After working 17 years in the Marketing Sales Departement of differents firms, Ludovic Glorieux joined Vatel Bordeaux. The Academic Director explains the upcoming projects of the Gironde entity of the Vatel Group.

What brought you to Vatel Bordeaux?

I came here as Director of Development and International Recruitment during the 2015 Vatel Project. I was in charge of setting up classes with instruction in English. After much consideration, I decided to join Vatel Bordeaux. I prepared myself for it. I did an internship at Hotel Thérèse and at Récamier two 4-star establishments in Paris. I was also Director of the Presa di Goa Hotel in Goa, India. This position was just what I wanted: to work in the tourism sector and to put people and services at the center of my professional life by including an international dimension.

What are your prerogatives as academic director?

I coordinate and manage the relations between the various people at the school and the academic department; i.e. students, parents, teachers and speakers.

Let’s focus on the details of your mission What is your role with teachers?

First, I am in charge of recruiting them. Then, we talk about the content of their courses and I validate their exam topics. I make sure that the topics covered in class or during exams conform to the Vatel Group syllabus. I also help them adapt their teaching methods in order to meet the expectations of the new generation of students.

How do you select your teachers?

In general, we must find the right balance between theoretical knowledge and practical skill. It all depends on the type of course. For example, the field of management is similar regardless of the business sector. In this case, we try to find someone who has a profile similar to that of a lecturer. For a course focused on a specific area in the hotel and restaurant industry, we opt for someone who is more specialized and has many years of practical professional experience. For example, Vincent Lacrampe-Camus (a speaker on the hotel environment) worked at Accor and Sodexo.

What is your role with students and parents ?

I participate in all the teaching committees. There are three of them per year and per class. These meetings bring together class representatives, the educational requirements coordinator, Emmanuelle Beaudet for the bachelor’s degree program and Lucile Moreau for the MBA program. We talk about courses, teachers, exam issues, personal concerns of the students and the individual academic situation of each student. The goal is to answer questions, find solutions, support or approve. I also hold individual interviews with students and their parents.

From an academic point of view, what are your goals and perspectives for Vatel Bordeaux?

We must systematically issue diplomas that certify the skill level of our students. We have already accomplished this for our Wine & Spirits program. We would like to do the same in modern languages to give students the opportunity to obtain a certificate in applied foreign languages (LEA).
We want to expand partnerships with other schools through Campus Chartrons or by hiring faculty members working for other universities such as INSEEC, IPC or KEDGE.

What are some of Vatel Bordeaux’s upcoming projects?

We are opening a second campus, Les Halles, in September 2018. It will include a 3-star hotel and 5-star hotel as well as a farmers’ market in the Bacalan district across from the Cité du Vin. Within 2 years, we will also open new professional application areas: a youth hostel and a student residence.

We are also launching the Bordeaux International Wine & Spirits Academy. It will provide:

• its professional members with access to databases (files for teachers and professionals, teaching aids, case studies, video conferences, etc.),
• a WSET diploma course,
• training & advice for all professionals in the restaurant industry and the wine & spirits sector (wine merchants, sommeliers, etc.) about managing their company,
• Introductory workshops, tasting conferences & “Accord Parfait” dinner in partnership with Les Tables Vatel,
• a wine club open to all wine lovers.

Many great projects on the horizon!