The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) has elected Prof. PhD. Eng. Cristina Ghitulica, a faculty member at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University Politehnica of Bucharest and the Director General of the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS) as the new President within the General Assembly meeting held in Brussels, Belgium.

‘This is a historic moment not only for Romania’s representation in European relevant forums, but also for the promotion of female leadership at the highest level, with Prof. Ghitulica becoming the first woman to hold the top leadership position within the prestigious organisation since its founding. This election represents a remarkable international validation of the new president’s excellence, vision and sustained commitment in the area of quality assurance in higher education. Her appointment as head of the ENQA is also an achievement for the University Politehnica of Bucharest community and for the ARACIS, confirming Romania’s active and influential role in shaping educational policies at the European level,’ according to a release of the higher education institution.

Within the same General Assembly, Kristin Vinje (the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education – NOKUT, Norway) and Patrick Van den Bosch (the Flemish Higher Education Council – Quality Assurance -VLUHR QA, Belgium) were elected as vice-presidents.

Three new members were also elected in the Board, namely Marilena Maniaci (the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes -ANVUR, Italy), Bryan Maguire (the Quality and Qualifications Ireland – QQI, Ireland) and Federico Moran Abad (Fundacion para el Conocimiento madri+d, Spain).

The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) is an umbrella organisation representing quality assurance agencies within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

The ENQA promotes European cooperation in the area of quality assurance and plays a fundamental role in developing standards and guidelines (ESG) for this sector, contributing to strengthening trust in European higher education.

With over two centuries of tradition and 21 faculties, the University Politehnica of Bucharest is one of Romania’s leading institutions for training engineers and specialists in advanced fields, playing a key role in the country’s technological progress and sustainable development. AGERPRES(RO – writing by: Roberto Stan; EN – writing by: Rodica State)