Meet Anne Pats, the new Director of Programs and Studies

Initially, she taught economics to bachelor students and international students enrolled in the master’s program and a few months later, took charge of community life, an exciting adventure that has nurtured her taste for support in the broadest sense of the term.

In 2017, she played an active role in the creation of the School’s Passion Sport program, which she continued to develop until 2022. For 5 years, she worked tirelessly with several local sports clubs to unite all the stakeholders around shared values and provide a concrete response to the training needs of top-level sportsmen and women. These initiatives also help to promote women’s sport.

Respect, open-mindedness, a taste for challenge and agility have guided her many experiences within the school and have led her to be appointed Director of Programs and Studies commencing with the 2023 academic year. We asked her a few questions to find out a little more about her pedagogical convictions and her vision of studying at a business school.

WHAT ARE YOUR PEDAGOGICAL CONVICTIONS AND MOTIVATIONS AS THE NEW DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES AND STUDENTS?

Today, my teaching convictions revolve around two points: helping our students to be agile and giving them the keys they need to become true agents of change. To do this, we encourage them to learn how to increase their awareness of their skills and develop them via personal development methods.

In France, the learning culture, even if it is evolving, is very different from the one we see in some northern European countries or in the United States. French students still find it hard to take responsibility for their own learning; they need reassurance, perhaps because they were given too much guidance during their secondary school education.

I strongly believe that students need to realize that they are at a business school to develop a certain number of skills sought by the professional world. These skills can only be acquired if students are aware of them and if these skills make sense to them.

For example, for the first time this year, students on the Bachelor in International Management program can choose to spend an autumn term at one of 3 partner universities: EUM (Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani) in Barcelona, Nova BS in Portugal and Kotka in Finland.

IN YOUR OPINION, HOW DOES ESC CLERMONT BS HELP STUDENTS FIND THEIR WAY AND, MORE GENERALLY, GIVE MEANING TO THEIR CAREERS?

Finding your path… That’s what we want all our students to do. To build a professional and personal project, several ingredients need to be combined:

• Self-knowledge… This is built up throughout their time at the school through personal development modules, experience of associations, initial placements, etc.,
• Support and listening to all the school’s stakeholders.
• Meetings with professionals organized by the Corporate Relations team and the Career Lab unit,
• Conferences with inspirational personalities, especially our “Game Changers” conferences.
• A wide choice of specializations in Bachelor’s, Master’s, and a series of Master of Science programs.
• Immersive teaching methods that allow students to play an active role in their learning.
• Group projects and mission-based projects such as Welcome Week in the 1st year of the bachelor’s program.
• And finally, the Make Sense workshops, which help students to develop their career plans, year after year.

The most important thing in finding your path is to trust yourself and be open to all the opportunities on offer. You must be curious, attentive to others and agile.

CAN YOU THINK OF A FEW EXAMPLES OF PROJECTS OR MODULES THAT ENABLE STUDENTS TO BECOME ENLIGHTENED DECISION-MAKERS, CAPABLE OF MAKING AN IMPACT ON THEIR OWN SCALE AND IN THEIR OWN COMPANIES?

In its REVEAL 22-27 strategic plan, the school is committed to turning its students into enlightened future players ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s world. Our mission is to support them by helping them to get involved.

The climate fresco, the diversity fresco and the “OrbiMob’ Académie” project (an interdisciplinary academy for transition, applied to sustainable mobility) are real educational levers for supporting our students’ thinking and helping them to become players in tomorrow’s world!

The teams at ESC Clermont BS have created some great teaching experiences. One that springs to mind is the recent participation of our 3rd year Bachelor students (specializing in e-commerce management) in the SoliTudiant challenge, a national handi-solidarity competition benefiting the adapted/protected sector. We need to see more of these actions, as they give meaning to their learning and their lives as young adults.

Finally, in general, CSR plays an important role in a student’s academic career. For several years now, we have been concentrating our efforts on ensuring that these principles are reflected in all our modules: sustainable marketing, sustainable finance, responsible management, economics, and market news….

WHAT IMPORTANCE IS ATTACHED TO INTERNATIONAL STUDY IN THE PROGRAMMES?

Students who join the bachelor’s program after the baccalaureate and follow-on with a master’s degree, will have the opportunity to cumulate various international experiences of varying lengths of time throughout their studies. Students can even participate in some of our study abroad experiences without obtaining a minimum English-level requirement.

The richness of a business school is precisely that it can offer everyone the chance to discover new cultures and new ways of learning. Personally, I pay a great deal of attention to learning English. Students know this as soon as they arrive: if they don’t learn English, they’ll miss out on many opportunities.

My mission is to encourage them as much as possible to spend a semester or a year abroad, because beyond the unforgettable life experience, this international interlude will make all the difference when they find a job. In fact, this difference becomes a real asset! It highlights their ability to adapt and get out of their “comfort zones”, a quality that companies greatly appreciate! In an ever-changing professional world, companies are looking for agile candidates and new talent.

For example, for the first time this year, students on the Bachelor in International Management program can choose to spend an autumn semester in 3 partner universities: EUM (Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani) in Barcelona, Nova BS in Portugal and Kotka in Finland.