Eight Questions on the 10th Anniversary for Dr Deirdre Charles, Director of the Division of Student Services and Development
When I think back to 2015, student services at UWI looked completely different. We had all these separate units—Student Advisory Services, the Activity Centre, Health Services, Disabilities Support—all working independently, sometimes not even talking to each other. If you were a student struggling with both financial issues and mental health, you’d have to navigate multiple offices with no one connecting the dots for you. A 2012 review finally said what many of us had been thinking: this wasn’t working. Our student body was changing rapidly, more diverse in every way imaginable.
But there was something bigger happening too. Universities globally were realising that if you want to compete, you can’t just focus on academics anymore. The whole student matters. UWI’s strategic plan at the time talked about producing graduates who were critical thinkers, globally aware, entrepreneurial, ethically grounded—and we looked around and asked ourselves honestly: can a lecture hall alone create that kind of person? Of course not.
So the vision was simple, bring everything under one roof, stop working in silos, and support students as complete human beings. Not just their grades, but their wellbeing, their finances, their career readiness, their sense of belonging. Create an environment where every student could thrive, no matter their background.
It was intense. We had approval in May 2015 and launched August 1, so we had barely two months to pull this together. We brought in a Change Facilitation Team because we knew this wasn’t just about shuffling org charts. We were asking people who’d worked independently for years to suddenly collaborate, share resources, and align their goals.
Between June and July, we lived in meetings and workshops. We held over 25 engagement sessions with staff because we needed everyone on board. We had to identify what services were actually critical, figure out where the gaps were, build communication plans, and work with HR on realigning people.
There was a management retreat in July where we hammered out the strategic framework. I remember people were exhausted but also energised. There was this sense that we were building something genuinely important. The groundwork had actually started back in 2012, but those final months in 2015 were a sprint. When we officially launched on August 1, we weren’t perfect, but we had clarity about where we were going and a team committed to getting there.
Chaotic, exciting, frustrating, rewarding—often all in the same day.
We started with six departments and about 40 staff members. That sounds like a lot until you realise we were trying to serve thousands of students with very limited resources. People were wearing multiple hats, learning new systems, figuring out how to work together.
The staff really stepped up. Despite all the uncertainty and growing pains, there was genuine ownership of this new vision. People showed up to workshops, engaged in the planning, pushed through the challenges. That buy-in made all the difference.
We had some early wins that kept us motivated. Campus stakeholders took us seriously. Faculty members began referring students to us, awareness grew, foot traffic increased. Students were getting help. We expanded services for international students, mature students, and people with disabilities. We updated policies that had been frustrating people for years.
But let me be honest about the struggles too. Visibility was a huge problem— - students simply didn’t know we existed or what we could do for them. We were understaffed, so managers spent time firefighting instead of strategic planning. We had counsellors without enough private space to see students. We had ideas for programmes, but no funding to execute them.
Infrastructure was a nightmare in some areas. Funding was always tight. We were trying to do more with less, which meant our existing staff were stretched.
Those early years taught us resilience, and the importance of celebrating small victories while staying focused on the bigger picture.
Once we stabilised, we could finally think bigger. We went from five planned departments to eight. We created a dedicated Student Engagement Unit because we realised orientation and transition support deserved focused attention. The Guild Administrative Office came under our umbrella, which made sense—student leaders needed structured support and training. Counselling and Psychological Services became its own department because mental health is central to student success.
Within departments, programmes exploded. Financial Advisory brought in more donors and expanded scholarship funding, and we’re now distributing over $2.3 million annually to more than 350 students.
The First Year Experience Programme evolved from information sessions to actual community-building as we added pre-semester mixers.
Our Careers department built relationships with dozens of companies. The World of Work Programme went from a modest initiative to a major recruitment and networking operation, and led to students getting job interviews and making real connections.
We professionalised. Staff received training in best practices, took on specialised roles, and built systems and processes.
Technology became our friend. We overhauled the website, expanded our social media presence and digitised applications and processes. During COVID, that digital infrastructure saved us, allowing us to pivot to virtual counselling, online orientation, and social media engagement.
And steadily, people started knowing who we were. We weren’t the best-kept secret on campus anymore.
Getting that first accessible student shuttle is a major one. For years, students with mobility challenges struggled to get around campus, and we did something concrete about it.
The financial support we provide is life-changing. The $2.3 million annually sounds like just a number until you meet the student who can finally eat properly or the single mother who can now afford childcare while finishing her degree. During the pandemic, we expanded beyond traditional scholarships to grocery assistance and hardship funds. Some students would’ve had to drop out otherwise.
Our employability programmes - the Career Advice Programme, Executive Transition Programme, World of Work - these aren’t just resume workshops. We’re connecting students with employers, teaching them how to navigate professional environments, and opening doors for them. Several of our students have won international leadership scholarships because we gave them the foundation to compete globally.
The digital transformation was massive. Online applications, appointment booking, virtual services— these seem basic now, but they revolutionised access. A commuting student doesn’t have to spend two hours travelling to campus just to submit a form anymore.
What I’m proudest of is the culture shift. We moved from fragmented services to integrated support. A student can walk in with a complex problem like financial stress affecting their mental health and their grades, and we can provide coordinated, holistic care.
“Freshers” having a blast during a First Year Experience (FYE) event. FYE is a massive orientation programme for new students.
We’re a comprehensive ecosystem now. Eight departments, each with a clear mission, all working together. Careers, Co-curricular and Community Engagement prepares students for life after graduation—career advising, skills workshops, and community service opportunities. Counselling and Psychological Services provides mental health support. Financial Advisory manages scholarships and teaches financial literacy. The Guild Administrative Office supports student leaders and governance.
Student Accommodation handles all housing. Student Activities manages the Activity Centre and its amenities. Student Engagement runs orientation and transition programmes. Student Life and Development ensures our underrepresented group (students with disabilities, international students, mature students, postgrads) get the specialised support they need.
Students know we exist and what we can do for them. That’s a huge change from 2015.
Our core mission hasn’t changed as we’re still focused on student retention and success. But what that means has deepened significantly.
We’ve moved from reactive to proactive. Instead of waiting for students to fail and then trying to save them, we’re building support from day one. The First Year Experience Programme starts before students even arrive on campus. Career development starts in first year, not the final one.
We’ve shifted from treating everyone the same to recognising that equity isn’t equality. A first-generation student from a rural area faces different challenges than someone whose parents both have PhDs. A student with a disability needs different accommodations.
Technology has transformed how we work. We’re hybrid now. A student can book counselling online, apply for scholarships from their phone, engage with us on social media. Accessibility has improved dramatically. And we’re data-driven. We track outcomes, measure impact, adjust based on feedback.
The biggest evolution is philosophical. We’re developing human beings. That sounds grandiose, but it’s true. We’re building resilience, leadership, professional skills, emotional intelligence, and civic responsibility. The classroom teaches critical thinking; we teach students how to navigate the world.
We’re thinking bigger about inclusion. Beyond the groups we currently serve, we’re looking at students from rural communities who face geographic and cultural barriers, and student parents juggling academics with caregiving. These populations have largely been invisible.
We’re formalising everything. We’re developing comprehensive policies for international student support, housing management, freedom of expression, and financial aid administration. We’re taking what we’ve learned and codifying it so there’s consistency and accountability.
The Campus Food Pantry is a project I’m really excited about. We’ve done emergency food assistance, but we want something sustainable—a permanent resource for students facing food insecurity.
We’re expanding our digital footprint. A student services podcast is in the works, as well as self-service kiosks for one-stop information access, and better software for scholarship processing so decisions happen faster and more transparently.We’re strengthening our brand with a Student Services Day, open houses, and better promotional materials. We want every student to know what we offer.
And partnerships. We’re deepening relationships with donors through in-person engagement events. We’re also hosting faculty sensitisation sessions each semester.
I want us to touch every UWI student at least once during their time here. Not in a bureaucratic way, but in a meaningful way: a conversation that matters, support that makes a difference, or a moment where they feel seen and helped.
We’ve come so far in ten years. The next ten? I think we can be transformative.
