Mike Maxwell has over 30 years of professional experience in the print media industry as a writer, designer and editor, both nationally and internationally. Additionally he has held senior roles in higher education course development and coordination. As a former Head of Department of Journalism and Public Relations, Director, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Dean of Academic Planning and Development at the Durban University of Technology, he has well-honed strategic leadership skills.  He has a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Trinity College Dublin, and a Bachelor's degree in English and Social Anthropology from University of Natal.

Mike is presently engaged as a senior lecturer for Honours and Masters students, and also as a mentor for Masters and PhD students at CCMS. He has been responsible for two postgraduate courses, Media in a Global World, and Journalism and Media Theory. As a mentor and editor to Masters and Doctoral students his tasks include advising on style and formatting, logical coherence, reviewing and editing dissertations/theses prior to final submission. This is to ensure that grammar and syntax are correct and that the communication objective of the work has been achieved.

He is also contracted as a marketing consultant for the Department. He designs, edits and produces SUBtext, the quarterly departmental newsletter. He is also retained as the Webmaster for the CCMS website.