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Meet MSMs staff members: introducing Ms. Hermina Kooyman

20-03-2018

At MSM we are proud of the more than 40 staff members who are committed and eager to fulfill our mission in offering management and entrepreneurship education, advice and research to individuals and organizations from all over the world. To become more acquainted with our staff members and to show you how it feels for them working at MSM we will each month highlight one of our staff members. This month the spotlight will be on Ms. Hermina Kooyman.

Let me introduce myself…
My name is Hermina Kooyman and as Deputy Director of Global Education Programs at MSM, my main focus lies in managing the non-academic side of things, namely enrollment, career services, alumni, student services and recruitment.

My first degree was a four-year Bachelor of Arts in Creative Therapy (Music Therapy), which I did at the HAN University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen (NL). A few years later, I did a second Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Diplomacy, while working full-time, via the University of South Africa. I am currently doing my Executive MBA at MSM, and if all goes well, I hope to defend my thesis in December this year.

My first introduction to the higher education sector..
I got my first real job, not because of my studies, but thanks to my international profile, and the fact that I am fluent in English, Dutch and French. I worked for 7 years as an International Sales Officer for the UK, Swiss and Luxembourg markets. It was a small family enterprise in Liege (Belgium), and so I learnt about all different sectors of the business.

I then joined the Antwerp Management School as Program Manager for the Full-time Masters team, for 2 years. It was the first time that I was exposed to a higher education institute from the inside. Managing 2 full-time master programs and the career services for these programs was a great way to gain insight into the higher education sector. In 2015, I joined MSM, starting off in recruitment and career services. Although this is still part of my work, additional responsibilities have been added on.

MSM takes working in and with other cultures to a whole new level..
I truly believe in MSM, in what it stands for! As a school that has gone through a deep reflection on how to hear and react to the needs of the market, the ongoing transformation towards this is both challenging and stimulating on a daily basis. With a new, young and motivated team, my main focus is taking MSM to the next level in terms of quality through efficiency, good service, clarity of information provided, and in recruiting top candidates.

I have always loved working in, and with, other cultures. Working at MSM takes this to a whole new level. With colleagues from South Africa, America, Romania, China, Peru, Colombia, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Ireland, England and the Netherlands (to name just a few), the experiences and viewpoints from all these different cultures provides a very enriching, and stimulating, melting pot of ideas and work ethics.

The return of investment of my EMBA program has been immediate…
My EMBA-gained knowledge has been extremely useful. The regular assignments helped me to reflect on the newly gained knowledge in class and provided me with the opportunity to analyse and comment on MSM’s strategy, propose a change management plan for one of our programs and review and learn from other recruitment markets. Last but not least, I learned how to reflect on my own leadership skills, and how to use it, also within my multicultural team, to achieve MSM’s vision. These skills and knowledge gained from the EMBA have been useful and practical, and the return on investment has been immediate.

My inspiration in life...
Very few other jobs provide the same satisfaction of knowing you are making a difference not only to your company, but also to our world, and our future! My inspiration, since I was 9 years old, has been Nelson Mandela. What he achieved for South Africa, and what he believed in, namely respect for all people, is something I find incredible. Nelson Manderla’s quote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”, has always been an inspiration for me. Knowing that I am now part of such a powerful “weapon”, is a dream come true!

In my spare time you can often find me…
Right now, my spare time is very limited due to the fact that most evenings are divided between family time and working on my EMBA study. However, I have many hobbies and passions, including wine-tasting, reading fantasy books, binge-watching TV series, playing music (I play cello and bass in a band), running (currently training for a 21km run), squash and swimming. My dream is to test my limits, by doing something incredible like an Ironman competition one day.

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