Leading with care and insight: Bindu Cherian honoured with VC’s Service Excellence Award

The Wits School of Governance (WSG) is proud to announce that Bindu Cherian, Manager of the Academic Delivery Unit (ADU), has been awarded the prestigious Vice-Chancellor’s Service Excellence Award for Professional and Administrative Staff (PAS) in the Individual catergory.

The annual PAS awards recognise Wits staff who demonstrate exceptional customer service, process optimisation, and accountability across the institution. For those who work alongside her, Cherian’s recognition comes as no surprise, though her preferred operational style is usually behind the scenes. 

While managing an under-capacitated team of four during a period when student enrollment effectively doubled, Cherian has consistently gone beyond routine administrative duties to foster a supportive, pragmatic, and student-centred environment. 

"Bindu does not just make systems and processes better, but she makes those around her better," noted her nomination. "This award acknowledges and values the pragmatism, emotional intelligence, and insights she brings to academics, staff, and students alike." 

Cherian’s approach to service excellence is rooted in empathy and active listening. To ensure students have a direct voice, she instituted regular class representative check-ins and created pathways for students and alumni to connect with industry practitioners and real-world opportunities. 

Her care is also evident in practical everyday solutions. Noticing that working students attending evening classes at 17:30 often had no food options due to early canteen closures Cherian stepped in to reallocate planning and budgeting. She ensured substantial finger food and snacks were provided during evening breaks, a thoughtful gesture that proved especially meaningful during cold winter nights. 

Beyond student care Cherian has proven to be a vital partner to academic staff in solving complex curriculum and administrative bottlenecks.

When academic schedules for late-intake cohorts created severe assessment and supervisory allocation conflicts ahead of the December Board of Examiners (BoE), Cherian proposed a total structural redesign of the Proposal Development course assessments. Her innovative suggestion transformed the assessments into core-competency exercises on generic topics, resolving student timeline pressures while ensuring students entered supervision better prepared.

Cherian has also contributed to the School’s admission’s project with colleagues from WSG's Operations, Marketing and Communications units.

Equally important is her commitment to team wellbeing. Cherian has been a steadfast advocate for her unit, developing transparent decision-making processes and efficient workflows that support her team despite high operational pressures. 

Congratulations to Bindu Cherian on this well-deserved recognition for her dedicated service to Wits University.