Governance and organization

The general organization of the governance of the Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT) and its schools is described in the IMT decree of February 28, 2012, as amended, and specified by the IMT Mines Alès decree of December 5, 2016, as amended, as well as by the school's internal regulations, which are deliberated upon by the School Council.

The IMT has a Board of Directors (BOD) assisted by a Scientific Council, while each school has a School Council (SC) and various business committees. The IMT is headed by a Director General, Ms. Odile Gauthier, appointed by decree after consultation with the Board of Directors. Each school has a director, appointed by decree of the Minister of Industry and Digital Technologies, after consultation with the school's Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The director of the school is placed under the authority of the Director General of the IMT.

In addition to the IMT's central bodies, which essentially deal with issues common to the various schools of the institute, IMT Mines Alès has its own governance and consultation bodies, which operate in coherence and subsidiarity with the central bodies, in a logic of strong autonomy for the schools.

The representation of teaching, administrative and technical staff, students, companies and the professional world is ensured in the governance bodies of the IMT and the school. The IMT's status as a "grand institution" is a facilitating factor in this respect.

For more information on the governance and organization of the IMT at the national level: https://www.imt.fr/imt/gouvernance/.

The IMT's central Board of Directors (BOD) sets the general direction of the institution's activities and management. The Board is chaired by Olivier Huart, Chairman and CEO of the TDF Group, appointed by decree. The Board of Directors is informed by the directors of the schools of the general orientations of the schools and their activity reports, and by the chairman of the Scientific Council of the conclusions of this council. The Director of IMT Mines Alès participates in the Board meetings.

The Scientific Advisory Board advises the Institute on its research and innovation strategy and evaluates its scientific orientations. It is chaired by Virginie MAILLARD, Head of Technology Field Simulation and Digital Twin at SIEMENS Corporate Technology.

The Central Technical Committee (CT): it deals with cross-functional problems concerning the organization of services, operations and human resources. It is consulted for advice before the Board of Directors, particularly for changes in the Institute's management framework. It is supported by special technical committees (CTS) at the school level.

The School Council (EC) of IMT Mines Alès "deliberates on matters specific to the school". It sets the general guidelines for the school's activities and management. It meets at least twice a year. Its chairman is Mr. Thierry TROUVE, General Manager of GRT Gaz, appointed by the Minister of Industry and Digital Affairs. The composition of the School Council is set by the IMT decree and specified by the IMT Mines Alès decree: in addition to the President, it comprises 24 members. The board deliberates on the following matters

• The school's strategy, and in particular the school's orientations in terms of teaching, initial and continuing education, research and partnerships;
• The school's own budget within the limits of its own resources and the resources of the institute which have been allocated to it;
• The creation, major modifications and deletion of courses and curricula;
• Research programs;
• The school's internal regulations;
• The school regulations which determine the conditions of graduation;
• The school's international activities and partnerships;
• The setting of tuition fees;
• The school's own section of the Institute's multi-year master plan for disability policy.

The Teaching Committee gives its opinion on the general orientation and organization of the courses and especially on the school regulations. It meets at the initiative of the director at least once every semester of the students' education.

The IMT Mines Alès Apprentice Training Center (CFA) Training Council is constituted in accordance with articles L.6231-3 and R.6231-5 of the French Labor Code. This CFA is currently the support for the engineering apprenticeship programs at IMT Mines Alès.

The Research Committee gives its opinion on the orientations and general organization of the school's research activities and on the doctoral training program. It meets at least once a year.

The Economic Development Committee is in charge of examining the school's strategy and the results of its economic development activities in order to give even more relevance, coherence and, above all, visibility to its economic development activities.

The school's Special Technical Committee was created by decision of the IMT's Director General on May 29, 2018. The functioning of the Special Technical Committee is governed by the provisions of Decree 2011-184 of February 15, 2011, as amended, and specified in a set of internal regulations published on the school's intranet.

The Special Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee is competent to deal with all matters relating to health, safety and working conditions within the framework of the regulations in force.

The school also has a Student Disciplinary Council.

The IMT is headed by a Director General, Mrs. Odile Gauthier, who relies on the services of the General Management (DG), a college of directors and business domain committees.

The General Management of the IMT is organized by the Director General after consultation and advice of the IMT's TC, and information of the Board of Directors. Today, it comprises three main departments: the General Services Department (DGS), the Research and Innovation Department (DRI), the Teaching Department (DEI) and the Deputy Director General (DGA), who coordinates communication activities and strategy development and monitoring. Together with the Director General, they form the Executive Committee of the IMT (COMEX IMT). Each "Major Directorate" of the DG is organized into Directorates or Delegations: HR, IS, Heritage, Legal, Finance, Training, International, Research, Communication, Strategy. The General Management is responsible for the overall management, and in particular for activities shared between schools.

The College of Directors brings together the directors of the schools and the Director General assisted by the Directors of the DG. It includes the IMT's strategic partners. The College deals with the overall strategic policy of the IMT and any related subject. The College is statutorily placed under the authority of the DG to advise them on strategy. In practice, the College is the place where major decisions are taken collectively, where major projects are launched and where decisions are taken on strategic developments. The way it functions makes it a consensus-building and arbitration body under the responsibility of the CEO. It is also a space for information and collective exchange with the ministerial supervisory body for the Director General and the Directors of the schools. Through the intermediary of the Directors of Schools and the DG's professional directors, it is also a place for liaison with the work of the professional domain committees described below.

The committees for the different professions were created by the General Management beyond the requirements of the decree, in order to organize cross-functional work by profession. They bring together the business line directors of the IMT schools and entities. They are involved in the development of policies, actions and projects. They operate on a two-tier decision-making system, with the most important decisions being studied by the College of Directors. There are nine of them: Training, Research and Innovation, International, HR, Finance, General Affairs, Information Systems, Purchasing/Marketing, and Communication. These committees organize collective reflection, launch studies, give advice on projects and decide on events such as "specialized schools" in their field.

For more information on the governance and organization of the IMT at the national level: https://www.imt.fr/imt/gouvernance/

The director of the school is Assia Tria, who reports to the director general of the IMT.

In a logic of subsidiarity and autonomy of the school within the IMT, he has extended responsibilities in the direction and management of the school, defined in article 27 of the IMT decree: representation of the school, secondary authorizing role for revenues and expenditures, preparation of files submitted to the Executive Committee, participation in IMT Board meetings, preparation of the budget, authority over the school's personnel, preparation of the school's internal regulations, maintenance of order and discipline, preparation of the school regulations, implementation of the strategy, chairing of the professional committees (teaching committee, research committee, economic development committee) and of the special technical committee, organization of external and international relations, implementation of partnerships, conclusion of certain contracts. They may delegate their signature to his collaborators within the framework of his own powers.

Pierre PERDIGUIER, appointed by IMT's CEO in April 2017, is responsible for the "steering" domain and the "strategic steering" process of the school.

The Executive Committee (COMEX) as a whole serves the school's raison d'être. Each member of the Executive Committee has their own raison d'être which serves part of the school's raison d'être. In addition to the school director, the members of the Executive Committee are the following (their purpose is specified)

• Deputy Director of the school (DA), Mr. Pierre PERDIGUIER: "To produce a framework and general orientation and to coordinate transversal actions, in the service of the school's raison d'être. In particular, to ensure the implementation of a dynamic of continuous improvement in the service of the school's performance and the achievement of its ambition, and to protect the school from the risks to which it is exposed.
• Director of Studies (DE), Mr. Michel FERLUT: "To give students the best chances to achieve professionally to be responsible actors in the development of the Nation by preserving the wealth of the Planet."
• Director of Apprenticeship Training (DFA), Mr. Rémy ROGACKI: "To give apprentices the best chances of professional accomplishment in order to be responsible actors of the Nation's development by preserving the Planet's wealth."
• Director of Economic Development (DDE), Ms. Astrid SOUTHON: "Develop links with economic actors in the service of student training, the creation and development of businesses, the influence of the school and the increase of its resources."
• Director of Research and Doctorate (DRED), Mr. Pierre PERDIGUIER: "Advancing science and its applications, maintaining a high degree of expertise to train our students to the highest level and contribute to the transfer of knowledge to companies and society. To give doctoral students the best chances of professional fulfillment to be responsible actors of the Nation by preserving the wealth of the Planet."
• Director of the C2MA research and teaching center, Ms. Anne BERGERET: "To develop the excellence and influence of the school in the field of materials and civil engineering, to coordinate the realization of research and doctoral training actions in this scientific field in coherence with the training and economic development processes."
• Director of the LGEI research and teaching center, Ms. Anne JOHANNET: "To develop the school's excellence and influence in the field of the environment and risks, to coordinate the implementation of research and doctoral training activities in this scientific field in a manner consistent with training and economic development processes."
• Director of the LGI2P research and teaching center, Mr. Jacky MONTMAIN: "To develop the excellence and influence of the school in the field of artificial intelligence, computer science and the industry of the future, to coordinate the realization of research and doctoral training actions in this scientific field in coherence with the processes of training and economic development."
• Director of International Action (DAI), Mr. Eric VIVIEN: "At the service of all processes, acquire the expertise of the higher education and research community internationally with the aim of expanding students' chances of professional achievement to the world."
• Director of Communication (DIRCOM), Ms. Laurence Robert: "To make it known that, through all its processes, IMT Mines Alès gives its students the best chances for professional accomplishment in order to be responsible actors in the development of the Nation by preserving the wealth of the Planet."
• Secretary General (SG), Mr. Jean-Louis CHAUPIN: "To be permanently at the service of the processes to meet their expressed and latent needs and to enable the school to function in a satisfactory and sustainable manner."

In December 2016 following an audit conducted by Afnor Certification, IMT Mines Alès obtained the ISO 9001:2015 certification which is the first certification awarded to an IMT school. This certification testifies to the commitment of all the school's staff to modern and efficient management.
The implementation of a quality management system implies requirements and recommendations that have been opportunities for the school to question all its practices and procedures in order to put them at the full service of its strategy, with a permanent steering of the objectives.

In addition to the recognition obtained thanks to the certification, the school's quality approach has made it possible to achieve multiple objectives:

• The decompartmentalization of the various services, the processes are not modelled on the organization of the services, but on the activities, which favours the harmonization of practices, the mutualization of technical means and the generation of savings;
• Constantly listening to and evaluating the satisfaction of our clients and partners, which allows us to confirm that we are indeed providing them with answers that are adapted to their needs;
• A better response to the expectations of our evaluators, in particular the CTI and the HCERES, due to the structuring aspects of the approach;
• Richer exchanges between departments, particularly thanks to the network of internal auditors who assess the system's compliance but also promote communication between departments. This transparency and teamwork help to strengthen the common culture;
• A dynamic of continuous improvement that allows us to control and perfect our actions on an ongoing basis in order to improve their efficiency and achieve our growth objectives in a constrained budgetary context.

For the school, quality is now a simple daily work tool, as close as possible to our practices, meaningful, in the service of the school's strategy and allowing us to make our internal operations more fluid. IMT Mines Alès thus confirms its dynamism and its commitment to its clients, especially students and companies.

The quality approach covers all of the school's activities. The quality management system is organized in processes, grouped in five macro-processes (or "domains"), which give a synthetic vision of the system:

• steering the school
• training
• research
• economic development
• resources

The reasons for the existence of these areas have been presented above.

The process pilots are responsible for ensuring the control and efficiency of the processes. They play the role of facilitators, responsible for facilitating the work of the process actors, encouraging synergies, initiating improvement actions and monitoring their effectiveness in order to achieve the set objectives and ensure the continuous improvement of the process. They are assisted by quality correspondents.

A management review takes place at least once a year, and consists of reviewing the management system to ensure that it remains relevant, adequate and effective. The pilot brings together the process actors during the review in order to analyze the data, especially the performance indicators.

To carry out its missions, the school can rely on several structures:

• the CFA Mines Alès ;
• the Mines-Alès foundation, hosted by the Mines-Télécom foundation;
• the ARMINES partnership research association, a partner of the various Mines schools;
• the Carnot Institute M.I.N.E.S, in partnership with the other mining schools, the Ecole Polytechnique and ARMINES;
• the school's technological incubator;
• the services of the DG of the IMT;
• several technological platforms, either in-house or in partnership, to serve the school's various missions.