Professor Cathcart is the Director Student Success and Teaching Advancement at QUT, a portfolio which includes innovative and scholarly educator development, student evaluations, employability, language, learning and STEM support, retention, first year experience, peer programs, digital transformation, scholarship of learning and teaching, awards and recognition.

She co-developed the Associate Fellow (Indigenous) of the Higher Education Academy pathway -a world first specialist award for staff who successfully integrate Indigenous perspectives in learning and teaching. She also co-leads the award winning Teaching Advantage Global Program for HDRS and early career academics. As a Professor of Governance and Higher Education her publications include scholarship of learning and teaching and research on work and organisation. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has won multiple teaching awards including 3 national Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) and the QUT David Gardiner Teacher of the Year medal (2014). As a Global Strategic Advisor for Advance HE she has worked with Universities in China, Thailand and Australia to design professional development programs to promote teaching quality and build HEA Fellowship schemes.

Professor Cathcart was on the Board of Bendigo Community Bank (Samford) and Chair of the Governance and Resources Committee until 2023. She is a TEQSA Expert and an external Academic Board member of the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC).