The Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania is launching an independent faculty in Sepsiszentgyörgy (Sfântu Gheorghe), and with the support of the Hungarian government, the construction of its university campus is about to start too. The Bishop of the Transylvanian Reformed Diocese and President of the Sapientia Foundation, Béla Kató, made the announcement with the rector of the university, Márton Tonk, and Sepsiszentgyörgy Mayor Árpád Antal on Tuesday. The construction will take place in the Northern part of the town, near Sepsi Arena. (szekelyhon.ro)
Agrarian and forestry engineering faculty already operating
The development of higher education in Sepsiszentgyörgy has been going on for years, and its first stage has already been accomplished, as the agrarian and forestry engineering faculty is already operating, pointed out the university’s rector, Márton Tonk.
The goal is to improve the Sepsiszentgyörgy faculty until it becomes an individual faculty, just like the university’s other faculties in Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș), Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) and Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca).
The necessary formal resolution for this purpose was approved at last week’s session of the university’s senate, and the local senate of the university in Sepsiszentgyörgy was formed. During the upcoming months, this local senate will be coordinating all the operations related to the faculty’s development and the construction of the campus.
Sports and art faculties starting this year
Meanwhile, the accreditation process of the sports and coaching faculty has already started, and the necessary documents will be handed over to the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS).
According to their hopes, they will get the approval, and the new (sports) faculty will be able to start with 25 students already this fall.
Some 40 percent of the teachers will be taken from lecturers already working at the university full-time, while the other 60 percent, in the beginning, will be specialists from the Budapest University of Physical Education.
Márton Tonk also said that the last missing link will be the launch of the arts faculty. The first step toward making this happen will also take place this year, when according to their plans, the Art Faculty of the University of Pécs will launch its off-site painting and sculpture courses in Sepsiszentgyörgy.
New campus for 500 students
The Hungarian government has already allocated the necessary amount for the construction of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania’s new campus in Sepsiszentgyörgy, said Béla Kató. The 20-million-euro construction will be the city’s biggest investment project.
Renderings are ready, while detailed plans are underway. Besides the classrooms and lecture halls, the complex will also include a sports hall and a swimming pool, and a part of the campus’ accommodation building will also be able to operate as a sports hotel.
– detailed the president of the university’s foundation.
Béla Kató also recalled that they had to conduct archaeological explorations on the 10 hectares where they are planning to build the campus before they could start construction. This was Romania’s biggest archaeological exploration of this kind and ended last December, when they finally received the permit from the Cultural Ministry saying they can build on the land.
The timing of the construction depends on the speed of the authorization process. Béla Kató hopes that the Romanian authorities will understand that such an investment project will improve the country (Romania), where the money will be utilized.
The campus is going to be built near Sepsi Arena, by the town’s exit in the direction of Csíkszereda, and will be able to host 500 students. This capacity can also be expanded in the future by adding new buildings if the number of students increases.
According to Béla Kató, the most important thing is that youngsters can feel and appreciate that “the world can be created” in this region too, so they do not need to leave their homeland.
Title image: Architectural models of the new campus of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania in Sepsiszentgyörgy. (Photo: Hunor Kristó-Gothárd/szekelyhon.ro)
