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EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Management staff for higher education

Romania

10.Management and other education staff

10.5Management staff for higher education

Last update: 9 June 2022

Management positions in higher education are as follows:

  • Rector of the higher education institution

  • Pro-rector of the higher education institution

  • Faculty dean

  • Faculty pro-dean

  • Director of the department

  • Head of the chair.

Requirements for appointment

MECS Order no. 3751/2015 provides a Framework Methodology on the process of setting up and appointing the structures and management functions at the level of the institutions of the national higher education system, which regulates the process of setting up and appointing the university management structures and functions at university level and at faculties and departments levels.

The principles underpinning the process of setting up and choosing management structures and functions

The principles underpinning the process of setting up and choosing management structures and functions are as follows:

a) the principle of legality

b) the principle of university autonomy

c) the principle of transparency

d) the principle of respecting the rights and freedoms of students and academic staff

e) the principle of representativeness by faculties, departments, teaching sections / lines, study programs, according to the University Charter

f) the principle of observance of ethical and deontological norms.

Establishment of management structures

The Department's Council consists of teaching and research staff as members. All teaching and research staff have the right to choose the members of the Department's Council. The election of the members of the Department’s Council is done by universal, direct and secret vote.

The Faculty’s Council is made up of a maximum of 75% of the teaching and research faculty members and of at least 25% of the faculty students. Representatives of teaching and research staff  have the right to elect members of the Faculty’s Council. The students of the faculty have the right to choose the representatives of the students in the Faculty’s Council.

The University Senate consists of 75% teaching and research staff, representatives of each faculty, according to the principle stipulated in the University Charter and its own methodology of elections, and 25% of the students' representatives. All the representatives, members of the university senate, without exception, will be elected by the universal, direct and secret vote of all the teaching staff and the researchers, and of all the students. Each faculty will have representatives in the University Senate, according to the principle stipulated in the University Charter and in its Own Methodology of Elections, observing the provisions established by art. 3.

The teaching staff and the researchers of each faculty for the shares of representation according to the principle stipulated in the University Charter and in its own methodology of elections have the right to elect members of the University Senate. The students of each faculty according to the principle stipulated in the University Charter and in its own methodology of elections, observing the provisions of art. 3, have the right to elect their representatives in the university senate, in the percentage of 25%.

The Council of the Doctoral School is established by the universal, direct and secret vote of the doctoral supervisors of the respective doctoral school. PhD Supervisors in the Doctoral School have the right to be elected as members of The Council of the Doctoral School.

According to the provisions of the National Education Law no. 1/2011, with the subsequent modifications and completions, the principle of representativeness by faculties, departments, sections / teaching lines, programs should be observed in the process of establishing and electing the structures and management functions at the level of the university, faculties and departments of study, as the case may be, a principle established by the University Charter.

Conditions of occupation of management positions

The Department Director is elected by universal, direct and secret vote of all teaching and research staff members in that department. They, all titular teaching and research staff of that department, have the right to be elected, as Department Director.

The Deans are selected through a public contest, organized at the faculty level, by the newly elected Rector of the university. Persons from university or from any similar faculty in the country or from abroad who, on the basis of the hearing in the plenum of the Faculty Council, received his / her notice of participation in the competition, have the right to take part in the public contest for the post of Dean. The Faculty’s Council has the obligation to approve at least 2 candidates.

The Vice - Dean is a leading position at the faculty level, being appointed for this purpose by the Dean.

In multilingual and multicultural universities, at least one of the Vice - Deans is appointed at the proposal of teachers belonging to the national minority from the department or teaching line in a language of the national minorities, according to the regulation of the line of study according to art. 135 paragraph (2) of Law no. 1/2011, with the subsequent amendments and completions, unless the Dean comes from the teaching department or line of study with the language of the respective national minority. Teachers belonging to the department or teaching line must propose at least 3 candidates.

The Rector of state and private universities may be appointed in one of the following ways:

a) on the basis of a public contest, based on a methodology approved by the newly elected university senate in accordance with this law

b) by the universal, direct and secret vote of all teaching and research staff in the university and of the representatives of the students from the university senate and faculties councils.

The method of appointing the rector, based on a public contest or by election, shall be established at least 6 months before each rector's appointment.

The appointment by a public contest of the Rector of state and private universities can be done on the basis of an approved methodology in this respect by the newly elected senate.

In order to organize and conduct the public rector's competition, the newly elected university senate has the following attributions:

a) elaborates and approves the methodology for advising, selecting and recruiting the rector

b) establishes a selection committee consisting of at least 12 members.

The selection committee is made up of 50% university members and 50% of scientific and academic personalities outside the university, from country and abroad. The selection committee includes at least one student representative or a university graduate appointed by the University Senate students, according to the University Charter.

Scientific or academic personalities from the country and from abroad who, on the basis of the hearing in the plenum of the newly elected University Senate, obtained the notice of participation in the competition have the right to take part in the contest for taking the position of rector.  The notification shall be given only on the basis of the simple majority vote of the members of the newly elected university senate. The newly-elected university senate has the obligation to endorse at least 2 candidates.

The election of the Rector of the state and private universities through elections can be done by the universal, direct and secret vote of all teaching and research staff from the university and of the representatives of the students of the university senate and of the faculties councils.

The method of appointing the rector, based on a public contest or by the universal, direct and secret vote of all the teaching and research staff of the university and of the representatives of the students of the university senate and faculties councils, is called the framework methodology of the MECS, referendum. The referendum is organized at the level of each accredited university.

The referendum is organized every four years by the higher education institution, at least 6 months before designation, except for private and confessional higher education institutions where the referendum is organized according to the rector's term of office. The referendum is organized and carried out in accordance with the legislation in force and with the provisions of the framework methodology.

The referendum is organized at each period of a new legally established mandate, before the election of the structures and management positions at the level of the universities, according to the legal provisions. The organization and conduct of the referendum, as well as the implementation of the result, are binding.

The Vice-Rector is a leading position at the university level, being appointed for this purpose by the rector, based on the consultations of the university senate.

In multilingual and multicultural universities, at least one of the vice-rectors is appointed by the rector at the proposal of teachers belonging to national minorities in the department of the section or teaching line in a language of the national minorities, unless the rector comes from the department or line study with teaching in the language of the respective national minority. Teachers belonging to the department or teaching line must propose at least 3 candidates.

The position of Director of the Council for Doctoral Studies is assimilated to the post of rector. The appointment procedure for the Director of the Council for Doctoral Studies is established by the Code of Doctoral Studies.

According to the legal provisions, the structures and management functions of the higher education institutions are chosen for a period of 4 years, according to the University Charter and in accordance with the law.

Conditions of service

Teachers in these structures and functions must be titular in the higher education institution. Candidates are expected to have distinguished professional, managerial and moral qualities and to hold high teaching positions in the academic hierarchy.

Specific tasks

The Department Manager performs the department's management and operational direction. In exercising this function, he/she is helped by the Department Council, according to the University Charter. The Department Manager is responsible for the curriculum, function states, research and quality management and financial management of the department.

The Dean represents the faculty and he/she is responsible for the management and leadership of the faculty. The Dean presents annually a report to the Faculty Council on the state of the faculty. The Dean heads the meetings of the Faculty Council and applies the decisions of the Rector, the Faculty Council and the University Senate. The duties of the Dean are determined in accordance with the provisions of the University Charter and the legislation in force.

The Rector legally represents the university in relations with third parties, performs the executive management of the university and exercises the capacity of authorizing officer.

Basic salaries for senior management positions in state universities are set out in Annex 2 of the Decision no. 582/2016 of 10 August 2016 for the approval of the Methodological Norms for the application of the provisions of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2015 on the remuneration of staff paid out of public funds in 2016, the extension of some deadlines, as well as some fiscal-budgetary measures.