The Profile
From college dropout to Vice-Rector
Jean-François Champagne took a somewhat unorthodox path to his position as a Vice-Rector at Université du Québec à Montréal | Accueil, and now, having been diagnosed with ALS, is setting up a scholarship to encourage other students from unconventional backgrounds to succeed in higher education.
By Julia Gilmore
Jean-François Champagne’s journey to Vice-Rector, Human and Organizational development, at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) didn’t start in the way one might expect. Aged just 17, after completing high school in his native Quebec, Champagne, a self-described ‘college dropout’ (in the Quebecois education system, college is the interim stage between high school and university), began his working life at a building maintenance company. He tells QS Insights Magazine: “Aged 18, I was nominated as a team lead and the year after that I was promoted to foreman. At 19, I was already in charge of 15 employees, all older than me. That was my first experience of management, but at first, I had no idea what management was!”
He certainly knows what management is now, with expertise spanning nearly 40 years in a variety of sectors. Champagne has also gained considerable experience from his beloved volunteering roles. “While I was working, I also volunteered for the Red Cross and the Canadian Scouts, and I was rapidly promoted within volunteer organisations in managerial tasks,” he says.
“In my twenties, I was the youngest Scout Commissioner ever elected in Canada.… By default, without me even looking for it, I was always landing into management roles.”
However, in his late twenties, Champagne started to think about possible future steps. “I realised that with only a high school degree my options would be very limited, so I decided to go back to school and get an education.
“I was very good at IT, at work I was in charge of the network, purchasing equipment and giving support to all my colleagues. Based on that, I was able to receive a letter recognising all my professional tasks, and UQAM, even though I didn't have the academic requirements, admitted me based on my experience into my first degree in IT management.”
Champagne worked full time while at university, studying four nights a week and remaining involved with volunteering. He was then promoted to IT and Purchasing Director at his company, but a few years later faced a familiar problem: “I liked what I did, but I was not sure I wanted to do that until I retired.”
After 17 years, he resigned and went to work for Polytechnique Montreal (PM). “My university degree opened up that opportunity because they would never have considered my candidacy with only a high school diploma.” Champagne spent five years at PM, followed by a stint in the Quebec healthcare system, where, recognising his potential, he was supported to go back to university for further qualifications in organisational management, change management and multidisciplinary management.
“I then worked in the private sector, but in the end, it was not the ideal environment for me,” Champagne reflects. “So I applied for a role at the UQAM. This was the university where I did my first degree, so it was a nice turn of events to start working there.”
Shortly after his first year at UQAM, a role opened up as HR director, representing around 10,000 employees, which Champagne gladly took on. Then, the position of HR Vice Rector, one of the highest offices at the university, was vacated and Champagne was named interim vice-rector during the lengthy selection process.
He describes his elation upon receiving the role: “To go from a college dropout to HR Vice Rector for UQAM is an achievement that I’m very proud of. I’m not only not only proud of my own journey, but also proud of the influence I can have in the organisation on so many strategies.”
A little over two years ago, when Champagne was 52 years old, he decided to again go back to school and apply to the International Masters Program for Managers (IMPM). The first module was held in Lancaster in England, the second was in Montreal at McGill University and Champagne was looking forward to the third, held in Bangalore.
Unfortunately, right after the second module, he realised he was experiencing odd symptoms. “My left hand started shaking, and I'm left-handed so I realised quite rapidly that there was something wrong... I realised that when I was trying to take the coffee pot for my morning coffee, I was unable to raise it with my left hand like I've done for so many years.”
His doctor referred him to a specialist for tests to try to understand what was going on. Between September 2022 and January 2023, Champagne was under observation, without any resolution.
However, he had a growing suspicion of what might be affecting him, explaining: “I have been president of the EMC, a non-profit organisation specialised in moto-marshalling at events, for over 28 years. One of our customers was a foundation to support ALS, which is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. So, I knew about the disease, and that was what I was starting to suspect was what I had.”
ALS is an incurable neurodegenerative disease, which gradually leads to the loss of control of all muscles. People who have ALS at some point will have difficulty talking as well as eating and swallowing. The last stage of the disease affects the respiratory system, with those afflicted needing a breathing machine to survive. After diagnosis, the average life expectancy is around two to five years, although this varies.
On February 1, 2023, Champagne had a second appointment with his neurologist. He was also meant to be boarding a plane that afternoon to Bangalore for the third module of IMPM. That day, the neurologist confirmed he had ALS.
Champagne reflects on his thought process right after his diagnosis: “I was wondering, if I cancel my trip to India and I go back to work on Monday, what will I tell them? One option would be going back home and pretending I was on vacation, but I didn’t want to live that lie. The other option was, I will get on a plane and go to Bangalore for the program. And so that's what I did.”
With an 18-hour journey to think about the diagnosis, Champagne put his change management expertise to use and started planning. “I asked myself: who should I tell about my disease? What should I do about my different volunteer involvements? What should I do about my work?
“During that trip to Bangalore, I was able to reconnect and see how I could do whatever I was able to. I had no control over the disease, but I decided to take control of whatever time I had left.”
For Champagne, his primary concern was to “not put myself in a position where I felt I was a burden.” He decided to pull out of his role at UQAM. However, his boss pointed out “’even though you're telling me that you're not able to do as much as [before], you're still doing much more than anyone else! So, don’t rush your decision.’
“I'm now a special advisor to the Rector and in that way, I can still work. I'm working part time now and I'm in a position where I can still support my employer and my colleagues.”
A few months after telling his closest colleagues about his diagnosis, they came to him to share an idea they had. UQAM, like most universities in the world, have a charitable foundation offering bursaries and scholarships. His colleagues suggested starting a scholarship in Champagne’s name to raise money to support young people with potential and enable them to fulfil their own dreams.
Champagne knew it wouldn’t be as simple as donating his own money to the foundation to fund a scholarship: “I couldn’t do that, I needed to be very prudent because of the treatments that I will need, and to ensure the future of my family. I was not in a position where I could make a big donation myself.
“However, I'm a people person, I have a huge network, professionally but also as a volunteer and with the IMPM. I knew for sure that if I put my network to good use, I would be able to raise money.
“For the scholarship, if we reached CAD$25,000, that would be enough to have a self-sufficient fund, where the interest will pay by itself. So that fund would be forever, and it will survive even after my death. But if I’m able to raise CAD$50,000, that would be enough for to give an annual grant of CAD$2,500, which is around a years’ tuition at UQAM.”
Unsurprisingly, given Champagne’s tireless work ethic and global network, his fundraising efforts have been a success. “So far, we have been able to raise CAD$30,000. This year, the first scholarship will be given to a student.”
Champagne says he is “amazed” at what they’ve raised so far, with French-speaking universities generally not receiving the same coverage as other English-speaking universities in Canada. Nevertheless, he was “able to convince a lot of English speakers, people that do not speak French at all, to donate to the foundation”.
Champagne is still determined to raise a further CAD$20,000 to meet that CAD$50,000 target, reaching out to media both in Quebec and across the world. “For now, I'm trying to get to that second step of visibility, I'm trying to reach people outside my network,” he says.
He has a message to QS Insights Magazine readers who have been moved by his story and want to know how they can contribute: “The most significant way you could help me is telling people around you my story and try to reach people in your in your own community that you think that my story would inspire.”
You can donate to the Jean-François-Champagne Scholarship Fund here.