Tempus helps Romanian universities to meet the EU challenge

Citation

(2001), "Tempus helps Romanian universities to meet the EU challenge", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 25 No. 2/3/4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2001.00325baa.001

Tempus helps Romanian universities to meet the EU challenge

Tempus helps Romanian universities to meet the EU challenge

Tempus, the Trans-European mobility scheme for university studies, was set up in 1990 to work with the European Union's Phare and Tacis programmes in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Its radical reorientation in recent years has focused on helping universities and colleges to train staff in public administration and industry to meet the challenges of EU membership.

The institution building projects offer academic bodies a central role in getting their countries ready to become part of the EU family, with the support of their counterparts in the existing member states. They also bridge the gap between knowledge and practice and this combination of academic knowledge and the world of work, whether in ministries, local authorities or private enterprises, has proved to be a winning one.

Romanian project

In Romania, the "Babes-Bolyai" University and the Technical University, both in the city of Cluj-Napoca, and Transylvania University of Brasov, have together launched a joint European project (JEP) to set up a network for Web-based continuous education in European studies. It involves the universities of Utrecht in The Netherlands, Limerick in Ireland and Turin in Italy, plus a network of non-academic organizations including the Cluj Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, the Cluj County Council, the Foundation for the Promotion of SMEs in Brasov, the Romanian wing of the Carpathian Euroregion Union and Swedish Telepedagogic Knowledge, based in Nykoping.

The consortium plans to develop a continuous education network (CONED), and set up a CONED centre for Web educational technology, as well as four learning laboratories in the two Cluj-Napoca universities. It is also developing four pilot courses in European studies supported by Internet technologies. Finally, it will set up a Web library and database. Professors Ioan Salomie and Kalman Pusztai from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca are the leading figures in the project.

"We wanted to offer continuous education in European matters to employees from Romanian administration and industry", explains Professor Salomie, the project co-ordinator. "The concept of institution building perfectly matches our goals. Web-based education is effective, cheap, and enables a large number of people to be educated without timetable constraints. The students can take the courses whenever they want, and progress at their own speed. There is no limitation on the number of students enrolled, and for course development and delivery, we can use the principle of 'develop once only use it anywhere'. The new institution building projects are very important for developing the links between universities and their social and economic environment."

No ivory tower

Professor Pusztai, the project contractor, agrees. "A modern university is no longer an ivory tower, but must develop contacts in the society that surrounds it", he explains. "The beneficiaries of our courses are people who usually have a university degree, but we can also offer special training to secondary school graduates from public and local administrations, industry and social organizations. The courses and practical applications we offer are based on careful analysis of the needs in different sectors, and we continuously adapt our courses to these needs. Given the nature of Web-based education, with practically the same effort we can enrol several hundred participants at the same time."

The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca one of Romania's major higher education institutions has taken part in no less than 22 Tempus projects over the past nine years. "Our participation has had a great impact on our institution as well as on ourselves individually", says Professor Pusztai. "Through these projects, we are in a position to know directly the higher education systems in practically all EU countries. We are now able to respond to the needs of our regional enterprises and institutions, to whom we offer training in information technology."

The "Babes-Bolyai" University also welcomes the collaboration with its sister institution. "Co-operation with the Technical University is very beneficial to us", explains Professor Maria Barsan, from the Faculty of Economic Studies. "In the humanities, we are not specialists in information technology, so our engineer colleagues help us to develop continuous education in European studies based on Internet technologies. With support from Tempus, our university has created and developed a Faculty of European Studies, which trains European economy and law specialists through four-year day courses. The faculty also offers MSc and PhD courses."

Under the CONED project, "Babes-Bolyai" University has developed a new laboratory for Web-based education, including a computer server, seven workstations and software for Web-based course development. It will be used by target group members without their own Internet connections. Staff have also acquired new expertise in Web-based education and its delivery, and multimedia authoring tools, through attending training courses in EU partner universities.

Identifying the need

Before launching the project, the co-ordinators examined the training requirements of local enterprises and organizations. In Cluj, they liaised closely with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture one of the largest bodies of its kind in Romania and the major target-group partner. They found a demand for courses in European business law, European market and commercial policies, European management, quality standards in Europe, organizational behaviour, social policies, European communication policies and use of IT in organizations.

Once they identified the main forms of training needed to promote European integration among target group members, the co-ordinators started to think about potential partners in Romania and the EU, specialized in European studies, economics and IT.

"Our Western partners from The Netherlands, Ireland and Italy are outstanding universities with well-known achievements in European studies, open and distance learning and course development from multimedia", declares Professor Salomie. "We are very pleased about our co-operation with these partners. We co-operate closely with them in training our staff in the new technology of Web-based education and multimedia course authoring. They have also brought valuable input during project meetings."

Pilot courses

The pilot courses started in earnest in March 1999 when all the consortium partners met for the first time. For the participants from Western universities, it was their first opportunity to meet the Romanian target groups. During the four-day meetings, the partners planned the curricula and contents of the pilot courses, the time schedule for the courses, arrangements for recognition and accreditation, and evaluation of the trainees. "European business environment", "European management", "Quality management" and "Information systems in organizations using intranet/extranet technology" were the themes chosen for the pilot courses, all delivered and assessed via the Internet.

So far, the response from the Romanian enterprises has been very positive. "Feedback from the two experimental courses delivered in November and December 1999 for two of our target groups showed that the knowledge transferred was already applicable in their daily activities", says Professor Salomie. "The participants also appreciated the very challenging new educational approach."

"Our colleagues are very content with these courses", confirms Ion Giurgea, of the Cluj Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture. "The first experimental course delivered on the Web for us and for nine members of the Chamber was attended by 96 students, and the number of people interested in taking them is increasing continuously."

"Our overall strategy is to facilitate business contacts, business and marketing information, foreign investment promotion and assistance, commercial arbitrage, commercial advice, and training for companies. Thanks to this project we expect to be able to train our own employees, as well as those of member businesses, in European economy and management. We are aware of the importance of institution building for our development, so we take these courses as a great opportunity for training people interested in European practices. We think Web-based education is very modern, useful and effective."

The European dimension

"The idea of launching this JEP came from our clear perception that Romanian society needs this input from the academic community, and we have the necessary skills and knowledge to provide it", adds Professor Pusztai. "What is particularly attractive for our target groups is the stress that Tempus projects put on the 'European dimension'. Romanians need to know, adopt and implement European legislation and regulations in their fields of activity. This is a part of our country's pre-accession strategy."

"Through Tempus and thanks to our Western partners' expertise and know-how, we offer our Romanian target groups the necessary knowledge of European institutions and legislation. The Tempus programme in general, and its institutional building component in particular, has proved to be a good framework for supporting the adoption and implementation of the acquis communautaire by Romanian society."

The training of trainers is an important part of the CONED project and has two aspects. The selected trainers acquire the Web-based education technology (remote student log-in, registration and communication, learning and evaluation) in the EU partner universities. The professors, authors and tutors of pilot courses will make documentary studies in the Western partner institutions, aimed at developing new courses and practical applications.

Becoming more visible

The project ended in March 2001. According to Professor Salomie, the experience acquired will enable the Romanian partners to obtain extra funds from course fees. This money will be used for upgrading the laboratories, and to develop scientific research. "Everywhere in the world universities are struggling to get extra money", he explains. "Tempus projects are a good school for us, because we are learning from our Western partners how to become more visible, based on the quality of teaching, in the non-academic environment."

For the Romanian partners, the only negative aspect of the whole CONED experience has been the amount of time "wasted" in obtaining travel visas from EU embassies. "We hope this problem will be solved in the near future, at least for the people participating in the international projects", says Professor Salomie.

Apart from this inconvenience, the participants believe the project has helped them to make a significant contribution towards the successful construction of an enlarged Union. "Tempus institution building projects represent a good way to get the academics involved in the progress not only of their own universities, but of Romanian society too, towards European integration", argues Professor Nicolae Paun, the Dean of the Faculty of European Studies.

Indeed, all the CONED partners plan to maintain their co-operation within this framework after the Tempus project ends, and to make CONED a self-sustaining business.

(This article was originally published by the European Commission, Education and Culture DG in Le Magazine, No. 13, 2000.)