended the University of Victoria. After his undergraduate degree he headed to England to do his Masters in Architectural History and his PhD exploring the role of the metaphor in developing understanding. After teaching roles and also delivering workshops for faculty for a number of years, Maxwell moved into a full-time educational development role 8 years ago in the University of Essex’s teaching and learning centre.

Over the years he progressively moved through positions to become a manager (one of two co-leaders in centre under a director) with full responsibility of the the Educational Development Portfolio which ranged from curriculum design to training and development for students at all levels, from first-year undergraduates to final-year PhDs.

He has also led an adoption and implementation of a learner management system, headed an expansion of the university’s undergraduate research program and led coordination and building of an online university curriculum review toolkit. Maxwell also was leading a core workstream in the design, development and implementation of a university-wide learning analytics system. He also supervised of a team of five staff. Maxwell’s role and activities at the University of Essex relates very closely to the work we do at VIU.

Maxwell is also a certified workplace coach and a Senior Fellow, in the United Kingdom Higher Education Academy. Maxwell is interested in creative approaches to academic curricula, feedback and assessment, and research-led education, amongst other areas. After 13 years in the UK, Maxwell has come home to Vancouver Island. We are excited to welcome Maxwell to the Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning!