The University of Bucharest announced on Friday that it wants to limit the term of office of rectors to two terms, which is a maximum of 8 years, writes News.ro.

“The University of Bucharest believes that any modern public university must be organized and function as a democracy of equals, where power is administered collectively and cannot be captured by one person to whom the academic community has only temporarily entrusted leadership,” the University of Bucharest said on Friday.

The institution asks the governing bodies to limit the powers of rectors to two terms, a maximum of 8 years in total.

Thus, the University of Bucharest clearly and unequivocally defined in its Statute that “a person cannot be rector for more than 8 years, regardless of the period during which the mandates took place, their interruptions and the circumstances under which these interruptions occurred” (Article 120 3).

“We believe that as long as rectors are elected by universal suffrage, as in the case of the President of Romania, the number of rectors’ powers should be limited. In addition, the example of the president of the Romanian Academy, who, in turn, cannot have more than two mandates, is also very relevant for the model that universities should adopt,” the institution also conveyed.

According to his representatives, “the appeal to university autonomy, a fundamental principle of the functioning of universities in democratic states regarding the establishment of the number of mandates, undoubtedly raises questions about the degree of influence, control and authority of the rector, who has three or more powers over academic and collective decision-making forums, such as the University Senate.”

“Authoritarian and discretionary models of voting control, representation in electoral congresses and leadership and decision-making forums, and finally political parties, have been too visible in society in recent decades not to raise real fears that they might be captured by politics. and in Romanian universities. University autonomy should be accompanied by public responsibility of universities in deepening democratic values ​​in society and, even more so, in academic communities. On the other hand, we draw attention to the fact that one of the tricks of those who are now trying to become permanent rectors is that the law decides not the past, but the future, so the number of mandates, even if it is limited, will have to be counted from zero, with the adoption of new laws on education,” the institution reported.

According to representatives of the University of Bucharest, the Law on Higher Education should clearly indicate, as the University of Bucharest has done in its own Statute, that a limit of 8 years in office is established, regardless of the period during which the mandates took place, their interruptions and the circumstances under which these interruptions occurred.

“We are convinced that our arguments will be widely accepted by the Romanian society, students, the majority of teachers and researchers. We stand in solidarity with the leadership of the Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu and ask other universities in Romania to join us in supporting this initiative,” the institution also reported.

“What kind of strong university is one in which one member of the community becomes ‘indispensable’ to any one of hundreds or thousands of colleagues?” A healthy university is one that naturally ensures the transfer of power and authority among members of the academic community to create a democratic environment of decision-making and collegial leadership. The leading rector knows that it is his duty to train and support competent and dedicated colleagues who will implement the university’s projects and connect it to proper international academic practice: vice-chancellors, deans, deputy deans, department directors. How good of a leader can a rector be considered if he tells all his colleagues that no one can replace him and holds unlimited power in his hands?”, says Marian Preda, rector of the University of Bucharest.