Partnering with alumni to develop education

Vivian Bik is the new face in the management team of the Academy for Hotel & Facility. At the time of the interview, she has been walking around in the beautiful convent on the BUas campus for two months.

‘The first seven years of my career, I spent in notary offices. I started as a notarial lawyer and junior civil-law notary, mainly in commercial real estate. Later on, I made the switch to Fontys (UAS). As a company lawyer I was involved in all the legal work related to the construction of the new building for the Sport Hogeschool in Eindhoven, as well as the relocation of the old sites in Tilburg and Sittard to the new location in Eindhoven. As a lawyer, I have been looking at education from the perspective of policy making for a very long time, and – along the way – I became increasingly curious about the educational perspective. I even worked as a teacher for a short time – alongside my legal work,’ Vivian laughs, ‘that was in my time at the Juridische Hogeschool. Standing in front of a class is definitely not my cup of tea, I soon discovered, but I really do want to apply the knowledge I have as a policy officer in teaching practices.’

You were a company lawyer and became educational manager at the Sport Hogeschool? How come?

‘I was surprised about it myself, because it was way out of my comfort zone, me in the gym!’ (laughs) ‘It was an interim job at Fontys, which I was awarded, and after six months, it became more permanent. It was my very first managerial job, and it was there that they taught me how to lead a team. How do you get a group moving? After all, that’s what sport is, and it’s actually no different with leadership. Still, at that Sport Hogeschool, I pretty much did everything wrong that you can do wrong as a manager. I didn’t necessarily get people moving. I really fell flat on my face there, but my team was always there to pick me up and take new steps together.’

Failing forward, in other words. Didn’t it make you doubt whether this whole thing suited you, leading a team? 

‘Funnily enough, I discovered that it actually suits me better. It made me a nicer person, less harsh. To be honest, in the legal context I didn’t like myself that much anymore. After more than two years at the Sport Hogeschool, I switched to Bedrijfskunde (business studies) as a new educational manager was needed there. That suited me even better because my knowledge and skills fit perfectly in the context of this study programme. Among other things, I worked there on a new national educational profile and curriculum redesign. At the moment we’re working on such a new profile for the International Facility Management programme, so I’m happy to share my previous experiences with my new team at BUas.’

We’ll talk about that in a minute, but after your journey at Fontys, you did something completely different first. 

‘I did! I was college director of the Norbertus Gertrudis Lyceum in Roosendaal for five years. I was asked for this job, that’s something I’m still very proud of. It’s good to have this experience in secondary education, I think, but quite honestly, I did miss the innovative power of higher education. The subject profile for havo-vwo pupils is still quite strict. The biggest change in recent years has been inquiry-based learning, to better prepare students for further studies.’

You were missing something, but that time in secondary education also brought you something, didn’t it?

‘Absolutely true! I had the privilege to work together with the facility manager on plans for a new school building, which has meanwhile been completed. I had an experienced Facility Manager beside me who prepared all my decisions. So the link with the facility world was already there.’

That’s a smooth segue to BUas.

‘It immediately felt familiar again, the world of higher education. I know it well, which feels good. New to me is the international outlook of BUas, I have to get used to speaking English again, and I need to learn more about the specific terminology of the facilities industry. I definitely have a great team that is the expert in International Facility Management, so content-wise I can rely on my team. For them, I am first and foremost the face to the outside world.’

And the outside world is where our alumni are. How can they help?

‘Alumni are always valuable to us, they have so much practical experience in the field. They are more than welcome on our campus in Breda to deliver guest lectures, for instance, but good work placement assignments are also very welcome. It is so important that our students experience practical application. That’s what we always try to embed in our curriculum, as firmly as possible.’ 

And now you’re working with your team on a curriculum redesign, what exactly is needed?

‘That’s what we would like to explore together, with alumni and the professional field. The upcoming months will indeed be marked by the innovation of our education, and an accreditation round is coming up for International Facility Management. Alumni are very well equipped to assist us in evaluating the educational changes we have in mind. Are these changes truly relevant in the professional field nowadays? Or is something else needed? We are eager to shape future-proof education together.’   

And what might that help from alumni in curriculum development look like in concrete terms?

‘Alumni can sit on our industry committee, for example. They meet twice a year for a few hours to exchange views. What are the key developments in the field? How can we integrate community-based working within real estate, and how can we address all this in education? Additionally, how can we make crossovers between our Hotel Management and Facility Management programmes, where can we strengthen each other? Because you always need other people to achieve success.’

Would you like to share your thoughts on the redesign of the Hotel and Facility curricula of BUas? Please feel free to contact Vivian Bik (International Facility Management) or Simen Kooi (Hotel Management).