strategic plan

Preamble

The strategic plan of the National School of Engineers of Bizerte (ENIB) for the period from 2023 to 2025 presents the establishment's commitment in terms of strengthening its visibility, its influence and its impact on its environment. Economic and Social. The actions to be taken revolve around the future of ENIB and its ambitions. The proposed content highlights the main strategic orientations of the establishment and all the objectives targeted for 2025.

This plan summarizes the various reflections carried out in consultation with the various ENIB stakeholders. Particular mention is made of the people who participated in the development and revision of the document. It is hoped that this document will be mobilizing for students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff of ENIB. The objective is to make ENIB a benchmark engineering school in Tunisia and abroad through the scientific and pedagogical positioning of its teacher-researchers, through the quality of the training provided for its future engineers and through the performance of its research structures.

1 - Situation and context

Since its creation in 2009, the National School of Engineers of Bizerte (ENIB) has proposed to set up 3 courses for the training of engineers: Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Civil Engineering.

Industrial Engineering Engineers were the first graduates of ENIB (2012), followed by Mechanical Engineering Engineers (2014) and due to lack of premises, the start of the 3rd sector was postponed, pending the acceptance of the new building. Despite the difficult economic situation for employability and the saturation of the Tunisian job market, young ENIB graduates have been able to carve out a competitive place in terms of hiring.

The financing of the construction project of the establishment as well as the acquisition of the scientific equipment of the ENIB, are ensured and continue to be provided by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the Ministry of Higher Education. and Research (MES) as stipulated in the terms of the agreement signed with the Tunisian government. The reception of the new building and the completion of the project scheduled for the end of 2019 are currently postponed to September 2022. As a result, ENIB will have to undergo profound changes from the start of the 20202/2023 academic year. These changes will mainly affect the commissioning of the new building, the start of the 3rd sector of ENIB, the installation of laboratories by setting up equipment, the development of an educational file for a co-constructed masters oriented towards eco-design of polymers and composite materials

The market study conducted by AFD and the various consultations that took place at ENIB led to the definition of the general guidelines for the third sector. The last of these consultations was concretized by a meeting of the scientific council held at ENIB on 06/12/2017. At the end of this meeting, the members of the scientific council adopted the decision to launch Civil Engineering as the third branch of ENIB, potentially with shades differentiating it from other engineering school courses. Tunisians. These colors relate particularly to optimization, construction materials, prestressed concrete, green constructions, rehabilitation of engineering structures, infrastructure, energy efficiency, the environment, site management, Building Information Management (BIM), life cycle monitoring, etc….

Faced with the uncertainty and invisibility relating to the completion of the construction, the ENIB management pushed the stakeholders of the building construction project to accept a start of the academic year in September 2022, authorizing partial occupancy of the building. The provisional and partial acceptance of the premises has enabled ENIB to honor its commitments to the University of Carthage by hosting the professional master's degree in industrial maintenance from the start of the 2022/2023 academic year. The operation of the new premises of the establishment has made it possible to undertake important actions, in particular the installation of equipment in the workshops and laboratories, which has enabled the operation of the various equipment and the start of work. practice.

In addition, ENIB will have to benefit from three budgetary envelopes to support its quality support programs with funding provided by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MESRS).

The first program being the PAQ-4C, its objective is to create the Center for Careers and Skills Certifications. This program will help the institution to:

Develop logistical and material resources.
Provide training and certifications for the benefit of its students, teachers and administrators.
Enable the 4C ENIB to be anchored in its socio-economic environment.

The second program is entitled PAQ-Co-Construction and is intended to set up new co-constructed courses that promote professional training. It also allows for the reinforcement of existing non-co-constructed paths to conform to co-construction standards.

The third is the PAC-DGSE which aims to develop the strategic management of institutions of higher education. This program complements and strengthens the program PAQ-DGSU, for the University of Carthage, which is dedicated to the modernization and improvement of the performance of the teaching and research system.

2 - ENIB's mission

The mission of ENIB expresses its raison d'être, which consists in :

To develop and disseminate new scientific knowledge and innovative technologies, in the service of a balanced development of the company, the man and the society. It is declined according to 2 principal axes:

To develop high-level research leading to innovations and solutions that meet the major challenges facing companies and society;
Training and supporting talents capable of contributing to meeting the challenges of our society, both today and for future generations;

2.Supporting society in the areas of economic development, education and scientific and technical culture;

3.To promote, beyond technologies, organizations and actors (engineers in particular) who are committed and responsible, in the sense of sustainable development.

To accomplish its mission, ENIB is asked to:

Provide, in all its courses, a training of quality general-purpose engineers by emphasizing the interpersonal skills and the know-how of the graduates.
Create and install research structures such as a laboratory by designing relevant and high-level master's courses that take into account the needs of the national economy and the reality of the local and international market.
Stand out from other equivalent university establishments by its visibility and its influence based on its interaction with external environments both nationally and internationally.

It should be noted that ENIB is the youngest engineering school operating in the public higher education sector in Tunisia. Thanks to the commitment of its students, teachers and staff, ENIB has managed to train more than 550 engineers since its creation. Despite its young age, ENIB is firmly anchored in its external environment; this has allowed it to become known in the engineering and innovation sector.

3 -Image and values of ENIB

In order to carry out its mission, ENIB must build a visible image based on three fundamentals:

The application of a rigorous approach and the implementation of critical thinking which are the basis of the credibility of the various training courses provided for engineers, researchers and specialists.
The obligation to recognize that the student is at the heart of the school,
The commitment of all components of the school such as students, faculty, staff and graduates to the ENIB community and society.

From these fundamentals flow strong values of equal importance. These values define ENIB as an academic institution of teaching, research, learning, and high learning while valuing the achievements of the people assigned to support its activities.

ENIB adheres in its internal and external relations to a set of values that must inspire :

Respect for others by treating people with dignity and dignity.
Integrity by adopting behaviors of integrity consistent with best practices in ethics and governance.
Creativity by providing an environment that stimulates creativity, original thinking and the desire to innovate.
Excellence by supporting rigor in activities regardless of their importance.
Collaboration by encouraging the spirit of collaboration among staff, students and faculty and by supporting teamwork and openness to the world.

ENIB wants to be a responsible citizen institution, convinced of its importance and its role in guaranteeing a sustainable future for society. ENIB also wants its values to be those of its students and graduates, remaining proud of their belonging to the institution.

4 - ENIB's Strategic Vision

ENIB is a university engineering school. It is recognized by the specificity of its courses aiming at the development of scientific, technological and social knowledge in a sustainable development perspective. ENIB relies on its capacity for innovation in the field of teaching and expertise. It also relies on the importance of its partnerships with the academic and industrial communities and on the efficiency of its management and governance processes.

The strategy of the school, over the period 2020-2023, is a description of the path that ENIB must follow, given its current situation and the context of the institution, to achieve after 3 years its main objective which is : "To be part of the best engineering schools of Tunisia recognized internationally.

4.1 Strategic axes of ENIB

ENIB's strategic axes are defined as a set of major orientations around which the institution organizes its activities and the corrective actions it must undertake to maintain and improve its performance, its relationships and its services.

A strategic axis is a set of actions related to the different prerogatives of ENIB as a training and learning institution. A strategic axis of the ENIB makes it possible to establish a coherence between its functions, its means, its available resources and its potentials. Based on the current situation of the institution, we can announce the five strategic orientations of the ENIB, classified in order of increasing priority, which will result in the following list:

To organize the School by developing its processes
To train general engineers capable of meeting technological challenges and to set up high-level research structures
Strengthen academic and socio-economic partnerships
Strengthen the attractiveness and visibility of the school
Prepare the school for the accreditation of its courses

A- Organization of the School through the implementation of its processes

A.1 Elaboration of the process map of the establishment

ENIB is a public organization that relies on services and departments for its functioning. This type of organization is built on a hierarchical approach which differs from the process approach based on the internal orientation of the institution. These processes are often classified into three categories:

Support processes
Operational processes
Management processes

The management processes embody the institution's strategy, orientation policy, steering and coordination.

The support processes revolve around human resources, ENIB equipment, infrastructure and the quality management system in the institution.

The operational processes are the educational pathways that ENIB has to provide for its students as well as the continuous improvement process from the first enrolment of the engineering student to his graduation. Thus, the notion of management and service does not fully represent the processes. Indeed, some processes are more like a part of a process.

The description of the processes is a very important phase since it allows the processes to be installed. This action usually leads to an improvement of the processes. Furthermore, the formalization of the actions carried out in the form of a graph, workflow, map or matrix is a tool for process optimization. This should allow to shape, optimize and ultimately improve the performance of the processes.

A.2 Elaboration of job files

Job descriptions are human resources management tools that may seem a little unnoticeable to those who do not work in the field. A job description is a medium that is often confused with a job description or a job advertisement. It is above all a real means of managing human resources within an academic institution and in this case for an engineering school.

The job description should make it possible to specify the duties to be performed within a department or at the level of a position of responsibility. It is also a preparation step in order to identify the different issues surrounding a position. It is also a communication tool that must be updated in relation to the evolution of the position and the nature of the employees. The job description should facilitate the management of internal skills and external hiring.

A.3 Organization of the operation of equipment installed in laboratories and workshops

For the good management of the equipment installed in the laboratories and the workshops of ENIB, each equipment must have a file guaranteeing the follow-up of the traceability of the exploitation and the use of the equipment as well as its history and all the events met during its exploitation. The file of each equipment will have to be constituted of the following documents:

The purchase or acquisition documents of the equipment such as purchase and delivery orders, acceptance report, invoice...)
Manufacturer's documents (operating instructions, maintenance / verification / calibration procedures)
The legal sales contract co-signed by all parties involved the supplier, with warranty details
The life sheet
Maintenance reports
The maintenance / verification schedule
Eventually, the temperature monitoring sheets of the climatic chambers,

Each piece of equipment must have a life sheet, which will include:

The identification of the equipment,
The follow-up of the maintenance operations,
The follow-up of the training of engineers and technicians,
The follow-up of events,
Maintenance operations follow-up schedule, breakdown reports,
Identification labels "out of order" or "out of service",
The inventory sheet for each laboratory and workshop.

B- Train high-level engineers capable of meeting technological challenges

B.1 Periodic reviews of engineering curricula

The institution places great importance on supporting the success of its engineering students and ensures that they are equipped to facilitate their employability. ENIB innovates in the development and implementation of new teaching methods while hoping to achieve its pedagogical objectives:

To train engineers, specialists and researchers who are innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders and good citizens,
Support the success and development of all engineering students by promoting professional training
Supporting the corps of research teachers who are passionate about training, teaching and research,
To raise the level of training and research facilities as well as the infrastructure of the school,
To become the Tunisian reference in industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering and intelligent buildings.

B.2 Installation of research structures

In a context of globalization of research, the school must provide the material and human means to initiate current research within the new premises. The setting up of technological platforms will be able to reinforce training, expertise and the conduct of research work. The school must also collaborate with foreign researchers on interdisciplinary themes. The school's research teachers recognize that a diversified and high-level research base is essential to fuel the development of new knowledge and know-how.

The policy that the school must follow in terms of research will work towards the setting up of technological platforms, the creation of a research structure such as a laboratory and the organization of spaces likely to house future researchers. In order to supply the school with young researchers, ENIB will have to prepare to start a research master's course which will be added to the co-constructed professional master's course. In addition, the school will take care to encourage the transfer of researchers to ENIB. The school will support the mobility of research professors, the supervision of theses in cotutelle, the conduct of research projects in the framework of strategic partnerships with teams, etc. The objectives of these actions are to :

To initiate excellence in both basic and applied research,
Encourage interdisciplinary research leading to transition technologies and cultivate the spirit of innovation,
Strengthen and support poles of excellence in promising fields,
Strengthen and enhance research infrastructure,
Develop a high-caliber research faculty and support its excellence in research and training,

C- Strengthen ENIB's partnerships

C.1 Strengthening of academic partnerships

Undertaking and diversifying the international opening brings a real added value to the ENIB engineering degree. The number of compulsory foreign languages, the duration of compulsory experience abroad as well as the average duration (which can be much more important in certain courses), the number and quality of partner schools, the double degrees offered, the courses or specializations taught in English, the number of foreign students in the school are all criteria to be examined for those who wish to succeed in their engineering career. ENIB, which places the international dimension at the heart of its pedagogical project, seeks to position itself in the top ranks of international rankings.

Thus, an excellent command of different languages, in particular English, and intercultural skills are key factors for professional success. The ENIB engineering school has understood this by pushing students to realize the importance of an international experience in their curriculum.

In order to aim far, the international aspect is declined in a multitude of forms. ENIB favors academic stays (between one and two years of study for the partnership with ENSAM) and seeks to multiply the number of partnership agreements with new foreign institutions allowing to obtain, if necessary, a double degree such as master or engineer.

ENIB tends to favor the mixing of cultures by welcoming foreign students in its premises and encouraging multicultural work. It also encourages its engineering students to do internships (short or long term, end of studies) or to live professional experiences outside the Tunisian borders.

C.2 Strengthening partnerships with businesses

The visibility of the school could be improved by building very rich relationships with companies while being faithful to the main partners of ENIB. The former graduates of the school in exercise are able to contribute to facilitate the integration of the establishment in its economic environment. It remains to be said that competition is increasingly strong between the actors of higher education in an economic context which makes companies, more and more solicited, more and more demanding.

As a result, the school is asked to reinforce the innovation process among its students and trainees by developing a policy of action towards companies and start-ups (expertise and hosting) aimed at :

Structure and deploy the process of entrepreneurship and innovation, including the establishment of a pre-incubation offer and partnerships with incubators, incubators and other actors of the innovation ecosystem in the region of Bizerte.
To contribute to the development of ENIB's national reputation among companies by establishing strategic partnerships with companies with an international dimension,
Develop relationships with companies around academic partnerships promoting internships and end-of-study projects
Organize national events of excellence to be visible to companies and key players in our specialties.

D- Strengthen the school's attractiveness and visibility

The visibility of ENIB deserves to be boosted so that it is coherent with the strategy of the institution. This requires the creation and implementation of a communication service whose mission will be to :

To present the school's policy in the fields of engineering education with emphasis on its academic partnerships,
To improve the attractiveness of ENIB to national students,
Improve the school's visibility among international students,
Formalize and implement partnerships with companies

D.1 Strengthening of academic partnerships

At the present time, ENIB's engineering training is supported by two partnership agreements for a double degree in engineering and a master's degree with the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (France). Within the framework of these agreements, between 25 and 35% of the students who successfully complete their 2nd year at ENIB benefit from 12 to 24 months mobility. Aware of the importance of academic collaborations, the school will work in its 2020-2023 strategic plan to expand its partnerships by focusing on :

The strengthening of double degree agreements in engineering training with renowned institutions.
The development of a policy of "visiting professors" allowing both the enrichment of curricula and the development of links between schools.
The integration of companies' expectations in the selection criteria of the school's academic partners.

D.2 To improve the associative activities for the benefit of ENIB students

The competition between Tunisian engineering schools is increasingly tough in terms of recruitment of candidates from preparatory classes. The attractiveness of ENIB to students is measured by the number of students with the best scores requesting to be oriented to the school. In order to achieve this objective, it is necessary to undertake actions tending to improve the environment of the university life of the students of ENIB by seeking to :

Promote community life in the school by encouraging club activities as well as cultural and sports events,
Provide students with the material and space necessary to carry out the activities of their choice
To facilitate the mobility of ENIB students by developing new partnerships of excellence with French and English-speaking schools and universities
Reinforce the support of students in their international mobility.
Develop international work experience in the curriculum.

D.3 Opening the school to student mobility

The improvement of the school's attractiveness to international students, especially from the best Maghrebian, African and world universities is an objective that the school will be able to achieve, the actions to be carried out in this direction consists in :

Develop courses and curricula in English: International Masters on 1 to 2 years for international students and accessible to Tunisian students.
Reserve training slots in the curriculum for visiting international faculty.
Reinforce the reception and support of international students (sponsorships, integration evenings, material support, etc.).
Develop a distance learning offer, particularly in English.
Implement the possibility of obtaining the engineering degree with courses mostly in English.
To set up arrangements for the recruitment of international students outside the partnership agreement.

D.4 Creation and implementation of dynamic portal

The implementation of a dynamic portal to which we associate an information system specific to the institution is one of the requirements of certification. This portal will make ENIB known and presented to Tunisian and foreign students. The dynamic portal provides important information to companies that will come to look for ENIB graduates.

Nowadays, the best way to communicate with young graduates and students is the dynamic portal. By realizing it, ENIB will enhance its notoriety and its image. The dynamic portal will also allow to present the training, the courses and the specificities of the establishment. These specificities will allow the school to stand out, with the rarity of some of its courses and also thanks to its innovative training.

The dynamic portal is a vector of information for the students, the administration, the teachers since it allows to consult the data of the school, its internal rules, the life within the establishment, the timetables, the results, the activities of the clubs, etc, ....

The dynamic portal allows students, teachers and staff to get in touch directly with the different services of the school. With the dynamic portal we can extend the administrative functionalities to cover :

Online registration
Requests for administrative documents

Nowadays, it is essential to communicate on the internet, creating the website of the school is then an essential step. The website is a platform to convey the message that your project is to realize the projects of your students.

E- Preparing the school for the accreditation of its courses

E.1 Identification of discrepancies between training paths and recruiters' expectations

In a context marked by the precariousness of youth employment in Tunisia and neighboring countries, obtaining a degree is considered an additional asset that promotes employability. While companies place the diploma in third place in the selection criteria, behind experience and acquired skills of candidates. Indeed, these two factors can accelerate or slow down the career progression of young recruits. The deterministic effect of initial basic training often appears after graduation.

The training offer of an engineering school such as ENIB is overshadowed by the blatant increase in the requirements imposed by the procedures for obtaining labels, habilitations or accreditation. These requirements are born of the internationalization of training fields.

Indeed, the internationalization of engineering education has had significant effects on the development of human skills in the various engineering sectors. The technological and social transformations brought about by globalization have imposed new requirements with regard to these characteristics. Depending on the country and the context, the needs of different sectors of activity or even of companies within the same sector can vary considerably.

Particular interest is given to the contributions of engineers to support economic and social development at national and international levels. The academic knowledge acquired and the skills developed are considered as professional capabilities that will be required later by the professional world. The missions of engineers have become much more diversified, as they must be trained in the concepts of design, production, but also in control, efficiency, performance and innovation. Those in charge of education and training systems consider the quality of training and its adequacy with the current needs of companies and society as a crucial point. In engineering schools, and in particular ENIB, the evaluation of quality must undergo a continuous evolution that will contribute to approaching better and better the requirements and criteria of the most highly rated international accreditation bodies.

E.2 Making ENIB adhere to quality standards

To facilitate its accreditation process, ENIB will have to adhere to international quality standards, in particular ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 21001:2018, by putting in place a process management, a risk management and a culture aiming at listening to students and all interested parties such as teachers, administrative staff, technicians, engineers and companies. This approach will allow the identification of improvement actions to be implemented and to capitalize on its business knowledge management by ensuring that it meets the expectations of learners, its public and private partners and society and generations.

Indeed, ISO 9001:2015 is a standard that specifies the general organizational requirements of a quality management system. While the ISO 21011:2018, insists on specific requirements for training bodies, has the privilege to insist on the requirements that guarantee the quality of training as the consideration of the specific needs of learners, the skills of facilities, equipment and environment that facilitate the transmission of knowledge, the acquisition of skills, the design of curricula, communication with students and stakeholders.

E.3 Preparation and assembly of the accreditation file

The preparation of an accreditation file must be based on numerous investigations in order to select from among the existing bodies those that are best recognized at different levels (national, regional and international). Research must be carried out in order to identify and list the organizations based on criteria related to the requirements, the cost of the mission and the time required for its execution.

Internal consultations will then allow for the selection of the organization that will be appointed to conduct the evaluation of ENIB's courses. Following this, the ENIB team will have to start the preparation of its accreditation file. The different chapters of the file will have to lead to justified answers to the requirements imposed by the accreditation body.

E.4 Internal evaluation of the accreditation file

The internal evaluation of the file must be carried out by staff belonging to the institution. The internal evaluation is based on questions concerning the relevance of the documents making up the file, the impact and coherence of different actions with regard to the accrediting body.

The internal evaluation consists of an analysis of the training processes being carried out, the organization and the impact of the actions for the engineering students. It must be supported by a documentary analysis, observation of practices and the collection of the points of view of the various actors (administrator, administrative staff, students, teachers, partners). It is a collective and participatory process that requires the involvement of all the stakeholders and the comparison of their words with those of the people supported.

The internal evaluation should enable the identification of the points to be enhanced in order to put them forward in the improvement process and the elements to be strengthened in order to maintain them. The objective is to satisfy the requirements imposed by the accreditation body.