Leadership 2009

ACO Job Descriptions

Alina Choo

Chair, The American Colleges Overseas -
Assistant Director of Admission, Suffolk University Madrid Campus

Originally from the U.S., Alina Choo has lived in Madrid, Spain for nine years. First working for EUSA, which organizes internships for study abroad students, and later building on her experience of working in American educational programs in Spain, she has led recruitment at Suffolk University Madrid for 4 years. Combining her knowledge of the Spanish market and fluency in Spanish, Alina co-led the first ACO Spain tour in 2006. Due to that tour’s success, it has since become an annual event for member institutions to participate in promoting ACO initiatives in Spain. At the November 2006 ECIS Conference, Alina accepted the ACO Vice Chair position nomination and looks forward further promoting ACO’s endeavors in the international higher education recruitment market.

Reya Hildebrand

Vice Chair, The American Colleges Overseas –
Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management, Webster University Vienna

With a background in marketing, media production and NGO management, Reya has worked in international and domestic (U.S.) admissions and recruitment for over nine years. Beginning in Art School admissions at her Alma Mater, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University, she then went on working in a Liberal Arts university setting with the UMUC. She has been the Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management at Webster University Vienna since 2006. A native of Finland, Reya has lived and worked in the U.S., Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium as well as Austria. She has had an active role in the ACO, leading and organizing tours and fairs in Central and Eastern Europe. She accepted the ACO Vice Chair position nomination at the CIS Forum in Monaco 2008.

Carolyn Barr

Secretary, The American Colleges Overseas -
Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Webster University in Leiden

After 7 years of sales experience in Canada, Carolyn has made the Netherlands her home for the past four years. For three of those years Carolyn has enjoyed working in the university recruitment field. Initially she worked as an Admissions Advisor with online master students for The University of Liverpool, then progressed to training and managing teams of advisors. She was among the top 5 advisors of 2005-2007, and was regarded as a key manager/trainer in the Admission Department during 2007-2008. Most recently she is working with undergraduate students for Webster University in Leiden as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions. She joined the Webster team this past summer and plans to help lead the Leiden campus to even more success in the future. Aside from being passionate about assisting her students, Carolyn also is active in the expatriate community in the Netherlands and is currently enjoying traveling to meet prospective students world-wide.

2006-2008 Leadership

Mark S. Kopenski

Chairman
Kopenski has spent the last nineteen years in the field of enrollment management at four private American institutions. Mr. Kopenski served Carthage College in Wisconsin as the Director of Admissions, was the Director of Enrollment Retention Services at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and was the Vice President for Enrollment Management at Rockhuirst University in Kansas City before moving to London, England to manage enrollment at Richmond, The American International University in London. Among Kopenski’s many career highlights, he was selected as Junior Achievement “Man of the Year” in 2001.

Alina Choo

Vice Chairman

Ashley Teal

Secretary

2004-2006 Leadership

Jon Ikram

Chairman
Can Jon Ikram has been involved with international education all his life. Inaugural Director of Admission at Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, responsible for admissions, global recruitment and outreach. He has worked at and advised several prestigious international institutions and foundations, as well as serving ACO Chairman from 2004 until 2006. He has a M.A. (1997) from the University of Munich, Germany, in History and Culture of the Near East, Turkish Studies, Comparative Religion and Philosophy.

Mark S. Kopenski

Vice Chairman

Jessica Black

Secretary