PRESS RELEASE– 31.07.2020
The recruitment phase for the School’s future students is still underway but the number of candidates already in the system is encouraging. While the last stages of the admissions process are being completed, the School is preparing for a variable start to the academic year depending on the health situation.
“Against the backdrop of a constantly changing situation where health advice is concerned, we are adopting an agile and flexible approach to get the academic year started for our students under the best possible conditions” explains KEDGE’S General Manager, Alexandre de Navailles.
Organising a flexible start to the academic year
Since their reopening to staff in June, the school campuses have adapted to the changing requirements of the health protocol decreed by its supervisory ministries, Ministry of Higher Education and Research, Ministry of Labour, Employment and Integration.
- each campus is disinfected on a regular basis; safety distances apply in classrooms and all living areas;
- directions of circulation in common areas are imposed; masks are compulsory within each campus;
- hydroalcoholic gel dispensers are made available everywhere on our campuses;
- a repetitive poster reminding people to respect the barrier gestures is deployed;
- awareness and communication actions will be proposed from the start of the new school year.
Compliance with health requirements (social distancing rules, improved flow management, the use of masks, etc.) makes it impossible to welcome all students on campus at the same time. Some of the classes will therefore need to be virtual. To enable students to all take part in the teaching and activities needed to pass the year and to provide all the required services with a high level of quality, the School has introduced a number of important measures:
- major investments to equip the different rooms with video filming equipment,
- new resources and training in running virtual classes for teachers and lecturers.
In addition to the hybridization of teaching, KEDGE plans to significantly develop hybridization of other activities and services: associative activities, work in small groups, tutoring, access to the resources of the library, employability, and reinforced support.
Essentially, the school wishes to give priority to a maximum amount of face-to-face teaching for all new students joining KEDGE at the beginning of the academic year to enable them to discover their campus and facilitate their integration. For the other students, the School will mix face-to-face time and synchronous distanced time in virtual classes with their professors.
The planning is still being finalised but will make it possible to transition over to a 100% attendance-based teaching model if social distancing requirements are relaxed or, on the contrary, to a 100% virtual model if additional health measures are imposed.
Post-baccalaureate and Grande Ecole programmes (GEP):
The start dates have been adapted to the new dates for each programme’s admission exams. Accordingly, the post-baccalaureate programmes (KEDGE Bachelor, International BBA, EBP International) will be welcoming their new students on 31 August. The first-year students for the Business Engineers’ programme will be returning on 21 and 22 September 2020.
Finally, the decision has been taken to leave a little more time for the post-preparatory applicants, to enable them to attend the campus with maximum peace of mind. They will start back on 28 September.
The first days of teaching will take place a week after the official term start date for first-year students and the same day for students who are not in their first year.
Postgraduate Programmes (MS, MSc):
The start dates for the different specialised programmes have been staggered between late September and January. Classes will begin the day after the start date to get semester 1 started as soon as possible. The system for starting the academic year is also hybrid, with an innovative reception system comprised of digital solutions specially developed or optimised for the occasion. Its objective is to create a link and interactive contact between the new arrivals and the school in order that during their first semester the students can develop a genuine sense of belonging in relation to their programmes. The planned solution will enable students to discover the campus, the towns and the school’s values.
The initial figures are encouraging
Most of the School’s programmes have attracted the expected number of applicants. Some training programmes, such as the Grande Ecole Programme (GEP) have more enrolled students than by the same date last year for the applicants coming to us from parallel admission exams (AST1 and AST2). The number of applications received for the specialised programmes also bears witness to the school’s attractiveness for postgraduate students. KEDGE has received 17% more applications than last year. This percentage seems to indicate that all of the places on these programmes will be filled, even if the School expects changes in the health restrictions and their impact on the final number of students joining us in September. International students will follow a special procedure. They are just as keen to join KEDGE, although some uncertainty still remains concerning the reopening of borders. Concerning the programmes for which the number of available places has not yet been filled, the additional procedure launched by Parcoursup will allow more applicants to apply up to 15 September.
