Michael Ratcliff

Michael is the Chief Executive Officer of Victoria University Online, a wholly owned subsidiary of Victoria University, which designs, builds, markets and delivers high-quality fully online courses to students around Australia and beyond.

VU Online’s courses combine cutting-edge learning design with layers of student support, including:

• online seminars
• weekly office hours
• student success advisors
• synchronous academic support seven days a week via phone, email and text. 

Joining VU in 2012, for the subsequent four and half years Michael was General Manager of the University’s ELICOS centre, VU English. In this role he was responsible for the academic, financial and strategic oversight of English language programs to approximately 3,500 annual student enrolments in Melbourne and campuses in Beijing, Shenyang, Kaifeng, Jinan, Chengdu and Huizhou. He also established study abroad programs with Japanese and Korean universities, and initiated a University-operated English Language Test Centre in Melbourne.

Following this, Michael was the Director of Strategic Development working on a range of initiatives to assist in the implementation of the University’s strategic plan, including producing the VU Online Business Case and establishing the business.

Michael has thirty years’ experience in the education sector, including:

• founding Greenwich College, one of Australia’s largest ELICOS providers
• four years on the Board of ASX listed education provider Redhill Education
• managing public and private education providers across Australia and Asia
• establishing education providers in Japan and Thailand
• writing and accrediting Australia’s first AQF5 Diploma in TESOL and related Cert IVs.