This year’s Star Awards received a record number of nominations, and we came together to celebrate in person for the first time in three years!

Dalvony Savic, Best Personal Tutor/Supervisor of the Year 2022, pictured alongside fellow UWL staff and students. 

Our students at UWL are extraordinary, and they need a group of impressive people to help them achieve their best. Last week, we came together to celebrate everything UWL staff do, with our nominees being voted for by the people who matter most, the students. We brought together a group of people who love what they do, to celebrate each other – the night was set up to be nothing short of fantastic! 

The Star Awards 2022 showcased some of the dedicated staff across the university, with the lucky winners taking home a trophy! We spoke to a couple of them to find out what their job means to them... 

Dr. Bernadine Idowu, SBS Lecturer of the Year for the second year running, detailed how she has continuously come to the SU for advice to ensure her students have the best experience possible and their wellbeing is prioritised. Our advice team works incredibly hard to help students in every way they can and giving lecturers the tools to help their students is the perfect way to make sure students are getting the support they need. 

Dr. Bernadine Idowu, pictured with her student Noreen Salah. 

Bernadine also told us what’s really important to her when teaching: 

“For me, it’s about treating students how I would’ve wanted to be treated back in the day and meeting all their needs. It’s always being there for them and making sure they feel like they belong.” 

The award for the Best Personal Tutor/Supervisor, presented by Prof. Peter John, went to Dalvony Savic! Dalvony is the course leader for MSc International Business Management course leader and has created a strong bond with her students over the last year, so her win couldn’t be more deserved. We caught up with her to find out how it felt to win: 

“It’s a mix of gratitude and guilt at the same time – I'm not really sure I deserve it. I just know that I love my students and that I’ve done everything I could to help them and it’s a great feeling that they recognise it. But that’s not the most important thing, it’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do and I love doing it.”  

If there’s one thing we know, it’s that every single one of the nominees were incredibly deserving and seeing how much the students value them is inspiring. Keep smashing it team UWL!