Dr Joel Carlton

Dr Joel Carlton is the sole Deputy Dean of the Hertfordshire Business School, one of the largest in the United Kingdom, managing a talented team of leaders delivering an outstanding student experience deeply rooted in the staff experience. In addition to his Deputy Dean commitments, he has key portfolio responsibility for: learning and teaching; the global network of franchise and dual award partners; and accreditation, including EFMD and AACSB, as well as supporting the TABSA global undergraduate alliance.

• From 2020-2023 he was Associate Dean, International and Postgraduate Student Experience responsible for leading four principal areas of activity: the student experience on all Hertfordshire-based postgraduate programmes; the recruitment of international students to all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes; the global network of franchise and dual award partners which includes the University’s largest partner, INTI International University and Colleges in Malaysia; and accreditation, including EFMD and AACSB, as well as supporting the TABSA and IBSA alliance.
• In his final year of leading postgraduate student experience in 2022-23, the University was ranked second in the United Kingdom PTES (Postgraduate Teaching Experience Survey). With well over 50% of the University respondents from Hertfordshire Business School, this result reflects very positively on the brilliant postgraduate community of students and staff in the School.
• From 2019-2020 he was Associate Dean, International responsible for global partner management and inbound international recruitment, before assuming the Hertfordshire-delivered Postgraduate programmes in October 2020.
• From 2016-2019 he was the Associate Dean of Academic Quality Assurance (International) at HBS responsible for monitoring and enhancement at programmes where an HBS student studies all or part of their qualification overseas, as well as on UK collaborative programmes.
• From 2014-2016 he was Head of INTI and Laureate International Partnerships, for HBS, directly responsible for the 3000 students studying on the undergraduate and postgraduate franchise and dual award programmes at the five campuses of INTI International University and Colleges in Malaysia. The December 2015 HE Review of the University by the QAA found one of the two features of good practice to be ‘The University takes an inclusive, developmental and enhancement-oriented approach to its engagement with its extensive and complex range of collaborative partner institutions.’
• During this same time, he was also the Associate Director (International Partnerships) at UH Global, in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor, leading a number of innovations, including the pioneering Global Classroom Initiative linking academic colleagues and students in Malaysia and the UK. He was nominated for a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Partnerships with Others in 2014.
• From 2010-2014 he was the HBS Associate Head of Department for Marketing and Enterprise as well as the Head of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management. 

Outside of the University, Dr Carlton served as a founding Governor as well as Chair of the Standards Committee for the local Watford University Technical College, specialising in education for students aged 14-19.

He gained his first degree in Travel Management at the University of Brighton, his PGCE at the UCL Institute of Education, his MSc in International Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Hertfordshire, and his doctorate in education (EdD) at the University of Birmingham.

Prior to academia, he had extensive and high-profile experience in industry working in various roles for the renowned leader in luxury shipping, Cunard Line. At Cunard he achieved many firsts including: youngest on-board Cruise Sales Manager ever appointed to flagship QE2; highest on-board sales figures ever recorded; as well as organising highly prestigious events including the first serving head of state to sail on board QE2 – President Nelson Mandela on 1998 World Cruise - plus the visit of the Crown Prince of Dubai as part of the official opening of the Dubai Cruise Terminal in 2001.

His research interest is in leadership in higher education, and he recently completed his doctoral study comparing British and Malaysian journeys to academic leadership at the University of Birmingham.

In 2014 he was recognised as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), in 2018 as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA) and in 2022 as a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (FRAS).

Following election, in September 2022 he began his term of office for both the Academic Board as well as the Board of Governors of the University of Hertfordshire. His current contribution as an academic citizen is as follows:

• University level
  • January 2024. Appointed to Board of Governors Honorary Awards Board.
  • October 2023. Appointed to External Funding Group.
  • September 2023. Chair of the Access and Participation Steering Group, reports to Academic Board.
  • June 2023. Appointed to Educational Student Experience Committee, reports to Academic Board.
  • February 2023. Appointed to Board of Governors Finance Committee.
  • September 2022. Elected (from Academic Board) to Board of Governors.
  • September 2022. Elected to Academic Board.
  • September 2014. Appointed to International Operations Board, previous member of the UH Global Board.
• School level
  • October 2020. Chair the Business School Academic Board, reports to Academic Board.
  • September 2010. Appointed to the Business School Executive Group. Deputy Chair from June 2023.