AsTEC is an association founded in Romania in 2002 to maintain the results of the TEMPUS Program for continuing education. It aims to facilitate knowledge sharing and cooperation between its 17 member centers of continuing education located in 12 public universities. The centers provide training courses in various fields to meet the needs of the labor market, as identified through needs analysis. AsTEC works to concentrate continuing education supply and demand and promote best practices in the field according to labor market needs.

1. AsTEC T EMPUS As sociation for C ontinuing E ducation As ociatia T EMPUS pentru E ducatie C ontinua Realizat de Prof. Conf. Dr. Cristian – Vasile Doicin Universitatea “Politehnica” din Bucuresti cristian.doicin@cont-edu.pub.ro

2. Content Background Characteristics Objectives Organisation Members

3. Background Among the 11 PHARE – eligible countries, Romania has benefited of TEMPUS Program for 10 years (1991-2000), and a total budget of 107 millions Euro . Important achievement of the TEMPUS Program in Romania: Centres on Continuing Education ; Centres’ main objective: to provide courses and practical applications to different target groups whose needs for training were identified in advance through needs analysis procedures.

4. Why AsTEC was founded? to maintain and develop in Romania the results obtained within the frame of the TEMPUS Program (officially ended in 2000 ); to concentrate the continuing education offer and demand; to establish the way of action for the centres of continuing education in order to meet the labour market demand;

5. Characteristics non-governmental organization; non-profit organization; founded in December 2002; founder members: 11 Centres on Continuing Education and Romanian Patronage Confederation;

6. Characteristics an association of institutions , most of them Centres/Departments for Continuing Education created within the public Universities under projects financed in TEMPUS Program.

7. Main Objective Dissemination of the best practice in organizing and running continuing education process , according to labour market needs, based on the experience gained by the Centres on Continuing Education in the framework of the TEMPUS programme.

8. Intermediate Objectives facilitate knowledge exchanging and cooperation between different Centres members of the AsTEC; adopt the quality procedures and disseminate them; identify the job market needs at a global and regional level; concentrate the continuing education offer and demand; establish the way of action for the centres of continuing education in order to meet the labour market demand; promote the international cooperation with similar institutions and associations in foreign countries;

9. Organization General Members’ Meeting Coordinating Committee President (Prof. Dan GRIGORESCU) 1 Vice-president 4 Members Censor

10. Members include 17 centres of continuing education located in 12 public Universities , Romanian Patronage Confederation ; large scale of professions: industrial engineering, agriculture and food processing, economy, business management, public and local administration, ecology and environmental protection, information technology and communication, etc.

11. Members Transilvania University of Brasov Regional Centre for Public Administration UTB-CREAP Institute of Education in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering for Cars UTB-IPIMEA Department for Distance Learning UTB-DID

12. Members POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest UPB-CEAC Chemistry UPB-CIBM Biomedical UPB-CEPEC Cont-Edu UPB-CFCEM Energy-Environment

13. Members National School of Political and Administrative Studies Centre of Education in Public Administration SNSPA-CPAP Dept. of Long Distance Learning SNSPA-DID

14. Members University of Bucharest The Association of Botanic Gardens UB-AGBR Centre of Continuing & Long Distance Learning UB-CEPID

15. Members “ Babes-Bolyai” University of Cluj Faculty of European Studies UBC-FSE

16. Members University of Constanta Regional Centre “Dobrogea” of Continuing Education UOC-CZD

17. Members University of Oradea Centre of Continuing Education for Information Technology applied in Public Administration and Industry UO-CTIAPI

18. Members University of Petrosani Centre of Distance learning and Continuing Education UPet-CIDEC

19. Members University of Pitesti Department of Continuing Education “Muntenia” UPit-CFM

20. Members “ Valahia” University of Targoviste Department of Distance Learning and Continuing Education UVT-DIDFC

21. Members Agricultural University of Timisoara Department for Distance Learning USABT-DID