Var. Draguignan: a connected campus for the start of the September 2021 school year

The connected Draguignan campus © DR

The Connected Campus is a place where students can benefit from equipment allowing them to follow a distance training offered by a university or a school. They can also benefit from the supervision of tutors among the teams of the University of Toulon. This follow-up, coming within the framework of a support contract providing for a presence of 12 hours per week. For information, distance education in higher education guarantees the same recognition and the same quality of diploma as a university campus.

Online registration required

New baccalaureate holders, people in reorientation, employees and business leaders in the context of training, job seekers registered in a process of integration or professional retraining are able to apply for this system.

For the former, it is imperative to go through the Parcoursup platform by expressing the wishes of orientation among the 121 distance training courses offered, including 93 university licenses and 25 BTS. For others, Parcoursplus is the entry point for submitting their application. This registration for a distance training course, validated by Parcoursup, is the sine qua non condition for applying to the Dracénie Provence Verdon Connected Campus. Once the online form has been validated, as the number of places is limited, candidates are then subject to a motivation interview.

In terms of infrastructure, nearly 150 m² are made available in the heart of the economic and training center of the Chabran district. These premises are served by optical fiber and equipped with high-performance IT equipment. They offer collective workspaces, with rooms allowing to isolate oneself and relaxation spaces shared with the hosted companies.

Favor the follow-up of studies for 18/24 year olds

Dracénie Provence Verdon agglomeration wishes to promote the attractiveness of its territory and support economic development through a policy of supporting and strengthening the training offer, particularly in higher education. Through this mechanism, the institution wants to respond to employment issues in the sectors defined in the framework of the Territorial Coherence Scheme (SCOT).

This connected campus project is fully integrated into the overall Pôle d’Enseignement Supérieur en Dracénie project. This training policy also aims to respond to an excessively low enrollment rate, since 18/24 year olds following studies represent only 38.1%, i.e. below the departmental rate (42.8%) and regional and national rates, respectively. of 50.6% and 52.7%.

A solution to the sectorization problems of universities

In question, a disparate location of the campuses which oblige the students to move on the university poles of Toulon, Nice, Aix Marseille. This mobility inevitably leads to high costs, in particular for rents or transport costs. Through the creation of the connected Dracénie Provence Verdon campus, wishes to promote the monitoring of distance studies and thus overcome geographic and social barriers.

This project is now on the right track and scheduled for opening in September 2021, with a development over 3 years, according to a clear phasing:

• September 2021 start: welcome 18 students
• September 2022 start: welcome 30 students
• Start of the September 2023 school year: welcome 45 students

At the financial level, the Connected Campus induces an overall budget of € 808,900.50, including € 220,389.50 in new operating expenses and € 208,490 in investment. In terms of contributions, the EPCI releases an envelope of € 308,470.5, the university € 77,000 and the PIA € 300,000. Finally, a request for € 123,430 was made to the Departmental Council to cover the investment expenses of the first 3 years.

Mathieu SELLER