A few weeks short of 33 years old, I have finally signed a CDI.
The permanent contract is part of a new role I will be taking on the at the University, but which has not yet started because my replacement for my currently job only arrives tomorrow.
My near future job will involve bringing a French university up to the standards of an international quality standard for management education (EQUIS). For anyone who's studied at a public French university, you know the challenge I'm in for.
I wasn't exactly a change I was chasing. I've been working with doctoral students for 2 1/2 years, and I was looking forward the possibility of working on a 4 year international research network. But I was quickly approaching the maximum number of temporary contracts, and the dean really wanted me to work on the international quality accreditation, a position which qualified for the creation of a CDI position.
One of our current doctoral students works at the local business school and is partly involved in the quality assurance process at the business school, so I chatted with her when it was confirmed I would be working on EQUIS. She mentioned that she knew the person who managed the accreditation at EM Grenoble who also happened to American, so she put us in contact. Just this past week I was chatting with someone else who knew the manager at EMLyon, who also happened to be American! I think the French have figured at least one thing out: if you want to pass an audit for quality in education, hire an American to whip everyone in shape.
I will be creating this position since this is the first time the institute has pursued the accreditation, so I'll admit I'm a bit unsure exactly how things will go down. I know I will be going on a couple work trips to visit other accredited institutions in Portugal, Netherlands, and Belgium (yay!) in order to get ideas on how we can improve, but I also know I will be often working with the dean who has been nicknamed Napolean by some of my colleagues. A lot of professors don't agree with the dean's choices, but the concept of "speak truth to power" doesn't really exist. One professor prefers the expression "Go tell a lion he has bad breath" when discussing the power balance and openness of the dean.
So we'll see how it goes. But a CDI and a small pay increase. 😀
3 comments:
How exciting.
Are you sad to not be doing what you had planned? Was getting the CDI worth taking on the new project?
@Tim Dudek I'll find out soon. I haven't started my new job yet, so it remains to be seen!
Congratulations! Still haven't managed a permanent contract since leaving NZ (where the norm is to automatically have permanent contracts except for explicitly temporary posts, but there are more get-outs than in France - although still harder to fire someone than the US, I believe).
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