“An undergraduate program allowing student-athletes to balance their sports schedule with their academic schedule.” This is how Bernard Curzi, director of ESPEME (a higher education group of EDHEC), introduced his new program “High-Level Athletes.” Alongside Jeff Reymond, Jean Paul Serra, Alain Koubi, and Michel Masseglia, Bernard Curzi emphasized a new approach to avoid awarding “second-rate” degrees.
The ESPEME group and its two campuses in Nice and Lille will offer, starting in 2011, a special training for high-level athletes who have completed a high school diploma or a two-year degree. The aim is to provide a pathway tailored for athletes wishing to prepare for their career transition during their sports career. To achieve this, EDHEC will rely on a new learning methodology combining distance learning and tutoring. Only attendance at exams will be mandatory, thus e-learning (live online courses) will facilitate athletes’ availability.
Entrance into this program will be secured through a competitive exam starting in September, with two initial admission sessions. Bernard Curzi claims to have already received two dozen applications. For him, the idea is to “model the program by adapting it to high-level schedules. We are not doing this to have more students, as there is no need, but to meet a demand and perpetuate the relationship we have always had with high-level athletes.”
