Executive Leadership Team

Dr. Gillian Paul

Vice-President, Academic Affairs

Dr. Gillian Paul is the Vice President, Academic Affairs. She served as interim Chief Executive Officer of COSTAATT from September 2002 to June 2004 when the College’s first President was appointed.

Dr. Paul is a Fulbright scholar who holds a doctorate in Higher Education Administration and a Master’s degree in Education from Columbia University, New York, an M.A. in French from the University of South Carolina, and a B.Sc. in French and Spanish from Georgetown University, Washington D. C., U.S.A.

Dr. Paul was instrumental in the early development of the College, having been part of the NIHERST team that was given responsibility for the establishment of COSTAATT. She has served on several national committees including the Review Committee for the White Paper on Tertiary Education and Technical-Vocational Training, the National Curriculum Council, the National Advisory Council on Education, and the National Task Force on a Seamless Education System. Dr. Paul also served as President of the Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators from 2005-2009 and is currently a member of the Teaching Service Commission.

Ms. June Alexis-Matthew

Vice President, Institutional Advancement

Ms. June Alexis-Matthew was appointed to the position of Vice President, Institutional Advancement in November 2006.  She previously held the position of Director, Marketing and Public Relations.

She possesses many years’ management and leadership experience in both the private and public sectors within the service industry with emphasis on the travel, hospitality, tourism, marketing and public relations, training and higher education sectors.  She was Managing Director of Hospitality and Events Management Services (HEMS) consulting firm.

Ms. Alexis-Matthew holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Training and Performance Management from Leicester University, UK and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Management Science from Bernard M. Baruch College, New York.

She is an assessor for City and Guilds, UK, a professional development trainer and has also lectured in marketing, tourism and hospitality education. She has served on the boards of the Trinidad Hotels and Tourism Association and the Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators (ACHEA) and the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad & Tobago (AFETT).

Ms. Geneva Sampson

Vice President, Finance and Administration

Ms Geneva Sampson brings to the College a wealth of experience in Financial and Cost Accounting having held senior positions in the field including, Finance & Accounts Manager, Chief Accountant and Audit Senior at various state and private enterprises. She last held the position of Chief Financial Officer at the Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company Limited.

Ms Sampson specializes in Finance and Treasury Management. She is a Member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA) and possesses an MBA for Financial Managers & Finance Professionals from the Manchester Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of the West Indies.

Dr. Camille Samuel

Vice President, Student Affairs

Dr. Camille Samuel currently holds the position of Vice President Student Affairs.  She possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in both academia and enterprise management, having held several senior academic positions at the University of the West Indies. Dr. Samuel has led many strategic management interventions at both public and private institutions, locally and regionally, and also serves as academic advisor to Masters’ students at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business and is a member of the school’s adjunct faculty. She is also an academic supervisor at the University of the Netherlands.

Dr. Samuel has an extensive and diverse background in strategic leadership and has anchored many student-centred initiatives at the University of the West Indies.  She is profoundly committed to student development and the deepening of linkages with industry partners.

Dr. Samuel holds a Ph.D. in Corporate Turnaround and Gendered Leadership from the University of the West Indies; an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Economic Policy from the Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands; and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Management from The University of the West Indies.

Mrs. Naseem Koylass

Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs

Mrs. Naseem Koylass was appointed Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs in November 2009. She holds a M.Sc in Economics, a Diploma in Educational Administration and a B.Sc. Economics from the University of the West Indies.

She has considerable experience in teaching and in higher education administration both in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region. She was a senior lecturer (economics and mathematics) and department head at the St. Arthur Lewis Community College in St. Lucia until 1998 when she joined NIHERST and spearheaded the development of the Business Studies Department which has since grown to be one of the largest departments within COSTAATT. Mrs. Koylass is currently a doctoral learner pursuing studies in educational leadership, curriculum and instruction.

Ms. Carla Alonzo

Assistant to the President

In February 2005, Ms Carla Alonzo joined the COSTAATT team in the capacity of Assistant Director, Enrolment Management from the University of Westminster, London, where she was the Deputy Manager Admissions and Marketing. As Assistant Director, Carla was charged with the responsibility of setting up systems to establish the College’s first independent admissions office. Within a year of her tenure at the College she was appointed to the position of Director, Enrolment Management and spearheaded the successful implementation of COSTAATT’s first online admissions function.

In 2009, she was promoted to the position of Assistant to the President and currently serves as a member of the College’s Executive Leadership Team. Ms. Alonzo coordinates the College’s strategic planning on behalf of the Office of the President and has been Chair of COSTAATT’s Quality Council since 2009. In addition, she has served as a member of the College’s institutional registration team and the Accreditation Steering Committee, which guided the College in its successful quest for accreditation in 2010.

Ms. Alonzo possesses a B.A. in Languages and Social Science and a Diploma in Education (Modern Foreign Languages) from the University of the West Indies and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication from the University of Westminster (UK). She also possesses certification in training and development through the Open University (UK). She is a member of the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT).

Mr. Sherwyn Millette

Dean, School of Business and Information Technologies

Sherwyn Millette has been involved in higher education for over fourteen years. Early in his career he worked at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga and joined the COSTAATT team in 2001 contributing significantly to its growth since then. He has worked in the capacity of lecturer, senior lecturer, department chair and now holds the position of Dean, School of Business and Information Technologies.

He holds a Masters of Business Administration-Marketing and is currently pursuing a DBA in Higher Education Management from the University of Bath. As an administrator in higher education, he has led diverse academic committees that have developed new programmes for the College over the years, namely the country’s first Bachelor degree in entrepreneurship.   As a pioneer in the development of Entrepreneurship at the College he leads the team to develop the Family Enterprise Development and Research Institute (F.E.D.R.I.) which will serve as a catalyst for more focused business development amongst COSTAATT’s student body.  His personal credo “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” is used to motivate students, faculty and staff in ensuring the overall success of the School.

Ms. Anjenney Dwarika

Dean, School of Nursing, Health and Environmental Sciences

Anjenney Dwarika joined the COSTAATT team in 2001 as Coordinator of the Medical Laboratory Technology Programme and was promoted to Chair, Health Science Technologies department in 2005 and later Dean, School of Nursing Health and Environmental Sciences in September 2009.

Prior to Anjenney’s career at COSTAATT, she worked as regional manager for laboratory services at the North Central Regional Health Authority. In addition to serving on several external committees, such as the Regional Curriculum Advisory Committee for Health Sciences (Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), Mrs. Dwarika is currently a member of the MSTTE Steering Committee for the establishment of the National School of Nursing and Allied Health at El Dorado.  She served as a member of the team that was successful in applying for European Development Fund (EDF) grant funding for the establishment of the College’s Health Sciences Research Institute (HeSRI).

Mrs. Dwarika holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Health and a M.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Ulster. In addition to her academic qualifications she is a certified Prior Learning Assessment Administrator (Council of Adult Experiential Learning (CAEL), a certified Competency Based Curriculum developer (Worldwide Instructional Design Systems (WIDS), as well as a certified member of the American Medical Technologists (AMT) Association.

Mr. Neil Sylvester

Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Human Services

Neil Sylvester was appointed Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Human  Services in September , 2009. He has been at COSTAATT since October, 2001 and has also held the posts of   Lecturer Transitional Studies, Senior Lecturer and Chair in the Department of Mathematics.

He is a graduate of the University of the West Indies and holds Masters Degrees in Business Administration (Finance Option) and Applied Mathematics (Fluid Dynamics), a Diploma in Educational Administration and a B.Sc. General.

Before COSTAATT, Mr. Sylvester was employed at St. Joseph’s Convent Port of Spain which he left in 2001 as head of the department of mathematics.

Mr. Sylvester has been spearheading an outreach programme to at risk youth resident at correctional facilities in this country. This is considered a major project of the School of Liberal Arts and Human Services and officially began in June 2010. It is his hope that this would assist in the transformation and rehabilitation of these young men and women who are to be reintegrated into the wider society. The project is ongoing and is heavily supported by full-time faculty at the College.

Ms. Lalita Ramlal-Chirkoot

Dean, School of Continuing Education & Lifelong Learnings

Lalita Ramlal-Chirkoot currently serves as the Dean of the School of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, a position she has held for the past 2 ½ years.  Under her leadership, the School has moved from being a mere concept on the organizational chart, to become a well established provider of professional development programmes and a key revenue generating arm of the College.

Lalita joined the COSTAATT team in 2001 as the sole full-time senior lecturer in the Department of Natural and Life Sciences, and was charged with the responsibility of developing a support unit to serve the College’s many para-professional programmes that required courses in these areas.  Not surprisingly, Lalita became the first ever Chair of the Department of Natural and Life Sciences, during which time she lead the team responsible for the development and implementation of three associate degree programmes, and for supporting the entire College in its natural science requirements.  She also initiated work on two new bachelor degree programmes, which were implemented, subsequent to her appointment to the position of Dean.

Mrs. Ramlal-Chirkoot possesses a Bachelor’s degree in Physics (hons.) from the University of the West Indies.  She also possesses a Masters degree in Education and is currently pursuing a PhD in Higher Education Administration.   A research affiliate of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Mrs. Ramlal-Chirkoot actively participates in their many publications on adult education and is also a certified Prior Learning and Assessment (PLAR) assessor.  She has served on many national committees in higher education and is driven by the philosophy that learning takes place both within and external to the classroom, which supports her passion for research in the areas of adult education and student development.

Ms. Clarinda Jack

Dean, Ken Gordon School of Journalism & Communication Studies

From as far back as she can remember, Clarinda Jack has been driven by a passion for pedagogy.

She joined COSTAATT in 2005 as a Senior Lecturer, bringing more than 15 years of teaching experience. She previously taught students of diverse backgrounds and educational levels, including in private high schools and urban senior comprehensives. She spent three of those years as a secondary school teacher in Grand Cayman.

In addition to a Diploma in Education, Ms. Jack holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in English from the University of the West Indies.

As Chair of the Languages, Literature and Communication Studies Department, Ms. Jack co-wrote the proposal for the School of Journalism and Communication Studies. Journalism was her first love and she is now the acting Dean of the College’s newly opened flagship Ken Gordon School of Journalism and Communication Studies.

Those who interface with her within the classroom or without find a warm, welcoming personality and a receptive ear.