Tiffany Edouard helps forge connections for Gillings School students

The demands of an academic program can place significant stress on students, which is why leadership at the Gillings School, including the Mental Health and Well-being Task Force and student-led groups like the Minority Student Caucus and the Student Government Association, have been exploring new opportunities to promote well-being. Edouard, who is the student affairs events manager, has been at the forefront of planning and implementing programs that meet some of these student needs and provide resources, relaxation and camaraderie to the Gillings School community.

“We hear from students through feedback and event surveys and use their comments to implement projects and the programs that we think are going to best help them based on their current needs,” she explained. “For example, our ‘Well-Being Wednesdays’ events used to be virtual events during the pandemic called ‘Wind-Down Wednesdays.’ It was a place for everyone to come together and just unwind and talk with their peers. Now we have transitioned that over to ‘Well-Being Wednesdays’, where we try to have various in-person events that are social programming but with an emphasis on wellness. It might be a DIY trail mix bar or someone coming in to teach about Enneagram. We try to keep it relevant to whatever the students need.”

We hear from students through feedback and event surveys and use their comments to implement projects and the programs that we think are going to best help them based on their current needs.

In addition to social and well-being events, Edouard and her colleagues in Student Affairs manage the logistics of many marquee academic events, including Fall and Spring commencement, Admitted Students Day, open houses, orientation, and so much more. The slate keeps the team busy throughout the year, but for Edouard, whose background is in hospitality and corporate events management, every event is an opportunity to explore new social and emotional programming that can forge connections between students.

One Gillings School event that sticks out to her is the 2023 Fall Social, where she says students came out in droves to celebrate the beginning of the semester.

“They want an opportunity to be able to gather and talk and tell everybody what they’ve done for the summer,” Edouard said. “It really speaks to the fact that social programming is important.”

“Tiffany works diligently to make sure our students are engaged in events that support their well-being,” said Charletta Sims Evans, MEd, associate dean for student affairs. “She creates events that are fun and beneficial. She has been an asset to our team and School, and her background and certification as Mental Health First Aid instructor is a plus as well.”

Edouard has been in event planning for more than a decade and came to the Gillings School two years ago by way of the UNC School of Social Work. Before joining UNC, she spent many years in the business world as an event planner — including owning her own event planning company — and says the jump from the private sector to the public sector has allowed her to enjoy new and different aspects of the process.

“Corporate events can be a little bit more cut and dry, but social events at the School are a lot more fun,” she said. “It’s not just about the run of show or the program that you’re putting on; it’s also about the lunch that you’re having, the decorations that are there or the music. You get to interact with students and build relationships. Whereas with general corporate events, I don’t necessarily get to build relationships with the client other than our vendors. But in a setting like the Gillings School, you get to see the students who come back to every single event or the departments that are heavily involved on campus. You get to build those relationships with those frequent fliers.”

In her personal life, Edouard loves spending time with her sister and godchildren. She is a fan of musical theater and an avid reader of non-fiction. Her number one book recommendation is A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer. Though she is a graduate of the University of Florida, she has spent most of her professional career in North Carolina, and her first job as a corporate event planner for Blue Cross and Blue Shield even allowed her to work in all 100 N.C. counties.

She says the transition to higher education has been a fulfilling one, and she loves the team in Student Affairs.

“Working here made me realize there’s a space for any profession on a college campus,” she said. “And the work of the student affairs office is so embedded in the day-to-day at Gillings that it can be easy to forget we’re there. Our work is done to enrich the student experience, and that’s really invaluable for the Gillings School.”