the arm wrestling continues between the University Toulouse 1 Capitole (UT1) and one of its characteristics, the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE). The president of UT1 Hugues Kenfack met on Monday February 28, 2022 the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Frédérique Vidal, in order to assert one’s opposition obtaining the status of large establishment by the TSE.

To understand the origin of the conflict between the management of UT1 and that of the TSE, we must go back to February 18. It was on this date that the government gave its agreement to grant the status of large establishment to the Toulouse School of Economics, which was nevertheless under the supervision of UT1. This status should allow the school founded by the Nobel Prize in economics Jean Tirole to free from guardianship of UT1 and thus obtain total financial, pedagogical and scientific autonomy.

“Deconstructing the University”

A decision that does not pass with the management of the University Toulouse 1 Capitole.

Toulouse 1 Capitole University is asking the government to clarify its position regarding the possible granting of large establishment status to the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE). This announcement was not preceded by any consultation. It creates a precedent which calls into question the autonomy of all French universities because from now on any component would have the possibility of destructuring its university by obtaining the status of large establishment.

For its part, the management of the Toulouse School of Economics plays appeasement. “We are in a dialogue process with UT1, we are not at war with anyone, says Joël Echevarria, general manager of TSE services. Our school is already one of most famous in the world and we are continuing our development while waiting for a new research center in quantitative human sciences. To be able to achieve this, we have need this status of large establishment. It is estimated that this will enhance the attractiveness of the UT1″ site.

The TSE is “ready to agree”

TSE Managing Director Christian Gollier tweeted that “TSE is ready to negotiate with the presidency of UT1 without any preconditions. ”

This appeasement message is far from having calmed the leaders of the University Toulouse 1 Capitole. For Christophe Alcantara, lecturer and research professor at UT1, the status of a large establishment granted to the TSE could have repercussions on the paths of certain students:

The TSE is slipping from excellence to elitism, it’s very dangerous. The school is doing everything to climb the Shanghai rankings, and that’s very good. But what will become of the students who are expelled from the TSE? Until now, UT1 could easily pick them up and offer them another course. If the TSE prints the status of large establishment, it will be much more complicated.

For the leaders of UT1, obtaining the status of a large establishment by the TSE could set a dangerous precedent. “The problem does not only concern Toulouse, continues Christophe Alcantara. If the TSE secedes, other great schools could follow and we could witness a dismantling of French universities.”

The status of large establishment will be attributed to the TSE once the decree has been published in the official journal.

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