Caroline Barfoot

Caroline was appointed as Head of Student Experience in August 2019 and joined the senior management team. Her new role covers careers, enterprise, the Student Hub, student funding, counselling and mental health, Access Solent, and student achievement.

Her team is focused on supporting students throughout their time at Solent and ensuring they have what they need to achieve their potential. From Welcome Week to support with careers after graduation, her team are available all year round to give students information, advice, guidance and funding.

Student Experience works closely with the Schools to deliver on the University’s strategies related to the Graduate Outcomes Survey and NSS, as well as supplying data for the HE-BCI for graduate business start-ups.

This area also covers delivering the University’s prevent, safeguarding and access and participation responsibilities.

Caroline worked in the creative industries for 20 years before moving into academia. She has experience of working for a media owner, client-side in a marketing department, and for an advertising agency. She also set up her own successful marketing business with two partners. Caroline started lecturing in marketing communications in 2001; since then she has developed specialist knowledge in digital marketing, enterprise education and student employability.

In 2011, Caroline helped to set up Solent Creatives,  Solent University’s unique initiative that links our talented creative students with freelancing projects in industry. In 2016, Caroline was appointed as Head of Employability and Student Enterprise at Solent where she worked with a dedicated team to help students achieve their ambitions through IAG, workshops, mentoring, work placements, curriculum development, internships schemes, events, Campus Jobs and enterprise support.

Caroline is a founder member of Creative Growth Southampton Project Board, a project funded by PUSH to support creative businesses that are seeking to scale-up. She is also part of Creative Network South.

Publications

The Fundamentals of Creative Advertising by Burtenshaw, Mahon & Barfoot (2006, 2nd edition in 2011)