Discovery, joining the family and taking on a challenge! The objectives of this year’s Welcome Seminar, inviting 330 first-year CESEM students to explore notions of responsibility and sustainable development.

The 330 first-year students arrived enrolled on the CESEM programme on the Reims Campus at the end of September. To provide them with a fitting welcome, the Talent & Career department organised a hybrid seminar combining face-to-face and remote sessions in response to the unprecedented health situation. This resulted in 3 days’ of intensive work around a shared objective: committing oneself, making an impression, discovering and taking on the values of the School and becoming a member of the NEOMA family!

“The School has the aim of helping to train a new generation of responsible managers. It was therefore logical for the seminar to focus on responsibility and sustainable development,” explains Magali Chautard, Head of the Talent and Career Department’s Career Development Centre.

The students were divided into small groups and asked to enhance NEOMA’s CSR initiatives by producing a short 90-second video on a responsible action or project related to one of the following 4 themes: their food, their school, their city, their professional project.

The Talent and Career teams wanted their challenge to be practical and realistic and also to provide the students with the opportunity to work together in teams, express their collective intelligence and assume responsibility. “The project we were asked to work on  was an excellent way of staring to work together and seeing just what we are capable of. I’m more confident about the coming year thanks to these few days, which gave me the chance to meet people, which is reassuring when you arrive in a city where you don’t know anyone. This seminar is a great way to start the year!” says Angèle, CESEM 1st-year student..

The Talent & Career Department staff members, together with Frédéric Beaumont, Director of CESEM, elected their favourite project from the 18 videos made by the different groups: “Les petits voyages”, an associative project aimed at helping underprivileged children discover some of the most spectacular places in France:

A huge CSR-related treasure hunt in teams also contributed to the seminar’s success by helping students discover the campus, create close ties with other team members and increase awareness on sustainable development. “The treasure hunt was a memorable event. Despite the unusual conditions and having to wear a mask (emblazoned with the NEOMA logo, if you please!), the students were happy to be there and the energy generated by the treasure hunt was almost tangible, they were really involved in this activity!” says Nicolas Journeaux, Talent & Career Coordinator.

For Frédéric Beaumont, Director of CESEM, the Welcome Seminar lays the foundations for the four years to come: “The on-campus welcome is the beginning of the feeling of belonging to NEOMA and CESEM. This Class spirit is really important because these students will be going abroad for two years and they will need each other’s support.”​

With 91% of students satisfied or very satisfied, it is safe to say that the Welcome Seminar has been a great success!