Meet MSM's staff members: Introducing Shiwen Tilmans-Ma

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 Shiwen Tilmans-Ma

Let me introduce myself…
My name is Shiwen Ma and I am working as Quality Enhancement Officer at MSM. I hold a Bachelor Business Administration (BA) in Hotel Management of Business School Notenboom in Maastricht (NL).

Before joining MSM I started my career as Sales & Recruitment Manager and Alumni coordinator at HRC International in Maastricht. In this position my main tasks included full life-cycle recruitment, training and coaching of candidates, account management for the school portfolio, development of the executive search chapter, marketing activities and much more.

My grandfather and parents are a true inspiration for me; you can do anything you set your mind to!
I’m also proud to share that my family owned and managed a restaurant in the Netherlands for thirty three years (until 2017). My grandfather emigrated from Singapore and started a restaurant from scratch, without speaking a single word of Dutch. Hard work, determination and dedication were his keys to success. My grandfather and parents are a true inspiration for me; you can do anything you set your mind to! Coming from an entrepreneurial family and literally growing up and working in the restaurant, has given me invaluable experiences and skills for both my professional and personal life.

You can rest assured that MSM delivers quality education, but also strives for constant improvement
Working as Quality Enhancement Officer at MSM and thus be able to contribute to quality education, together with the entire MSM family, is very rewarding and fulfilling. Nowadays, quality control and continuous improvement is the norm and standard so it is our aim and responsibility to safeguard, maintain and continuously improve the standards of our degree and non-degree programs. By having five different accreditations, you can rest assured that MSM delivers quality education but also strives for constant improvement.

Furthermore the options for business schools to choose from are tremendous. It therefore makes it easier for prospective students to distinguish quality education.
All activities in the department can be seen as “external quality checks” in the different fields of the complete student life-cycle; from admissions to graduation and everything in between.

Besides my role as Quality Enhancement Officer, I joined the MSM works council in 2017. This has been a great learning curve for me, as it is the first time for me to be part of a works council. With my fellow works council colleagues we aim to represent all staff in the best possible way and continuously strengthen the MSM community.

I really enjoy being surrounded by and learning from all the different cultures, languages, habits, food
Keeping my background in mind, working in an international environment feels natural to me. I have been working in international environments for my entire professional career and I feel very lucky and grateful for this. I really enjoy being surrounded by and learning from all the different cultures, languages, habits, food, etc.

MSM is truly international! Which is also reflected in our own Quality Enhancement and Accreditations team which consists of five people who all have different backgrounds: Colombian, Italian, German, Dutch and myself.How unique is that? Not to speak about all the students, professors, and all other colleagues at MSM who come from all around the globe. And finally, don’t forget about all our educational partners worldwide! Peru, Iran, Mongolia, Kuwait, Egypt, China, USA, just to name a few. How international can you get?

In my spare time you can often find me….
The biggest consumer of my spare time at the moment? My 8,5 months old son J! Besides our son, my husband and I love to dine at fine-dining restaurants. Especially discovering new restaurants, to (hopefully) get the “wow-factor” and wander about the art of food. This has been rare lately, so luckily I also love to cook, bake and try-out new recipes in my own kitchen.

Also, my latest “hobby” is organizing my home according to the Marie Kondo method. Working structured and organized with an eye for detail is something I enjoy to do and put forward in my work.