Cécile POYER
Grande Ecole apprenticeship advisor
In an increasingly competitive environment, the Programs Department supports the school’s national and international ambitions by renewing its course offering and by providing ever greater development opportunities to its students, an approach which is today positively reflected in the leading rankings!
Nicolas ARNAUD
Director of programs
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1000
students at our new Saint Ouen campus at the start of the 2024-25 academic year (compared to 450 in 2023-24).
How would you assess 2023?
We have just enjoyed an excellent year embodied by a very good rankings campaign, which saw us progress in many national and international rankings. In particular, we have consolidated our position as the 6th best business school in France at post intensive foundation course level, according to the Financial Times. These excellent results reflect a cross-functional effort begun several years ago and that is now bearing fruit today. It is the embodiment of more in-depth analysis year upon year and of strong relevant choices concerning the development of our programs, of the selection of our international partners and of the quality of our graduates. 2023 also witnessed major developments in our program portfolio. I would like to take this opportunity to salute and thank our teams for their hard work, which has enabled us to support Audencia’s strong strategy, strengthening our offering for high school leavers and stepping up the pace of our programs delivered entirely in English (a jump from 6 to 25 programs over a 4-year period, from 2019 to 2023). This strategy is tailored to the challenges of competitiveness and supported by cross-functional expertise in the Programs, LQD, Academic and Research, Marketing & Communication, Commercial and CTSB departments in particular. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the remarkable work of the International Affairs Department’s teams on the prestigious international partnerships concluded this year, enabling our students to benefit from a wealth of opportunities: at Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, etc. A great deal of work has also gone into building up a network of locations across Brazil (in different zones), enabling all students on our programs to benefit from themed immersion in Brazil (agribusiness, ecology, social entrepreneurship, culture, etc.) in conjunction with high-quality partners.
What are the CSR commitments that guide your actions?
In social terms, we are continuing to strengthen – as we have been doing since 2020, with the creation of the Student Life hub – our student support for various dimensions to serve empowerment, inclusion and well-being. We are also working closely with the CSR delegation to reduce our carbon emissions by developing our teaching models and practices.
What are your objectives for 2024?
A huge challenge awaits us in 2024, with the finalization of the reform of our Grande Ecole and international master programs, with the opening of MSc programs in Nantes and Paris. As a reminder, this transformation aims to strengthen our offering on the international market and make it a growth driver for the school. In a changing market, the other major objective for this year will be to strengthen our appeal through promoting our brand in conjunction with the Marketing & Communication Department as well as our increasingly high position in the rankings. 2024 must also enable us to achieve our objectives in Paris in terms of students and program lines. Finally, the coming year will be marked by an important milestone: the necessary renewal of our international accreditations.
What is the one word that defines the strategic direction of your actions between now and the end of the ECOS 2025 strategic plan?
Ambition! I hope that Audencia will give itself the means to achieve its ambitions by maintaining the necessary efforts to aim for excellence, as it always has done, and to surpass its competitors, especially at national level. This strategy will be based on teamwork and goodwill, of course.
We have gone from 167 Grande Ecole apprentices to over 500 in just 3 years
“The opening of Audencia’s apprentice training center in 2021 gave a real boost to the apprenticeship program. We have gone from a first Grande Ecole year group of 167 apprentices to more than 500 for all year groups. For the start of the next academic year, the aim is to reach more than 600. In addition to that, 5 new apprenticeship Master of Science courses have been launched in Paris for the Master 2 year groups, with between 30 and 40 apprentices per MSc, totaling almost 200 further apprentices. There is, therefore, particularly strong momentum. To support this development, the team has expanded from a single Grande Ecole apprenticeship advisor on the launch of the apprentice training center to four advisors for the same scope at present. In more concrete terms, in the context of our missions, our aim is to support all the stakeholders involved in apprenticeships. Consequently, we inform different audiences about what apprenticeships are exactly, and we support students in their searches for apprenticeships, in conjunction with careers consultants, sometimes at very short notice. This takes the form of direct exchanges as well as occasions such as forums and afterwork events. At the same time, we closely monitor the financing of the training courses in conjunction with businesses, and we also check that the assignments provided for in the contracts are in line with the specialization being pursued. We work closely with the apprentice training center teams regarding contractualization (ADV department, agreements, etc.). Finally, we support all our apprentices and their apprenticeship supervisors throughout their training period. We make sure that their contract runs smoothly and we respond to their questions and needs. Within the framework of our missions on the Grande Ecole program, we work in liaison with all the apprenticeship advisors on all the programs (Bachelor in Management, SciencesCom, Specialized Masters) to harmonize our processes and share the good practices implemented. These are exciting and rewarding assignments that allow us to support our students’ futures.”
