Rate My Professor Tautaiolefue Bradley Watson

Tautaiolefue Bradley Watson serves as Tautiaki-Piki and Deputy Warden at Selwyn College, University of Otago, a position he assumed in January 2024. In this senior staff role, he works alongside the Tautiaki (Warden) and Tautiaki-kaiāwhina (Assistant Warden) to nurture and support students (tauira) in a safe and inclusive environment, with usual hours from 2pm to 10pm, Tuesday to Saturday. He brings a long history of involvement with Selwyn College, having been a resident for two years and held various roles in the College’s Welfare Team. Watson grew up in Taranaki, New Zealand, with family connections to the village of Tufulele in Samoa—where his high chief or matai title originates—the southern regions of China, and Scotland. He has engaged in international development work while living in Samoa.

Prior to his current position, Watson worked for the University of Otago in both student support and academic roles. Notably, he managed the Pacific Islands Research and Student Support Unit (PIRSSU) within the Division of Health Sciences. In this capacity, he focused on recruiting, retaining, and ensuring high completion rates for Pacific students, aiming for participation levels reflecting Pacific peoples' proportion in New Zealand's population (around seven percent). Under his leadership, Pacific student numbers in the Health Sciences First Year programme grew from 66 in 2013 to over 100 in subsequent years, with sustained levels thereafter. Pacific students also comprised six percent of domestic intakes into medicine and dentistry in 2014, alongside rising interest in allied health and research programmes. Watson co-authored a 2021 publication titled 'Pacific families navigating responsiveness and children's oral health experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand,' a qualitative study published in SSM - Qualitative Research in Health. Earlier, as an MA/LLB student at the University of Otago, he served as Editor of the New Zealand Law Students’ Journal. In 2024, he won the staff poetry section of the University of Otago Writer competition with his poem 'Sounds,' described as a love letter to Samoa.