ACADEMIC DIRECTOR
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
Thibaut BARDON
“This year, we felt the genuine pleasure of meeting each other face-to-face again.”
“After a year marked by the completion of numerous structural projects, 2022 will enable further impactful projects already initiated to be established. The objective for 2025 is to strengthen the impact and excellence of our contributions!”
15
high-profile professors will join the faculty in 2022
1/5
What is your assessment of 2021?
It was a year that has seen a number of projects come to fruition. Among the flagship projects, there was obviously the Gaia Cases Bootcamp, the partnership with the Case Centre and the reform of the departments, which led to the definition of a new structure and form of governance but also the renewal of how the departments function on a day-to-day basis. The new departments have been operational since 1st January 2022.
In 2021, we have also initiated the reform in evaluating faculty members for more transparency, more balance and especially a stronger connection with the strategic plan. From the 2022 evaluation campaign onwards, this new system will be put in place. The last major project concerns training of faculty members, which will cover different aspects: teaching, managerial issues and societal contributions. This project has been carried out in close collaboration with the Learning & Quality Development Department which will allow us to be a forerunner once again with certification provided by an organisation of reference on the international scene: Advanced Higher Education. Finally, 2021 witnessed the launch of a new recruitment drive with 11 new professors with exclusively international, hybrid profiles and proven academic excellence, giving further proof of Audencia’s capacity to attract the best international profiles.
2/5
What different approaches have you set up for maintaining Audencia excellence, despite the pandemic?
We indeed had a turbulent year with, particularly in the first half of the year, complex health constraints to manage. However, we had the opportunity to keep some of the courses face-to-face.
To achieve this, the faculty members showed exemplary flexibility, professionalism and adaptability. We were able to capitalise on the technological maturity that the professors acquired in 2020, during the first lockdowns, and on the fact that the students were already aware of the need to follow 100% online and hybrid courses. These 2 factors enabled us to make this qualitative leap. But despite this, the second half of the year, with the easing of health constraints, was more than beneficial. We felt the genuine pleasure of meeting each other face-to-face again, even if some students, particularly international students, were forced to continue with remote learning.
3/5
What is your vision for 2022?
2022 will allow us to consolidate the impactful projects launched in 2021. This will take the form of implementing the evaluation system, the official launch of training for faculty members and the creation of centres of excellence that will complement the structure of the faculty.
We will thus be able to benefit from a matrix structure that will allow us to develop our capacity to embark on hybrid initiatives, in a multi-disciplinary approach. The objective is to strengthen our impact on the school’s various stakeholders, on companies and civil society, via the research chairs but also with other mechanisms benefiting from external funding, in particular in conjunction with the Research Department. Finally, we will continue our ambitious recruitment policy with the recruitment of 15 prestigious profiles.
4/5
What are your objectives between now and 2025, within the framework of the ECOS 2025 plan?
Our objective to be reached by 2025 is still the same: to strengthen our impact and the excellence of our contributions! This involves expanding the faculty to 200 members by 2025 and strengthening our expertise, particularly in hybrid approaches to key issues on which we wish to position ourselves.
The school also wants to be a player in the virtuous transformation of individuals, organisations and society – to do this, it must face up to cross-disciplinary challenges that can only be solved by bringing together different areas of expertise. This is why we want to develop the hybrid nature of the faculty so that this expertise can build bridges between different disciplines. The other vector is also the reinforcement of internationalisation, with the focus on reinforced impact, to reach out to an even larger perimeter and accompany our development in China and in Brazil, but more globally in all the regions of the world in which we wish to be present. Finally, our objective is also to drive and develop the departments and the centres of excellence, particularly by increasing the strength of our ecosystem and related funding.
5/5
What are your CSR commitments?
Since I took on my position, I have made a special effort to provide better support to the temporary faculty members in their missions, as full members of the Audencia community.
In concrete terms, this is why we have organised the first seminar of the start to the academic year for this audience. The aim is to thank them for their contribution, to share information on the school’s news as well as the development of its programmes, and to answer any questions they might have. We have also set up the Come In application in cooperation with the Human Resources Department. This system allows them to apply, in a more fluid and direct way, for interventions within the school. We have also worked to expand the services available to them, including a dedicated space for them when they come to the campus. At the same time, the entire approach to teacher training is also part of this CSR approach. We also ensure that we support good career management and skills development to be ever more inclusive, at all levels. Finally, globally, we are always very vigilant about the diversity of our faculty and the balance between men and women in particular.
© AUDENCIA 2022