Westcliff’s Staff of the Year Helps International Students Thrive

Somewhere between landing in a new country and crossing the commencement stage, nearly every international student hits a question nobody back home can answer. 

The answer usually sits inside a federal rulebook that can shift with little warning, and getting it wrong can put a future in the U.S. at risk.

At Westcliff University, a team of international student advisors spends its days helping students make sense of those rules. Derek Liew, a supervisor in the International Student Success Advising department, is one of them, and his colleagues recently named him Westcliff’s 2026 Staff of the Year.

He’s the first to admit the job rarely comes with easy answers.

“It’s definitely not easy. I’ll say that off the bat,” Liew said. “We try our best as advisors to get as much knowledge as we can and relay that to the students as quickly as we can. We try our best to be as communicative as possible and to advise students in a way that’s like, ‘Hey, be careful, be prepared for the best-case and worst-case scenario.'”

That honesty, paired with a refusal to leave students guessing, is a big reason his coworkers turn to him when a case gets complicated.

A Day of Putting Out Fires

Liew supervises a team of fellow advisors while carrying a caseload of his own. Much of his supervisory work happens behind the scenes, making sure the people answering student questions are working from the same information.

“I work with the other advisors, making sure that they’re understanding the new policies. I also work with them on complex and urgent situations,” he said. “And, I’m a DSO, so I can help the F-1 students there as well.”

That designation, short for Designated School Official, gives him access to the federal records that govern F-1 status.

His calendar rarely looks the same two days in a row. Mornings start with triage.

“A lot of our days are spent putting out fires. Not literal fires, but the fires that start from unforeseen circumstances,” he said. “In the mornings when I first come in, I usually clear all my emails. I’ll do a rapid scan of what I need to do in the next two minutes versus the next hour and who I need to contact.”

Midday belongs to his caseload. Liew blocks time around noon for student appointments, then squeezes in meetings with his team and partner offices before the afternoon brings another round.

“And then at the end of the day, I meet with more students and put out more fires,” he said. “So that’s kind of my job. A lot of fires.”

Shifting federal policy adds another layer to that routine. When new rules surface, Liew and his team work to understand them quickly so students can plan with the best information available. The goal is to give students a clear picture of what could happen, even when the rules themselves are still in motion.

Pulling Up a Chair

When asked about the most rewarding moment of his career so far, Liew points to a particular case when a student was working toward an H-1B visa. The visa allows international graduates to work in specialized fields in the U.S., and getting there can mean a stack of paperwork with little room for error. The application involved coordination with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on top of the university’s own requirements, and the student needed help sorting through it.

“There’s a lot to do for sure. The main issue is that it’s not just with the university. It’s also with USCIS, so it’s a little bit more complicated,” Liew said. “But I told them, ‘Hey, come to campus, sit down with me. Let’s work it out together.'”

Liew wanted to tackle it face to face, and the session paid off.

“It took about an hour, and then they got it. Eventually they got picked for H-1B,” he said. “So in my head, me helping them allowed them to create a life here in America. That’s super rewarding for me.”

An hour at a desk might seem small on paper, but that student walked away with a door open to a career in the country where they earned their degree.

An Anthropologist at Heart

Liew grew up identifying as Chinese American, and advising international students has given him a window into cultures far beyond his own upbringing. If he weren’t an advisor, he jokes, he’d be a cultural anthropologist.

“It’s really fun to see different people’s cultures. Growing up, I would definitely categorize myself as more American, Chinese American. But I’ve been able to experience people from India, Korea and Brazil,” he said. “We have a lot of Brazilian students as well. Every time I talk to them, there’s always something new that I learn.”

Those conversations go beyond logistics. Liew tries to get to know each student as a person before diving into the paperwork.

“I try to be personable with my students. I try to hear their story out. So it’s always fun and always interesting to hear the cultural differences,” he said. “Like I said, in an alternate reality I’d be an anthropologist, a cultural one specifically, just learning about different people’s cultures.”

Students far from home may not expect their advisor to ask about their background, but for Liew, it’s where every good appointment begins.

Recognized by Those Who Know His Work Best

Staff of the Year is voted on by colleagues, which makes the honor land differently for someone who admits he shies away from the spotlight.

“It’s definitely weird. I’m somebody who doesn’t like birthdays for myself, so I’m really not good with that kind of attention,” Liew said. “But it’s really nice to see that. At least I feel like I’ve made a difference in my coworkers’ lives.”

Around the office, he’s known for jumping into conversations and engaging with everyone, so his reaction might come as a surprise. Liew says there’s another side to him most coworkers never see.

“I’m actually pretty introverted. Since I like gaming, I can spend all day at home in my PJs on my computer,” he said. “At work, I’m usually pretty outgoing, pretty talkative. But when I’m at home, I love just being to myself. I would categorize myself as more of an introvert, and I think that’s something people probably wouldn’t expect.”

He traces the award back to a habit of building relationships well beyond his own office. Answering a student’s question often depends on information that lives in another department, so he’s made a point of knowing people across campus.

“My philosophy here at Westcliff is, when I work with other people, I try my best to not limit it to my department. It doesn’t make sense to me if the only people I talk to are the other advisors,” he said. “I need to work with student accounts. I need to work with financial aid. I need to work with our registrar department. I think I scratch a lot of backs in that way, and I think winning the Staff of the Year award is probably the product of that.”

You Don’t Grow Solo

Westcliff is Liew’s first professional workplace, and the people have left an impression.

“The people here at Westcliff, they know how to have fun for sure, and they know how to joke around. They’re very personable,” he said. “But if they need to get something done, they’ll get something done. I think that’s really cool for me to experience.”

When asked what he’d tell anyone considering a career here, he offered the same advice that shaped his own rise.

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions. I think a lot of people stop themselves from growing because they’re afraid to speak up,” he said. “Even if what you’re talking about is not necessarily the best idea, at least it shows other people that you’re willing to put in the effort to try and learn. That’s how I grew. I always ask questions. I always push myself to do something different.”

Feedback, in his view, is part of the process rather than something to avoid.

“If people give me feedback, I don’t shy away from it. I take it in and we learn together,” he said. “Ultimately, here at Westcliff, I feel like you don’t grow solo. As you grow, other people grow with you. “

It’s a belief he carries into every appointment, especially when a student sits down with a question nobody back home can answer.