Please note the Board Members listed below have declared no political activities.
Dr Lavinia Boyce BEM
Lavinia Boyce, BEM, PhD, MSSC, BSc (2.1 Hons), BA, Diploma in Personnel Management is a graduate of Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and the Open University (OU). She was a Civil Servant for 21 years before transferring to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). She served 17 years in Human Resources Management and carried out contract work as an Associate Assessor for the National Police College in Harrogate. After retiring, she was employed as a Teaching Assistant in the School of Management, QUB.
Dr Boyce is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CMCIPD) and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management (MCMI). She was a Member of the British Academy of Management (MBAM) and served on the BAM Council as the UK part-time Doctoral Representative for 6 years. She chaired tracks at the BAM International Conferences and was a Special Interest Group, Treasurer.
She was appointed by the Education Authority as a Governor at Andrews Memorial Primary School, Comber in 2009 and continues to serve in this role. In 2014 she was appointed by the Department of Education as a Governor at Bloomfield Collegiate School where she served as vice-Chair and Chair of the Board. She resigned in October 2019.
She has been involved in voluntary work for several years, comprising the QUB Graduates’ Associations and Convocation Standing Committee. She served on these Committees and was President of the Queen’s Women Graduates in 2007. Her other voluntary work includes The Royal British Legion, Caseworker; the RUC GC Foundation, Guide; Trustee and Treasurer of the Police Historical Society and fundraising for the Belfast City Hospital. In April 2022, she was appointed Trustee of the Charity Equipping for Life which is an educational charity working with Primary Schools and she Chairs the Finance & General Purposes Committee.
She was awarded the BEM in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for services to the community in Northern Ireland. She set up a postgraduate research scholarship in the QUB School of Medicine, in memory of her late parents. The scholarship is open to postgraduate students in the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine.
Dr Boyce was appointed to the Governing Body of Stranmillis University College from 1 July 2020 for a period of 4 years and has been reappointed for a second term ending on 30th June 2028. She is Chair of the HR & Remuneration Committee and a member the Finance and General Purposes Committee.
She does not hold any other public appointments.
Dr Maureen Bennett
Dr Bennett has almost 13 years teaching experience in the post -primary sector, seven of which were as Head of English and Drama. She has also 25 years’ experience within the Education and Training Inspectorate, working across all sections of education from pre-school to tertiary level education and holding the position of Assistant Chief Inspector (ACI) for six of those years. As ACI she sat on the Board of the then Department for Employment and Learning and subsequently, the Board of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
Following retirement, she held a short term consultancy post on Improvement in Pre-school Education in Serbia as a Senior Self-evaluation Expert and was also a part-time Support Officer for Research, Evaluation and Curriculum on the Special Needs Literacy Project at Stranmillis University College.
She holds a BA in English, a PGCE, DASE, a Master’s Degree in Education and a PhD also in Education.
She served on the Board of Belfast Bible College between 2011 and 2022; her term of office included acting Principal for five months, Vice-chair of the Board, and Chairperson of its Education Committee. Between 2013 and 2020, she was convenor of the Tertiary Level Education Chaplains Committee within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Her current responsibilities include chair of the Board of the C.S. Lewis Institute (Belfast) deputy Clerk of Session in West Church, Bangor and membership of the Governing Body of Grange Primary School, Bangor – all of which are voluntary and unremunerated positions.
Dr Bennett was appointed to the Governing Body of Stranmillis University College from 1 July 2020 for a period of 4 years to 30 June 2024. She chairs the Education Committee.
She does not hold any other public appointments.