2020 intake “phygital” style, new Le Havre campus and new structure at EM Normandie
September 17 2020
Playing a key role in the learning experience, prevention, safety and innovation set the tone for the new academic year at EM Normandie where students began their courses “phygital” style on Monday 14 September. Recently built on its new Le Havre campus, its “flagship” on the Le Havre campus in Normandy, the school is also revealing a new performance-based structure as it continues to go from strength to strength.
According to Elian Pilvin, Dean of EM Normandie, “It is a great pleasure to have our community back and see our campuses come alive again...or, in the case of Le Havre, come to life! This new academic year is a real challenge! We are taking all the necessary action to keep our students safe and offer them a rich and educational learning experience that quenches their thirst for knowledge and supports them in their search for meaning. Our community spirit and digital teaching expertise play a key role in allowing us to adapt to these new methods of working and use them to our full advantage!”
Welcoming and integrating students: a priority at the start of the new academic year
Since the beginning of September, the school has organised face-to-face events- official welcome day for new students, Welcome Week and International Days- to help them settle in, adapting its processes to the restrictions in place due to Covid-19. International students unable to make it in time for the start of the academic year have until15 October to join campuses. Prior to this date, they may access courses remotely, or, alternatively, for certain programmes, defer their start date to January 2021. This year, EM Normandie has more than 5,000 students and professionals registered on courses across its 5 campuses.
More services, flexibility and learning arrangements with Flex Rooms
During the summer, the school installed equipment in 110 classrooms across its 5 campuses to enable students to take the same class at the same time, face-to-face or remotely, in “Simultaneous Delivery” mode, with different teaching approaches (QCM, presentations, group work, etc.) facilitated by the professor present in the classroom. Flex Rooms can be adapted to accommodate students 100% face-to-face or 100% remotely depending on how the Covid-19 situation progresses. They are also an excellent way of focusing on active and experiential practices (flipped learning, serious games etc.) that boost knowledge acquisition and develop skills such as autonomy, agility and creativity. The school has invested € 800,000 in this technology.
Enhanced safety measures on campus
EM Normandie is reinforcing its Business Recovery Plan: everybody must wear a face mask in enclosed spaces and outside, a COVID-19 point of contact has been appointed for the group, assisted by the Campus Director on each site, as well as a logistics coordination and HR unit, information is available on where to access free screening tests nearby, and on what to do if you come into contact with somebody who has tested positive. Self-service hand sanitiser, one-way systems, safety instructions displayed in different languages, classrooms and communal living areas set up accordingly and disinfected daily complete these measures.
Performance and internal mobility central to the restructuring
The structure of EM Normandie is reviewed in depth to optimise performance and ensure that teams are aligned in the face of future strategic challenges. The school has therefore set up a directorate of digital transformation led by Stéphanie de Bazelaire, Chief Digital Officer, member of the Executive Committee, graduate of the school, founder of S2F Network (designer of smart solutions) and Chair of Association LH French Tech, which is supporting the organisation’s “Data Centrix” transformation project. She is also creating a strategic management and performance directorate to assist the general management in rolling out the strategic plan and implementing organisational performance indicators, for which Solène Heurtebis, member of the Executive Committee, shall be responsible.
Led by Antoine Véniard since January 2020, the directorate for programmes and teaching innovation, has been strengthened with the successive appointments of Lotfi Karoui, Programme Director of the Master’s in Management (Grande Ecole Programme), Arnaud Delannoy, Undergraduate Programmes Director, and the arrival of Nabil Ghantous, Post-Graduate Programmes Director. Olivier Lamirault, Ed Tech Director, joins the team to develop digital teaching, a true spearhead of the Business School.
Carine Guibbani has become Head of Admissions and Competitive exams whilst Christine Ciffroy shall manage the new directorate for quality of life at work. Director of the new Le Havre campus, previously Solène Heurtebis, will be Isabelle Dalle who shall remain responsible for media relations. Director of the Dublin campus will be Caroline Chauviré, previously Communications Director at Oracle. Both are graduates of the school.
All communications activities of the new structure shall now be managed by one directorate led by Mathilde Brossier, Director of Branding and the EM Normandie Experience.
With regard to the faculties, 18 new lecturers and researchers have joined the school since January 2020. With 95 permanent professors currently employed, the school is set to top the 100 mark in 2021.
The new Le Havre campus: the perfect setting for learning and sharing, a bold architectural choice
An exciting new feature of this new academic year is the opening of the Le Havre campus, at the heart of the Le Havre Normandy campus and shared with the Cité Numérique (Digital City), third space and innovation platform for the digital transition of the Le Havre ecosystem.
The section dedicated to EM Normandie is over 14 000 m² with a recognised architectural bias and a futurist and convivial style.
A symbol of the complete digital transformation embraced by the school, the campus offers fully digital learning spaces, a 700 m² Learning Center that houses the multimedia library as well as work and relaxation areas and a Social Room (the Hackarium). An exhibition space for student associations of over 500 m² (the EM Square), two gymnasiums, a cafeteria and two outside terraces are just some examples of how the school is providing students with communal areas and places to meet.
Le Havre campus
Isabelle
Dalle
Director of Le Havre Campus & Director of Media Relations
