Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Wednesday, September 24, 2025—The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Global Campus is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Nesha Thompson as Head (Ag.), Student Experience Unit (SEU), with effect from August 1, 2025. Mrs Thompson previously served as Officer-in-Charge of the SEU from 2023.
Mrs. Thompson is a higher education professional who has served the Global Campus for over 13 years. She formally joined the Campus in 2011, after serving as Secretary for the CXC Summer School Programme for prospective fifth formers. Over the years, she has gained extensive experience within the Campus, having served in various roles including Programme Officer, Student Experience Unit (2021–2023), and Programme Officer, Continuing and Professional Education Centre (CPEC) (2019–2021). She has also provided administrative support to the Academic Programming and Delivery (APAD) Division, Human Resource Department, and the Global Campus Sites. Her service reflects deep institutional knowledge and a strong commitment to enhancing the student experience.
As Head (Ag.) of SEU, she is responsible for leading initiatives that strengthen and enrich the Global Campus student experience. These include developing, promoting, and implementing programmes that address student needs, formulating policies and procedures to guide SEU initiatives, and ensuring accountability. She will also conduct research and evaluation activities to continuously improve student engagement, collaborate with Campus divisions and the Guild of Students to assess strengths and challenges, and represent the Global Campus at official functions, meetings, and events.
Mrs. Thompson holds an MSc in Management (Project Management) (2019) and a BSc in Management with Spanish (2013), both from The UWI. She has also pursued continuous professional development, earning certifications such as the Certificate of Achievement in Leading and Managing from Durham University (2024); People-Centred Change via FutureLearn; Cultural Leadership: Harnessing Culture to become an Effective Leader, from the University of Lincoln (2024); and Managing Virtual and Hybrid Teams, from the University of Adelaide (2024). Her professional training further includes the Certificate in Designing a Flipped Classroom from the Online Learning Consortium (2020), as well as certification in Early Childhood Education (Level 1) and Strategies in Teaching Mathematics from Erdiston Teachers’ Training College (2015).
Her scholarly insights reflect her professional interests in governance, education, and student engagement. In 2024 her paper titled, How to establish peer-to-peer support networks for online, first-generation students, was published in the widely read Times Higher Education publication. In 2021, she co-authored and prepared several important institutional reports such as the CPE Business Continuity Management Plan, the Revised CPE Framework, the Summer 2020: Access
PASS (Portal to Accessible Synchronous Sessions) Report and the CPE Evaluation Training Report. She also contributed to the research report, Who Are Our CPE Learners? - A Study on the Demographics of Continuing and Professional Education Learners at The UWI Open Campus (2020). Additionally, she presented a paper on, Increasing Project Performance through the Establishment of a Project Governance Framework: An Empirical Study on Project Governance at The UWI Open Campus, at the Online Programming and Production Department Research Forum in December 2020.
Her leadership extends beyond administration. Mrs. Thompson is currently co-chair of the Student Experience Enhancement Task Force and is a member of several UWI committees and boards, including the Academic Board, the Academic Quality Assurance Committee, and the Sports Task Force. She was also an active member of the Data Protection: Registry Operations Working Group and has previously contributed to initiatives on stackable credentials and quality assurance.
Mrs. Thompson is equally passionate about outreach and service. Since 2018, she has served as a facilitator for the Preparing Today for Tomorrow’s Challenges – Transforming Children’s Lives (PTFTC-TCL) Programme, where she has delivered workshops on personal branding, effective communication, and conflict resolution to empower young people. In recognition of this work, she and her team received the Principal’s Award for Excellence in 2019. Beyond this, she has frequently represented the Campus as a guest speaker, panelist, moderator, and facilitator at public events and professional development workshops across the Region.
Her professional affiliations include membership in the Caribbean Tertiary Level Personnel Association (CTLPA) and prior membership in the Online Learning Consortium. She is also a past member of the SUNJET Toastmasters Club, where she held executive roles and earned designations such as Advanced Leader Bronze and Competent Communicator.
Through every stage of her career, Mrs. Thompson has remained passionate about inspiring and motivating others, engaging with the youth, and leading by example. This appointment represents not only a recognition of her accomplishments but also her unwavering commitment to the University’s mission of being a student-centred, data-driven institution that empowers learners to succeed in a changing world. Dr Francis O. Severin, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, concurs. “Mrs. Thompson’s appointment to this senior and fundamental role in the Campus is a positive development, especially for our young leaders on this Campus. Nesha’s diligence, efficiency, purposefulness, ability to communicate clearly, and several other positive attributes she has displayed over the years, have yielded ‘dividends’. This ought to motivate others who are keenly looking on. The message is unequivocal: the Campus rewards diligence and performance. I am proud of her. She deserves this”
The Principal and Senior Management Team extend congratulations to Mrs. Thompson on her appointment and look forward to her continued leadership in shaping and enriching the student experience across The UWI Global Campus.
Mrs. Nesha Thompson, Head (Ag.) Student Experience Unit
