Sapientia is evolving: has been included in the ranking of Romanian universities, digitalizes, and prepares to establish a new faculty

In 2012, Sapientia University became a statutory and accredited institution, an integral part of the national higher education system in Romania, and by 2022 it would be an indispensable reference institution of the same system, both in terms of education and excellence in research, as well as social and community involvement. At the end-of-year press conference, members of the institution's management discussed, among other things, the university's accreditation, its inclusion in the recently published Romanian University Metaranking, the digitization processes that have taken place and are planned within the university, as well as infrastructure developments and the growing importance of the Study Centre in Sfântu Gheorghe.

Sapientia University can proudly claim multiple achievements in terms of education and academic excellence. For the first time, it obtained the highest rating during the institutional accreditation earlier this spring, receiving a "high degree of confidence". As far as university rankings are concerned, Rector TONK Márton, PhD, conveyed important news: this year, for the first time, Sapientia University entered the Metaranking university list, which includes only 31 universities out of 102 higher education institutions in Romania, and our institution is ranked 14th, a shared position. "We encourage our tenured teachers to carry out scientific activities, since the number of publications and citations is the main factor influencing the rankings. The Metaranking 2022 result shows that Sapientia University has joined the big league and has made its mark in these 21 years of existence. We can also say that a new era has begun in the life of the university, strongly confirming that we are a competitive institution both in terms of outstanding scientific research and didactic activity," added the rector. Prof. BALOG Adalbert, PhD, pro-rector in charge of scientific research, confirmed this, saying, "Sapientia has consciously taken on the mission of recognising and supporting teachers in their research work since 2017, and has developed a system of bonuses to reward them, which those eligible can apply for. In figures: while in 2017 an average of around 10-12 publications were published in internationally recognised journals, in 2022 we have almost 50 high-quality publications. We will pay more attention to papers published in international databases, with the help of ACTA. We are currently ranked 3400 out of 30,000 in the Webometrics system, which means we are in the top 12%."

As for the digitisation process, the change has been visible since the beginning of January, as the university started the new year with a new and modern website that also allows online payments. In addition, as announced at the end-of-year press conference, the university obtained a major grant of €2.4 million to support the development of the educational and research process. "This will allow us to equip our classrooms with up-to-date audiovisual equipment in all our premises and to do a major upgrade of our libraries, such as high-end scanners to help us digitise our collections. In addition to IT infrastructure and other upgrades, we are also working on a number of improvements. Examples include the planned planetarium in Miercurea Ciuc, the drones or 3D printers to be purchased in Târgu Mureș, or the long list of film and photography equipment for Cluj-Napoca," said Prof. FARKAS Csaba, PhD, the university's vice-rector for informatics and communication. He added that the new toolkit, such as translation and interpretation software, high-tech gadgets or VR glasses, will enable students to work with educational and research software and tools that are in line with current trends, and will help them become more competent experts. Answering other questions, the director said the planetarium, for example, will probably be operational from April 2023, after going through a nationwide procurement process. Rector TONK Márton continued, "the planetarium is also a good first example of Sapientia University going beyond its primary goals, and through similar implementations we want to meet not only the needs of teachers and students, but also those of the general public".

The press conference also covered the situation of the study programmes in Sfântu Gheorghe, which has been discussed several times this year. "Currently, there are already two BA study programmes in the town, the Forestry programme, which started in 2019, and the Agricultural programme, which obtained accreditation this year, while the Sport and Motor Performance programme also received temporary authorisation in autumn 2022," said Rector TONK Márton, who also revealed that in November this year the Board of Directors of the Sapientia Foundation decided to establish an individual faculty in Sfântu Gheorghe. This can be considered the third formal step in this direction, as the first one was the establishment of the Council of the Study Centre in Sfântu Gheorghe in spring 2021, under which representatives of the three faculties of the university collaborate. The second step was the presentation of the plans for the new campus, which also took place during this period. In this context, the rector assured the press that formal approvals have already been obtained, and that the next step will be to finalize the construction plans. " As a result of the decision of the Board of Directors, the preparations can now begin: a thorough review of the relevant legislation and the preparation of the corresponding documentation. This is a new milestone in the evolution of Sapientia University", added the rector. The next task is to develop a scenario to operatively coordinate and facilitate the transition, the transfer of courses falling under the jurisdiction of different faculties. TONK Márton stressed that "we are and will be necessary and sufficient to meet the expectations of the Board".

Responding to a question from the press, the rector also commented on how Sapientia's budget has been affected by the crisis: like most families in Transylvania, the university also had to rethink its budget. He added that "I am reassured because we have managed to build a budget that anticipates security". He also pointed out that one of the important measures was to take advantage of the 10% percentage granted for online teaching in order to rationalise energy consumption, and to introduce a 2-week period of online courses. However, from mid-February, the second semester will resume with in-person lectures.