Reflets Magazine #152 | Three Student Offices on One Campus

In Reflets Mag #152, Timothée Siaud (M23), President of the Hermès student office for specialised Masters, Nora Mathis (E25), President of the Riviera student office for the Grande École and Émilien Bonnefous (BBA 22), President of the Raidynastik student office for the BBA, talk about their work coordinating student life on the Cergy campus.  Here is a free online translation of an excerpt of the article… subscribe to get the next issues (in French) 

Reflets Magazine: What events do you organise during your term of office?

Nora Mathis: In addition to the evening events, conferences and forums that are a regular part of life at the school, our term of office is punctuated by three major events: the Integration Weekend (WEI) in September, attended by over 800 people; the Nuit de l’ESSEC on the Cergy campus in January, attended by over 5,000 people, making it the biggest student electro night in France, and the Gala, held this year on 3 May at Pavillon d'Armenonville, which is open to students, graduates and members of ESSEC's administrative and teaching teams.

Émilien Bonnefous: We organise club nights, trips, film screenings, meals, barbecues and twice-weekly after-work events in Paris to allow third- and fourth-year students on work-study programmes or internships to get together and meet first- and second-year students.

Timothée Siaud: We organise evening events once every two months or so at ESSEC or in Paris, about ten after-work events over summer, a surf weekend and an integration weekend.

RM: What other things do you do?

N. Mathis: We represent students in the school's management bodies and coordinate all the community activities on the Cergy campus, including the Inter-Associative Week.

É. Bonnefous: We provide support and share best practices with students when choosing course options and inter-campus and inter-university exchanges, as well as in their search for work placements: questions and answers on Zoom, information documents, administrative support, weekly support classes, etc

RM: Do you have any specific initiatives aimed at international students?

N. Mathis: We organise Welcome Week in partnership with the association ESSEC MELT, which features conferences, teambuilding activities on campus, tours of Paris and a special evening event. We also offer an interactive guide with practical advice and recommendations and coordinate the “Buddy System” scheme.

É. Bonnefous: We also work on events with MELT and the “Buddy System”, which involves pairing up each new arrival with a student who is already here, offering activities and acting as a point of contact for accommodation requests and administrative needs. We've also set up a WhatsApp group where students can raise questions and ask for help.

RM: How do you take account of the challenges of the ecological and social transition in your work?

N. Mathis: As far as the environment is concerned, we have a CSR manager responsible for drawing up a carbon footprint for each of our events, who is in regular contact with ESSEC's Together team to find ways of reducing our impact: carbon offsetting when buying tickets for our parties, recycling and reusing equipment from one event to the next, taking care in the choice of campsite for the WEI or during the BDE campaign, etc. We also publish the Green Guide for Associations to help associations go down the same path. On the social side, we keep our prices as low as possible: for example, we offer a 50% discount to level-7 scholarship holders for the WEI, thanks to the CVEC subsidy.

É. Bonnefous: We’ve also set up a dedicated unit, composed of three people. Our actions include reducing the number of goodies, using reusable eco-boxes made from eco-responsible materials, using electric buses for transport, etc.

T. Siaud: We’re also striving to reduce the number of goodies as much as possible. We’ve put an end to several partnerships that we did not consider eco-friendly and we use car-pooling as much as possible.

RM: What role do you play in preventing sexual and gender-based violence on campus?

N. Mathis: We work with ESSEC's “Respect for Others” unit, in particular by organising dedicated training sessions for students. All the members of the BDE have themselves been trained to help victims. For each evening event, we also have “Party Angels” from the He For She association and provide “safe cups”.

É. Bonnefous: If there are any problems, we liaise with the school administration. We also have a “watchlist” and “blacklist” system: we monitor people who have already been reported and if the issue persists, we ban them from our events.

T. Siaud: This year, for the first time, we’re organising a compulsory conference called "Balance ton stage” [Denounce your Internship], which is set to become a regular feature, because problems are not limited to evening events.

RM: What links do you have with ESSEC Alumni?

N. Mathis: Each year, we draw up a partnership agreement with ESSEC Alumni, which supports us for the Gala and helps us to mobilise the alumni network whenever we need it.

É. Bonnefous: Last year, ESSEC Alumni also helped organise an evening event on a barge with all the former student office members. Beyond the party aspect, this was an important event as it enabled intergenerational experience sharing.

T. Siaud: In addition to financial support, ESSEC Alumni gives us access to its events and reserves seats for us on its board of directors.

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

Translation of an excerpt of an article published in Reflets Magazine #152. Get the next issues (in French)