Meet the colleague: Cath Bushell

Cath Bushell, Head of Digital Education, tells us about her role and the projects she’s working on within the Digital Education team at the Learning and Teaching Academy.

Tell us about your career history:  

Prior to my current role, I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to work across Cardiff University, in a range of roles and teams gaining insight into the workings of the University from very different perspectives.  I started in what is now Research and Innovation Services, a bit of an anomaly in that dept with a student-facing role:  developing and delivering enterprise and entrepreneurship education.  

The Enterprise team then became part of Student Futures and I took on a role as a Business Partner within that team supporting PSE and BLS Colleges. This involved working with Schools to identify opportunities for student employability skills development. Following this I moved from central PS to a School, spending five years as Deputy School Manager in BIOSI, with oversight of all education-focused PS support. This allowed me to view student support from a very different perspective and understand both the often complex processes Schools follow to support their students from enrolment to graduation, but also the key role of Schools and their PS support teams in providing an excellent student experience.  

Before joining the LTA, I worked in the BLS College as Business Partner for Strategy and Planning, with responsibility for oversight of the College integrated planning process and supporting wider College strategic projects.  

What does your role involve and how long have you been in the role? 

I’ve only been in the role since January 2024, so am still learning what it involves – every week is a new revelation of something I didn’t know I needed to know! 

I’ve got a brilliant team, who are focused on delivering Digital Education in partnership with Schools across the University. My role is therefore to support and lead this team, making sure that we’re providing support that adds value to the education that Schools are delivering.  

Key projects within the team at the moment include developing an enhancement model for the Digital Learning Environment (DLE). This will provide guidance and resources to academic staff to enhance their use of the DLE. Development of the University’s approach to Flexible Learning is another priority with work ongoing to develop options for future development of flexible delivery of CPD and/or other accredited courses. 

What projects/tasks are you currently working on within your role? 

Following the successful rollout of BlackBoard Ultra by the Digital Education Team,  we’re looking to the future and my current priority is to ensure that the team is well-positioned to support any changes to our learning and teaching that may follow from the new University strategy.  

What do you do in your spare time? 

My children have reached the ages that they need/want their mum around less, so I’m finding I have more “me” time and have been finding ways to fill this!   

I joined a choir last year and am enjoying my weekly singing session.  I am a member of a book group where the wine and gossip are as important as the book review, but it keeps me on track reading regularly at least. Those who have seen me on Teams calls at home may have spotted the wall of wool behind me, which feed my crochet projects – one day my speed at using it will keep up with my rate of buying more!  

Just because life isn’t busy enough, I also became a Parent Governor at my children’s High School a few months ago, which has been an interesting insight into education in very different context!