Honour for the short undergraduate program on designing entrepreneurial projects
Minister’s prize for higher education for Franck Barès and Michel Vézina
June 9, 2022
Franck Barès and Michel Vézina, creators of the short undergraduate program on designing entrepreneurial projects won the Minister’s prize for higher education in the Asynchronous format category of the Distance Education in university teaching section. The Minister’s prizes for higher education recognize the creative power and commitment of college and university teaching staff. They highlight and encourage the creation of effective, adapted, and innovative teaching.
This short undergraduate program, which is 100% online, aims to support fledgling entrepreneurs located throughout the global French-speaking community. It has already excelled in HEC Montréal and beyond. In addition to having won the HEC Montréal Teaching Innovation Award in 2020, the digital teaching tool created for the short undergraduate program was awarded a mark of quality (“label”) in June 2020 by the French Foundation for Management Education (FNEGE). The FNEGE is a French organization whose mission is to develop and improve higher education in business management.
Franck Barès
Michel Vézina
This program enables both professors to provide great flexibility to individuals who wish to test the different facets of an entrepreneurial project. The teaching process is designed in stages that are all linked to practical tools, illustrations, and templates.
Franck Barès is a Professor and first Director at the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, HEC Montréal (2015-2018). In 2014, he co-developed a massive open online course (MOOC) entitled L’esprit entrepreneurial (Entrepreneurial Spirit). He has already won several honours in the School for his contributions to teaching: Alma Lepage Award 2017, Award for Teaching Excellence 2018, and Teaching Innovation Award 2020. In January 2022, his book entitled Start-up tribu : comment entreprendre avec sa communauté, was published by EMS (France) and JFD (Québec). It serves as a textbook in courses on entrepreneurial support.
Michel Vézina is a Professor at HEC Montréal and Fellow of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec (CPA). His numerous research and teaching activities focus mainly on strategic control, budget control, management charts, activity-based accounting, and online training. His pedagogical achievements as well as the books and case studies he has published have earned him many teaching awards. During his career, he was the Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Gestion journal, Director of the Department of Accounting Studies, responsible for developing the DESS in Professional Accounting – CPA, and Director for certificate programs. In 2016, he co-developed a MOOC entitled Décisions financières et décisions budgétaires (Financial Decisions and Budget Decisions). He has been an Honorary Professor since September 1, 2021.