The West University of Timișoara is hosting, between April 25-27, 2024, the proceedings of the General Assembly of the National Association of General Administrative Directors from public universities, which brings together general administrative directors, as well as economic directors from all public universities in Romania.
The conference enjoys the presence of over a hundred representatives of the administrative management of the universities and has as special guests representatives of the Ministry of Education and the private sector, among whom we mention the following speakers, who delivered interventions in the plenary opening session of the event: Mrs. Ligia Deca, Minister of Education, Mr. Prof. Univ. dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, rector of the West University of Timișoara, Mr. prof. Dr. Eng. Gigel Paraschiv, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Mihai Corocăescu, President of the organizing institution, ANDGAUP.
The topics of discussion proposed for the debate focus on priority areas of interest for the university space, aiming at the financing of universities (forecasts for the academic year 2024/2025), data management in higher education, the impact of the new education laws, the implementation of projects financed by PNRR, 5G technology and IoT innovations: the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the market, but also the new field of integration of artificial intelligence in education.
Mrs. Ligia Deca, Minister of Education, declared at the opening of the event: "I am happy to see the large number of colleagues present here at UVT, coming from the country's universities, which are centers of innovation, with significant successes in public investments. Administrative teams from universities exchange best practices, bring clarity to the application of legal norms specific to the field, and here, in Timișoara, the Western University of Timișoara manages to coagulate communities. I am very glad that, in addition to the important community of rectors (through the CNR), there is also this community of administrative managers in universities, those who ensure the backbone of universities' autonomy. Administrative departments operate universities to fulfill their public mission. Even in more difficult conditions for the application of operating regulations, these structures do their duty. And this year is primarily a year of challenges, in terms of the major investments made in universities. In Timiș County, we have a series of investments, four projects on the digitization of universities, of over 18 million euros, but also two projects for the construction of university infrastructure, each of eight million euros, as well as funds for the modernization of university infrastructure, for which the following contracting. We can assure you that we are with the universities, with a dedicated ministerial team, led by Mr. Secretary of State Gigel Paraschiv, to support the important efforts of the universities to modernize themselves as an infrastructure open to the challenges of the future. Thank you for your involvement, patience and the power of work, managing to show that Romanian universities have everything they need to be financially autonomous, but also publicly responsible."
Mr. Univ. Prof. Dr. Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, rector of the West University of Timișoara, said: "As Brâncuși used to say - it's not hard to do; it's hard to put yourself in the mood to do it. We, at UVT, have put ourselves in a position to do ambitious things in these years, as evidenced by this new infrastructure of the University House, a building renovated and expanded through a project with European funding. A university works if it has a good teaching staff, it also has very good students, but without a professional administrative body, without the pillars that support over several terms the weight of major projects, universities as entities cannot achieve their public objectives . We affirm, on the one hand, the role of public entities involved in social partnership, but, on the other hand, we also want to be corporations, in which cost management is combined with resource efficiency, as happens in the corporate area, which which is very difficult to complement. I want to believe that at UVT we have succeeded in this dual effort of development as a modern university organization. The opportunities are very great, the European funds are substantial, it is important to support the major investments for which we attract financing. We proposed, at the level of the National Council of Rectors, to create an investment fund, with a level of 10% of resources, for example, for joint use, in the national university circuit, digitization resources or administrative management software, which which would lead to effective integration and balancing in the university system. Thank you all for your hard work, we know that the administrative managers in the universities are the partners of the chancellors, without whom they would not be able to carry out their management programs. I wish you much success in the work of this conference organized by the National Association of General Administrative Directors of Public Universities."
