Karin Steijger, Head of Education & Quality, has worked at Tio University of Applied Sciences since 2003, so she knows the organisation well. During her work as an internationally operating event manager, she also started working as a lecturer at Tio. Slowly but surely, she expanded her list of tasks at Tio. “Tio offers so many opportunities for development. If you want, you can devote your skills and energy to an endless array of new challenges,” Steijger says.
The world of event management
She was trained in the field of management science, although she quickly discovered after graduating from the Erasmus University that this was not what she truly wanted. “I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs,” Karin Steijger explains. “Through various student jobs, I ended up in the world of event management.”
This turned out to be a fantastically diverse and interesting field. “Professionally, I learned how to be a worthy conversational partner for businesses, from Shell’s upper management to members of the cleaning crew. I also learned to manage other people, both employees and suppliers. I got a chance to look behind the scenes of many different types of organisations all over the world.
Transferring knowledge
In 2003, Steijger decided to transfer her practical knowledge and experience to students, so she started working as a lecturer on event management at Tio. “I love working in education,” Steijger says. “As my list of tasks at Tio expanded over time and I became, among other things, a final thesis supervisor, that feeling kept growing. I saw students change from shy teenagers to young professionals giving top-quality final presentations.”
Steijger once set herself the goal of doing something new at Tio every year. “So far, I have been able to keep that promise,” she says. “The atmosphere at Tio is great and there are plenty of opportunities for personal development. The remarkable thing about this job is that you maintain close contacts with your clients and that you immediately see the results of what you offer them.”
Education & Quality
This academic year, Steijger moved from one of Tio’s locations to its head office. A few months ago, she started leading the Education & Quality department. “The team of education experts ensures that our education is high quality, up to date and interesting,” she explains. “You want to give students something extra to ensure that they not only enjoy their studies but can also benefit from a great connection to their professional field and receive a solid theoretical and practical foundation.”
Because of her years of practical experience as a lecturer and a final thesis supervisor, the new member of the management team knows what does and does not work in real life. “I hope that I can put my experience at Tio and my practical attitude to good use at the head office. My main challenge is to maintain Tio’s position as one of the country’s best educational institutes. Being one of the best is great, but maintaining that level of quality requires our constant attention.”
Follow Karin on LinkedIn.