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Chair of Higher Education at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne

Professor Hamish Coates contributes to the field of higher education through
research, leadership and development. Over 15 years he has worked across 40 countries,
authored over 200 publications, and led around 50 influential projects that have shaped
scholarship, policy and practice. He has given around 200 keynotes and is sought
internationally as a speaker.

Professor Coates holds a Chair of Higher Education at the Centre for the Study of Higher
Education (CSHE), University of Melbourne. Coates was Founding Director of Higher
Education Research at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) from 2006 to
2013. Between 2010 and 2013 Coates was a Program Director at the LH Martin Institute for
Tertiary Leadership and Management. Coates joined ACER from Graduate Careers Australia
(GCA). Prior to this he worked at the University of Melbourne’s Assessment Research
Centre (ARC).

Coates completed his PhD in 2005 at the University of Melbourne. In 2012 he completed
executive training at INSEAD. He holds a Master of Education, Bachelor of Science and
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Melbourne.

A specialist in assessment and evaluation, Coates focuses on improving the quality and
productivity of learning, academic work and leadership. Hamish collaborates widely and is
considered an authority in several areas. Active interests include large-scale
evaluation, quality and productivity, student admissions and engagement, outcomes
assessment, academic work and leadership, assessment methodology. Hamish has an h-index
of 21, has procured and led over AU$20 million in competitively funded research, and has
produced several ongoing revenue streams.

Major contributions include: international directorship of OECD Assessment of Higher
Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) Feasibility Study, national directorship of the
Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE), national directorship of the
University Experience Survey (UES), national directorship of the Australian Quality
Training Framework (AQTF) Quality Indicators, national directorship of the Graduate
Pathways Survey (GPS), redesign of the national Graduate Destination Survey (GDS), and
development of the online leadership learning system (OLLS).

Hamish teaches quality assurance, management and research methods at all levels. He works
with executive teams, manages research groups, supervises graduate students, has led and
contributed to numerous advisory groups, runs workshops and conferences, has worked with
hundreds of universities and training organisations, serves on several editorial
committees and academic boards, consults to the World Bank and OECD, and has held
visiting fellowships at the University of Michigan and UNESCO’s International Institute
for Educational Planning.