“My name is Lieve Van Der Schueren, and I am a lecturer at the Vives University of Applied Sciences, Department of Commercial Sciences, Business Management and Informatics, in Kortrijk, Belgium.
In September 2017, I got the opportunity to give a guest course at the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in Surabaya (ITS) at the Department of Business Management. The title of this course was ‘A practical approach to international trade, the case of Indonesia and Belgium/Europe’. The lectures and workshops of this course aimed at transferring theoretical knowledge on incoterms, getting acquainted with the documents used in international trade, and applying this knowledge on small and larger cases. The course went very well and ITS students swiftly adopted this complex matter. I was struck by their enthusiasm, their eagerness to learn and the way they collaborate to overcome the communication issues that go together with such international exchanges.
During the same stay I also worked with ITS students on developing the business plan for the course New Venture Creation. Just like in Vives in Belgium, ITS students have to set up and run a small firm during their education. I was invited to coach the brainstorming sessions wherein they searched for market opportunities and fitting products and services.
I also met with Mrs Maria, Mr Imam, Mr Berto, Mr Saiful and other collegues as we wanted to introduce our schools to each other and study both curriculums in detail. These meetings were the starting point for a further collaboration between our schools, and since September 2017 several exchanges took place already. Celine, student from Vives, did a two months internship at Eternit Gresik in tandem with Andri, a student from ITS. Mr Imam and Mr Nugroho from ITS gave guest lectures at the International Staff Week of Autumn 2018 in Vives. In April 2019 Johan Theuninck from Vives will be lecturing at ITS. And this is clearly just the beginning of the collaboration.
The exchange with ITS Surabaya, that started with my first visit in 2017, has become very valuable to me and to my colleagues at Vives, from a cultural as well as from a professional perspective. I remember how upon my first arrival at the airport of Surabaya, on a late Saturday evening and totally exhausted from a delayed flight, I was welcomed by Mr Wahyu from ITS International Office and Petri, a student volunteer. They offered me a hot salted drink and kindly accompanied me to my hotel. And this hospitality was going to last my entire stay. I remember students Rizqi and Kezia as the most enthusiastic guides you can imagine when proudly showing me their home-city Surabaya. I cherish the memories of my stay at ITS and I thank Mr Ketut Buda Artana, vice rector, Mrs Maria Anityasari, head of international office, Mr Imam Baihaqi, head of the department of Business Management and all lecturers, staff and students of the department for their support. As I promised you then, I shared this nice experience with my colleagues at Vives, and they look forward to settle and widen the exchange of students and staff between our schools.
I wish our collaboration may grow the oncoming years, to the benefit of our students and their future”.
