Jill Cowley

Pro Vice-Chancellor Skills and Training and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities

Jill Cowley is Pro Vice-Chancellor Skills and Training, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University (DMU). She is responsible for the institutional strategy around apprenticeships and higher technical education. She has been at DMU since 2007, and has a professional and academic background in Dance. 

Jill gained a first-class degree in Performing Arts (Dance), and an MPhil in Dance Studies and Public Health from Lancaster University. She went on to freelance, contributing to the conception, development and realisation of Ludus Dance Agency’s Millennium project whilst developing a community dance practice in the field of cardiac health and rehabilitation. Prior to moving to DMU, she began her formal teaching career within Further Education.

Jill has occupied a wide range of academic leadership and managerial roles at DMU. In each of these, she has been instrumental in the development and dissemination of the pioneering Universal Design for Learning project, and has held the role of DMU Teacher Fellow.  Her research centred around models of collaborative practice within improvised, creative practice and teaching.  

Jill is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an alumnus of Aurora and the Senior Women’s Leadership Development Programme (Advance HE). She was a founding member of improvisation collective, Quick Shifts, receiving Arts Council funding and support from Dance4 to investigate audience engagement with improvised performance practices. Jill also has significant experience within Quality Assurance working regularly as a consultant, an external examiner and external panel member nationally and internationally. 

Beyond academia, Jill is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Association of British Climbing’s National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme, and for the Phoenix Arts Centre.

You can contact Jill Cowley directly by emailing JCowley@dmu.ac.uk or through her EPA by emailing TGosling@dmu.ac.uk.