Julie Maughan has been appointed as the new director of human resources at York St John College, starting next month.

She succeeds Julie McClelland, who has left York St John College to join the University of Huddersfield as director of human resources.

The "new" Julie moves from Northumbria University in Newcastle, where she was director of human resources for three years. Originally from South Shields, she fell in love with York as a tourist and is delighted to be moving to the city. York St John, one of York city's institutes of higher education, has more than 500 permanent members of staff.

When in post, Julie plans to build on the provision of a service which supports the college in moving forward.

She said: "I will be exploring ways of measuring the effectiveness of the current HR strategy and further develop what is already operating by continuing to implement contemporary practices in the workplace. My first job will be to develop relationships with college staff."

York St John College was one of only two higher education providers in the UK to be awarded funding for the Work Life Balance Challenge last year. The three-year programme, funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, began in September to develop a work-life balance strategy at the college.

Julie has been working in human resources for 20 years and was formerly head of human resources at South Tyneside Healthcare Trust.

Updated: 15:08 Tuesday, September 23, 2003