Professors protest against law on gainful employment of retirement-eligible people

Members of the Universitaria Consortium say they will not accept the provisions of a bill regarding gainful employment of retirement-eligible people, pointing to univeristy autonomy.

"The Universitaria Consortium, made up of the Bucharest School of Economics, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Babes Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, the University of Bucharest, Vest University of Timisoara, have been dismayed by the approval in a government meeting of June 9, 2021, of a bill regarding gainful employment of retirement-eligible people. University autonomy is guaranteed by the Romanian Constitution, and such right is indisputable and non-negotiable. According to it, and in line with the National Education Law, universities develop their own institutional strategies and manage their human resources autonomously and in the interest of the universities. We, the five major member universities of the Universitaria Consortium, find it unacceptable for the legislator to violate the law by abusive encroachment upon an area that belongs exclusively to decision-makers of a university," reads a press statement released by the Universitaria Consortium.

According to it, "no one has the legal right to step in to undermine university authority and autonomy by amending legislation."

The Universitaria Consortium is "urgently" demanding legal and real observance of university autonomy, in the spirit of promoting academic quality in Romania and better education of the graduates.

The statement is signed by university professors Nicolae Istudor, rector of the Bucharest School of Economics (ASE) and acting chairman of the Universitaria Consortium; Tudorel Toader, rector of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi; Daniel David, rector of the Babes Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca; Marian Preda, rector of the University of Bucharest, and Marilen Pirtea, rector of the Vest University of Timisoara.