Oman Dental College, Institutional Quality Audit, Jan 2010
 
Prof. Johann de Vries
 
Professor de Vries graduated as a dentist in 1974 from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.  He was Head of Operative Dentistry for 10 years and became an Associate Professor in 1981 and Professor in 1983.  Since 1991 he has held the post of Dean in a number of institutions: the Medical University of Southern Africa, the University of Manitoba, Canada and the University of Adelaide, Australia.    Professor de Vries has been also President of the International Federation for Dental Academics and Associates for a 3-year term and chaired the first Summit on the Future of Dentistry in Canada.  He has been Chair of the Dental Deans Committee in South Africa and Canada and is a member of the American Dental Deans Council.  He has been very active in the field of education both nationally and internationally and has chaired a number of accreditation visits to dental schools in Canada and South Africa.  He received the Annual Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Dental Association 2006 and was a member of the Steering group that organised the 2007 Global Dental Conference, Dublin. He has been active in research and presented over 180 papers at national and international conferences and meetings. 
 
Dr. Patsy Paxton
 
Dr Patsy Paxton, a Higher Education Consultant based in New Zealand, has a PhD in Education, and her academic quality expertise includes over 20 years’ experience with academic quality issues in the New Zealand and South African tertiary education sectors. She is the former Director of the South Pacific College of Natural Medicine in Auckland, New Zealand (2011-2019).  From 2007 – 2011 she served as the Senior Researcher on the South African Norway Tertiary Education Development (SANTED) project, based at the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in South Africa. Here she was responsible for facilitating the development of coherent approaches to curriculum consolidation as well as appropriate articulation pathways between various programmes. Amongst her many responsibilities as the Academic Director at the Auckland University of Technology (1999-2007), she managed the planning and preparation for the University’s NZUAAU comprehensive academic audit in 2001 and 2006. From 1995 – 1999 Patsy was the Academic Manager at the Waikato Institute of Technology. Before emigrating to New Zealand in 1995, she was a full professor in the Vista University (South Africa) Faculty of Education (1986-1995). Her early years (1974-1986) were spent as a senior teacher of the Economic Sciences (Economics, Business Studies, Commerce). She is committed to academic quality audit and quality assurance principles in higher education and has had extensive experience in conducting academic quality reviews and audits. From her own practical experience, Patsy has a deep understanding of the challenges that often arise when quality management theory and policies are applied to institutions’ daily operations.
 
Dr. Thomas Heming
 
Dr. Heming completed his undergraduate studies (BSc) at University of Guelph, MSc at University of Victoria, and PhD (Physiology) at University of British Columbia (Canada).  He completed postdoctoral studies in Department of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (USA). He was Head of Toxicology for Alberta Department of Environment (Canada) from 1985-1987. He then served as a faculty member, jointly, in the Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Texas Medical Branch from 1987-2002. From 2002-2004, he was Associate Professor in Department of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Health Science Center. He joined Oman Medical College in Oman in 2004 and currently is Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Physiology. The college is affiliated to West Virginia University (USA), where Dr. Heming holds the position of Adjunct Professor, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology in the School of Medicine.   Dr. Heming has played an active role in the Oman Quality Network for Higher Education from the network’s inception and was former Chairman of the Executive Committee. He has considerable experience in quality audits and accreditation reviews, and has served as an external reviewer for the national accreditation agencies of Oman, UAE (Dubai), and Bahrain.