DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
Desi SCHMITT
“Supporting Audencia’s strong development objectives in the 4 corners of the globe!”
“After several months of tension at the international level due to the health context, the prospects for Audencia are good. In China and Brazil, among others, Audencia will continue to expand internationally through new campuses and partnerships for both Bachelor and Master programmes as well as Executive Education.”
The objective of
1300
Audencia students, on all programmes combined, in China in 2022 (as opposed to 930 at present)!
1/5
What is your assessment of 2021?
Despite the context and after a particularly complicated year in 2020 for our department, I would say that 2021 has seen the fulfilment of global involvement of all the departments at the international level. As a result, we have experienced a real increase in activity for our department, both for our activities in China and in France.
We have supported the launch of new programmes both at the undergradute and graduate levels as well as in Executive Education. In Shenzhen for example we launched the second cohort of the MSc Financial Technology programme which is fully accredited by the Chinese Ministry of Education and we also launched the first group of participants at the executive level in our Master in Innovation Management at SABS. In Shanghai we launched a DBA as well as an in-company programme in innovation management. 2021 also witnessed our first graduating class from our Bachelor delivered in Chengdu (SWUFE), with 60% of graduates continuing their studies in Master programmes. As far as our academic activities are concerned, there was a real expansion (even if they were not face-to-face but online courses), in particular with the summer and winter programmes, where 70% of the teaching faculty were from our partner institutions. We also took advantage of this year to increase the number of academic agreements based on skills hybridisation (with the New York Film Academy, Columbia University, Florence, etc.), which also led to new double degrees. Finally, we also contributed to the international dimension of our programmes (through, for example, the Global Mobility Track in the Grande Ecole programme).
2/5
What different approaches have you set up for maintaining Audencia excellence, despite the pandemic?
We were immediately able to react to the context by offering alternatives and genuine quality solutions. Despite the pandemic, we have hired new country representatives to maintain our strong international activities.
As a result, today, following the establishment of a permanent representative in China, we also have permanent representatives in Lebanon and Colombia to support our development on the ground, in markets with potential. In tandem, we have also succeeded in ensuring the academic quality and international experience of our programmes through a full online semester, which is proof of our ability to adapt, with the participation of international professors for the benefit of the students of our Grande Ecole programme but also of our international exchange students. We have also seen real solidarity at the international level between academic partners. They have helped us to overcome these difficulties, demonstrating the historical strength of our ties. Finally, we have been able to rely on the digital dimension of our educational offer without jeopardising our students’ curriculum.
3/5
What is your vision for 2022?
2022 promises to be a decisive year with many milestones in the international development of our School.
First and foremost, we will continue our development abroad by opening our Audencia Shanghai Research Centre, to support the research and teaching work of our professors in China. We are also going to open our Brazilian campus in Sao Paulo. 30 students are already registered to spend a semester in Brazil. This new site will allow us to expand in the innovative agri-business ecosystem in Brazil. A permanent representative is also in place to support our activities in the country. He will assist us in making our institution even more visible in this new territory. Following 2021 and the signing of the Erasmus+ Charter, 2022 will witness the implementation of the digital dimension desired by this flagship programme with the introduction of a fully digital procedure. This commitment will have a number of impacts on our activities. The forthcoming year will also be marked by the development of the Bachelors on the international stage. We will launch 3 new Chinese Education Ministry approved Bachelors on our Shenzhen campus, all of which will be resolutely multi-disciplinary, in keeping with our strategic plan. Finally, our department will aim to support the demanding objectives related to integration of international students in our programmes in France but also in our programmes abroad, on our international campuses.
4/5
What are your objectives between now and 2025, within the framework of the ECOS 2025 plan?
As with the ambitions of the whole school, developed within the framework of the ECOS 2025 strategic plan, those of our department are extremely high, starting with the objective of 3,000 Audencia students studying abroad.
To reach this objective, we will rely on our various international campuses and partners, both in Brazil and China, including our state-of-the-art campus in the heart of the Shanghai business district. As a result, we will be present in the four corners of the country. The strong development will involve all our programmes, from undergraduate through executive education, in particular in-company training programmes for large companies. Two Chinese companies, members of the world’s Top 500, have already signed an agreement with Audencia. To enable this development, the recruitment of other international representatives will be required, as well as the signing of new partnerships that take into account issues related to ecological and social transition. Our teams are already mobilised to contribute to this development.
5/5
What are your CSR commitments?
Our department is particularly committed to all CSR issues. In terms of our social commitment, all offshore and/or short programmes offer CSR courses.
Our summer programme includes several courses related to sustainability, to which visiting professors contribute. We also offer training with high quality partners in the US, Europe and elsewhere in these areas, and this offering will continue to grow. Many of our agreements promote inclusion. This is the case, for example, in South Africa, where our students are going to carry out a business creation support project for young people from the townships. From an environmental point of view, we offer solutions to validate international courses without having to increase travel with a high carbon impact. At the same time, we no longer sign paper agreements, nor do we send these documents by post – everything is digitised. We are also discontinuing the use of paper for the majority of our brochures (many of which we offer digitally), and we do not use any corporate gifts made of non-responsible materials.
© AUDENCIA 2022