“I can count on a competent administration and services”
Since March1, Bruno Fabre, former vice-chair of the board of trustees, has served as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) at the University of Montpellier. This professor of management sciences took the time to explain to us why his background makes him a unique fit for this highly strategic role.
You have just taken up your position as Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Montpellier. Could you explain what the role of a Chief Administrative Officer entails?
The Director General of Services is, to use a metaphor, the conductor of the administrative orchestra. His or her scope of responsibility includes central administrative offices as well as departments within the faculties, schools, and institutes, and research units. His or her role is twofold: to help define institutional policy and to oversee its implementation in both administrative and technical terms.
So is it as much a political role as an administrative one?
Absolutely! We tend to overlook the political aspect, but it is clearly enshrined in the regulations governing the role of the Chief Administrative Officer. Alongside the president and vice presidents, he helps shape institutional policy, even though he himself is not an elected official. This is what sets them apart from what were previously known as secretaries-general, who did not have this political dimension.
You just said it yourself—you’re not an elected official. How were you hired?
This is a call for applications published on the PEP, the Public Employment Portal. Once an application is selected, the university president submits the candidate’s name to the Minister of Higher Education and Research, who then appoints the candidate.
Is this a temporary position?
I am on a four-year secondment, renewable once, at the same university.
At UM, you’re known as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors (VP-CA)—a position you held from 2015 to 2022. Why did you decide to switch tothe “other side”?
I accept this responsibility with great humility, and the main reason I applied for this position is that I know I can count on a competent administration and staff. It’s also true that, as Vice President of the Board, I worked on most of the issues alongside the Chief Administrative Officer. We each had a clearly defined yet complementary role. Today, I am well-versed in these issues, so why not move to“the other side” to implement a policy that I helped define as Vice President of the Board? Besides, I enjoy challenges, and this one is a way for me to reinvent myself while continuing my work.
At UM, you are also known as a professor of management sciences, particularly at the IAE. Is this the first time the University has appointed a Professor EC) to this key position?
That’s true—it’s a first. It’s good that, over the course of an institution’s history, there can be a succession of medical directors with diverse backgrounds. Pascal Beauregard came from university administration. Romain Jacquet was the deputy director of a hospital, and I am Professor.
Has it been noted that this decision is unusual in the French public sector?
Some people may have concerns or see this as a challenge to the expertise available within the administration. But that is not the case. I believe that a diversity of backgrounds can only be a plus; in fact, the IGESR report on the role of the Director General of Services supportsthis view.
What do you mean?
The Chief Administrative Officer must be able to communicate effectively with the entire university community—not only with administrative and technical staff, but also with Professors, instructors, and researchers. However, the report highlights tensions in this dialogue and recommends breaking down barriers between administrative staff and Professors. For example, we must implement many reforms stemming from the multi-year research law (LPR); being Professor things Professor because I speak the same language and understand their situation.
Do we also need to speak the language of BIATS?
Exactly, and as it happens, in my previous roles—notably at the former UM2—I served as Executive Vice President in charge of BIATS from 2012 to 2014. I have a genuine interest in administrative and technical matters, and those who have worked with me can attest to that, but it is by my actions that I will be judged.
Your previous positions also include several instances where you served as interim administrator…
Yes, on three occasions. I served as interim director of the Béziers University Institute of Technology (IUT) in the early 2000s when it became a fully accredited IUT. Then in 2016, during the merger of the AES (Administration, Economics, and Social Sciences) and the ISEM (Montpellier Institute of Business Sciences), which resulted in MOMA. And finally in 2018, when the president appointed me as a board member of the Faculty of Law and Political Science for nine months.
You’re joining us at a time when the health crisis has profoundly disrupted the way we work. Does that change things for you?
The health crisis has called our ways of working and our social relationships into question. In some cases, it has strained social ties. We need to rebuild those connections, but I am very optimistic in this regard because new forms of solidarity have also emerged during the health crisis, as evidenced by the remarkable mobilization of Professors, instructors, and administrative and technical staff in central services and across departments to ensure that education continues to be provided to students.
The time has come for us to get together again. To reconnect with those moments of camaraderie in our departments, to meet one another, to share ideas… It’s very important.