West University of Timișoara

The West University of Timișoara (Romanian: Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara; abbreviated UVT) is a public higher education institution located in Timișoara. Classified by the Ministry of National Education as a university of education and scientific research, UVT is one of the nine members of the Universitaria Consortium (the group of Romanian elite universities). Also, the West University is a component institution of the National Research–Development–Innovation System in its capacity as an accredited higher education institution.

The university was founded by the Decree-Law no. 660 issued on 30 December 1944, which stipulates that a university must be created in western Romania. Its first faculties either were dissolved or became independent institutions. These independent higher education institutions became a sole university at the end of September 1962. In 1968 the institution became an independent university. A difficult period followed, especially for the humanities and the exact sciences. Fields of study such as music, fine arts, history, geography, natural sciences and chemistry have all but disappeared, while philology has greatly restricted its activity. As a result, many of the faculties were transferred to other institutions. 1989, the year of the Romanian Revolution, was a turning point in the evolution of the university. It led to the present-day conditions. An essential mentality change took place in the perception of the academic institution, in accordance with the democratic institutions in Western Europe. A substantial institutional reform was carried out, beginning with the redefining of the university's mission by establishing its objectives.

The West University of Timișsoara comprises 11 faculties with the respective departments, as well as a teacher training department. The faculties that operate within UVT offer nationally accredited study programs at bachelor's, master's and doctoral level in the following fields: Arts and Design; Chemistry, Biology, Geography; Economics and Business Administration; Law; Letters, History and Theology; Mathematics and Computer Science; Music and Theater; Physical Education and Sports; Physics; Political Sciences, Philosophy and Communication Sciences; Sociology and Psychology.

History

30 December 1944: Decree-Law no. 660

The establishment of the West University of Timișoara was a complex and long process. It was done in stages, in an internal and international political, social and economic context marked by World War II and the territorial resettlements caused by the loss of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and Hertsa region (in the north), as well as Southern Dobruja (in the south). 1940 brings major changes in the academic life of Timișoara. After the Second Vienna Award, which saw Northern Transylvania ceded to Hungary, the faculties of Agronomy, Theology and Sciences from Cluj relocated to Timișoara. Notable for the establishment of the future West University are the insistent and mobilizing approaches of the politician and culture man Sever Bocu who, through his humanistic and cultural policy ideas, exerted a strong influence in the Romanian society in Banat, between 1920 and 1945. Although the Faculty of Sciences returned after 1945 in Cluj, a good part of the academics from Cluj remained in Timișoara, such as Coriolan Drăgulescu, Mihail Ghermănescu, Gheorghe Th. Gheorghiu, Emilian Arghiriade, Ioan Curea, Gheorghe Silaș, Maria Neumann, Gheorghe Ostrogovich, Alexandru Cișmaș, Constantin Sălceanu and others, who were at the forefront of those who campaigned for the establishment of the West University, as the fourth university of the country.

The West University was formally established by Decree-Law no. 660 of 30 December 1944, promulgated by King Michael I. This act provided for the newly established institute to operate starting with the academic year 1944/1945 with the following specializations: Law, Letters and Philosophy, Sciences, Human Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Pharmacy and Theology. The transposition of the Decree into reality has provoked contradictory discussions and tensions caused by vainglory and rivalry both locally and regionally; six of the seven faculties of the future West University were claimed by other cities (Arad, Lugoj, Caransebeș), there was the intention of some local ethnic groups to impose a bilingual organization of university education, which endangered the creation and operation of a university with a unitary organizational structure in Timișoara.

The dissensions within the Ephoria of the West University, the increasingly hostile actions of the communist authorities, imposed by the Soviet occupiers, led to the annulment, in essence, of the provisions of the Royal Decree for the establishment of the country's fourth university. In 1945, the government of Petru Groza decreed that the West University would first be a Faculty of Medicine. Obstacles have multiplied. Local and government funding sources were insufficient and, in addition, their management was blamed. Sever Bocu is fired from Ephoria's leadership, which will eventually be dissolved.

Administration

The UVT Board of Directors ensures, under the leadership of the UVT Rector, the operative management of the university and implements the decisions of the UVT Senate. The Board of Directors consists of the rector, vice-rectors, deans, the general administrative director and a student representative, appointed by OSUT. The position of rector of the university has been held since 2012 by Marilen Pirtea, former dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

Students

As of 2018, 14,804 students are enrolled in the West University. Between 2008 and 2018, the total number of students decreased by more than 9,000, from almost 24,000 to less than 15,000. Among the causes that led to this decrease are the poor performance of high school students in the baccalaurate exam and the cut in the number of paid places.

2% of students are foreigners. In 2017, 236 foreign students were enrolled in the West University, most of them from Israel, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, Algeria and Italy. Also, in 2017, 496 Romanian students from abroad were enrolled, most of them from Serbia and Moldova.

Student organizations

The Organization of Students of the West University of Timișoara (OSUT) is the only union-student organization established at the level of the West University of Timișoara, founded on 27 March 1990, which makes it the most representative organization of the university. It deals with student representation, providing basic services for them and organizing projects. OSUT is a full member of the National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania (ANOSR) and often active in the European Students' Union (ESU).

Other organizations that operate within the university are:

• Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales (AIESEC)
• Association for Romanians Abroad Inițiativa
• Exact Science Students' Association from the University of Timișoara (ASSEUT)
• Timișoara Psychology and Sociology Students Association (ASPST)
• European Law Students' Association (ELSA)
• Erasmus Student Network (ESN)
• Timișoara Geography Students Association (GEOTIM)
• Bessarabian Students' Organization from Timișoara (OSB)
• Young Accountants Association (YAA)

Affiliations and international relations

The Department of International Relations (DRI) is responsible for the UVT activities aimed at fulfilling the strategic internationalization objectives of the university. Within DRI operate the Erasmus+ Office, whose main task is to develop and implement mobility programs and international cooperation projects at UVT under Erasmus+ and EEA Financial Mechanism and the International Cooperation and Foreign Students Office, which provides institutional and informational support to international students and foreign teachers who wish to study and teach at UVT.

The West University of Timișoara is a member of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, the European University Association and the International Association of Universities, among others. UVT is also part of the Magna Charta Observatory, a nonprofit organization founded by the University of Bologna and the European University Association.

UVT has entered into collaboration agreements with 198 universities in 51 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America.

Infrastructure

The West University of Timișoara has seven buildings:

the main building of UVT, with an area of 26,319.1 m2: 10 lecture halls and 46 rooms (of which 27 laboratories); added to this are the rooms of the building of the Faculty of Physics (a separate building attached to the main building) with a lecture hall, two classrooms and 25 laboratories;

the building of the Faculty of Law, with an area of 3,006 m2: four lecture halls, 15 lecture and seminar rooms and a conference room;

the building of the Faculty of Arts and Design, with an area of 6,175 m2: four lecture and seminar rooms and eight laboratories (studios);

the building of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, with an area of 7,652 m2: a lecture hall, 36 lecture and seminar rooms and six laboratories;

the building of the Faculty of Chemistry, Biology, Geography, with an area of 4,255 m2: five lecture and seminar rooms and eight laboratories;

the building of the Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, with an area of 180 m2: two lecture and seminar rooms;

the building of the Department of Biology and Chemistry, with an area of 725 m2: six laboratories where courses are also held.

Within the main building is the Aula Magna where national and international large-scale events can take place. The West University of Timișoara also has a computer center located within the Faculty of Physics.

Campus

UVT students are accommodated in the C3, C12, C13, C15, C16, C17 and G4 dormitories in Complexul Studențesc and in the Camelia, Drept and Renașterii dormitories spread in different locations in the city. As of 2018, UVT has a capacity of 3,005 accommodation places (out of the 13,000 in the whole complex). However, UVT can only cover 60% of applications.

Sports facilities

The West University has two sports halls: one on Vasile Pârvan Boulevard and another on Oituz Street. The first consists of a gym of 151.19 m2 and a sports hall of 538.56 m2. The second was inaugurated in 2015 and covers 1,700 m2. It has locker rooms for athletes and referees, fitness equipment, a doctor's office and 150 seats in the stands. In the Oituz area, UVT representatives intend to arrange several outdoor sports fields, as well as a swimming pool.

Also, in Vasile Pârvan Boulevard there is a handball field, with an area of 600 m2, also used for minifootball and a basketball court with bitumen surface.

Eugen Todoran Central University Library

The library was established by Decree-Law no. 660 of 30 December 1944, issued by King Michael I and named after the Romanian philologist Eugen Todoran, who, as rector of the university, supported its transformation into an academic library. At first, the library's bookstock consisted mainly of mathematics and physics books and magazines. After the Faculty of Philology was founded in 1956, the library of the Pedagogical Institute acquired an encyclopedic profile and was continuously enriched. Since 1962, with the transformation of the Pedagogical Institute into a university, the Central Library of the University of Timișoara has developed rapidly. Since 1975, it has been entitled to a legal deposit. Since 1992, by Order of the Minister of Education no. 6237 of 14 September, the Library of the University of Timișoara became the Central University Library, an institution of national interest, with legal personality, similar to those in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Iași.

Rankings

According to QS World University Rankings, West University of Timișoara ranks 94th among the best universities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. According to Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, UVT ranks 1334th in the world and 5th in the country. In Round University Ranking, which measures the performance of universities based on 20 performance indicators grouped into four categories – teaching (40%), research (40%), international diversity (10%) and financial sustainability (10%) and six areas of studies – humanities, life sciences, natural sciences, technical sciences, social sciences and medical sciences, UVT ranks 626th in the world and 2nd in the country. In the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings, the only ranking in the world that measures the commitment of each participating university in the development of a green infrastructure, UVT ranks 791st globally and 10th nationally. In the Report no. 44/2011 regarding the external evaluation of the academic quality, the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) marked UVT as "highly trusting".

A summary of the presence of UVT in national and international rankings is given in the following table:

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)