Rouages: "Lifelong learning at the UM

Catherine Bellanger and Salomé Bessaïh work in the Continuing Education Department (SFC-UM). The former assists candidates in validating their acquired experience in order to obtain a diploma, while the latter develops new training courses adapted to a predominantly salaried public. This month, as part of the " Rouages " video series, they share their work with us.

It's at Richter, on the second floor of a building overlooking the River Lez, that we meet Catherine Bellanger and Salomé Bessaih, both in charge of the Continuing Education department. Despite the early hour, the two colleagues are in good spirits as they get to grips with the needs of the people they serve. " The continuing education public is particularly motivated. They all have different backgrounds and profiles, but what they have in common is that they have a goal and are determined, and it's up to us to be too," declares Salomé Bessaïh.

Some thirty people make up the Continuing Education Department, spread over four sites: Building E on the Richter campus, the Montpellier-Sète IUT, the Nîmes IUT and the Sète marine station. This service is aimed at anyone wishing to go back to school for training," explains Catherine Bellanger. We support jobseekers, salaried employees, self-employed professionals and students on professionalization contracts as part of a lifelong learning program. The department's seven project managers work in three areas: science and technology; law, economics, management and administration; health, sport and education.

Developing new training courses

Salomé works in the field of law, economics, management and administration. Her main task is to develop new training courses adapted to the continuing education public " i.e. mainly salaried employees. Ằ For example, I'm currently working on the Master 2 in labor law, which only exists as an initial training course, but for which a second course will open next September, aimed at employees (lawyers or jurists) who wish to upgrade their skills, with a timetable specifically designed for them." Every year, new courses are offered at the University of Montpellier, while others disappear and come back according to the needs expressed.

These new training courses respond either to the request of a training manager, or directly to requests from companies wishing to train their employees. We don't intervene in the pedagogical content," explains Salomé, "but we do provide support for the administrative and financial aspects: should the training be validated by the CA, should it be registered in the national training catalog, who pays and how? The department is also involved in professionalization contracts, meeting companies in the field. " This second mission, carried out by Ana Bozovic, who is also in charge of the department, involves putting continuing education trainees in touch with companies so that they can complete their work-study training.

Support in validating acquired experience

For the past year, Catherine Bellanger has been concentrating on providing support for the validation of acquired experience (VAE). All universities organize VAE for their own diplomas, and there are over 600 at the UM. " Candidates for this VAE can benefit from 12 hours of support to produce what we call the Livret 2. This is made up of professional situations and evidence of skills that they must present orally to a jury," explains the project manager. Around sixty people validate their VAE each year at the UM, and Catherine Bellanger assists around twenty of them. I'm not a professional expert," she says, "the professional expert is the candidate we accompany all the way to the jury.

Catherine Bellanger also works with the funders of these training courses, who can be of two kinds. Public funders, mainly the Region and Pôle emploi, but also Mission locale " for the youngest and those furthest removed from the education system ", she points out. Companies also finance various training schemes. " Whether this funding is public or private, it is always geared towards the individual who is going to take part in face-to-face or distance learning courses, or through VAE. We are a public service, and this notion is particularly important," she insists.

Highlights

In the near future, both will be taking part in one of the highlights of the year: the DAEU (Diplôme d'accès aux études universitaires) award ceremony. At the UM, we have a cohort of around 100 people," explains Catherine Bellanger. These are people who are far from studying, but who put all their heart and soul into taking this diploma. Recognizing this commitment is an emotional moment," she concludes.