Regional Director's news

All change at the IB

Change is a familiar theme - and the 21st century shows no sign of slowing down. Here’s some news about the changing world of the IB.

Change locations

Earlier this year we announced that the regional office will be moving from Geneva to become part of a new IB global centre to be located in the Netherlands. The move is planned for later in 2010 to be completed by the end of 2011. The new centre will also house many of the departments currently located in Cardiff although assessment operations team will continue to be based in Cardiff for the long-term.

Changing management

We have also just completed the restructuring of the regional office in line with the global management changes underway in the IB. Reporting to the regional director are now five team ‘heads’ that have responsibility for the five major areas of work of the regional office.

Regional Head of School Services: Luz Maria Gutierrez
Responsible for school authorization, evaluation and ongoing programme support across all three programmes.
Regional Head of Professional Development: Victoria Pierlot
Responsible for professional development events and activities across all three programmes.
Regional Head of Development: Ake Sorman
Responsible for external relationships with, among others, universities, governments and associations of IB World Schools.
Regional Head of Human Resources: Michele Cassard
Responsible for human resources, office services and ICT support to the Geneva office as a whole.
Regional Head of Finance: Thomas Winteler
Responsible for regional financial management and planning.

I’m delighted by the strength of this team - both because of the skills/experience of the individuals but also because it creates a much stronger and more appropriate management structure to handle the growth and complexity of the region.

Changing ways of working

In the January newsletter I talked about our greater collaboration with Associations of IB World Schools around the region. We signed cooperation and license agreements with IBSCA (UK) and AGIS (Germany) last year and already have some positive outcomes as a result. In the UK, I’m delighted to welcome Nick Lee as University Liaison Officer - an appointment made possible because of the collaboration with IBSCA, but a role that will be of benefit to students from across the region who might want to access UK higher education. In Germany, AGIS have just completed assisting us with the translation of over 100 pages of documentation designed to assist with improving government recognition. Other associations are in the process of reviewing the cooperation and license agreement and I hope these two examples help to illustrate the value of closer collaboration.

Changing people

The final change I want to highlight is a more personal one. After 18 years with the IB I have made the decision to 'move-on' and join the University of London External System in the role of Chief Operating Officer. The search process for my successor at the IB is underway, supported by Egon Zehnder International. In the intervening time (I finish at the end of April), Jeff Beard will be acting Regional Director and the Regional Heads in the office will report directly to him.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend an enormous “thank you” to the many people, literally around the world, who have made my career with the IB so exciting, interesting and intellectually challenging. My colleagues in Geneva and the members of the Regional Council have provided outstanding support over the past year and I appreciate the warm welcome that I have received in schools across the region. Thank you.