Description: This workshop will explore existing practices, frameworks and definitions associated with 'new professionals' and in so doing seek to identify core characteristics that will contribute to current discourse and the development of an integrative framework for exploring new conceptions related to new roles and future practices. 'How can the role of the scholar be defined in ways that not only affirm the past but also reflect the present and adequately anticipate the future?' (Boyer, 1990)'The medium, or process, of our time-electric technology is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and re-evaluate practically every thought, every action, and every institution formerly taken for granted. Everything is changing: you, your family, your education, your neighborhood, your job, your government, your relation to "the others. And they're changing dramatically.'(McLuhan & Fiore, 1967).Learning technologists and academic developers are well established communities within higher education. These two communities, often described as 'new professionals' or as 'a new breed of specialist', have played major roles in supporting the advancement of learning, teaching and professional development and the use of new technologies in higher education. Although the emergence of these communities is most notably associated with the UK, US and Australia, equivalent roles for example 'ICT pedagogue' and variations of these roles are recognized and exist throughout Europe (EQUEL, 2004) and in other international settings.Despite the engagement of each community in continued dialogue to define the characteristics of these 'new roles' current discourse suggests that, on the whole, discussion has been separate and disconnected and that challenges and tensions remain regarding both the nature of the roles and the alignment and integration of these roles in university settings. Methodology: This work is based on an exploration and analysis of existing practices, frameworks and definitions associated with 'new professionals' and 'new specialists' specifically in relation to the use of 'new technologies' and pedagogical and professional development in higher education. It draws on empirical data and relevant theory by combining two main methods: one which is autobiographical, based on first hand experience, and one which draws on a variety of different written sources including policy documents and research reports. Conclusions: The workshop will explore the following questions:· What is a 'new professional' in higher education? · How do these 'new roles' and 'new relationships' relate to the role of the academic/teacher?· What will influence and determine the future of these 'new roles' and 'new practices' in supporting the advancement of learning and teaching, professional development and the use of new technologies?· What is the role of scholarship within this 'nexus'?