Academics at the Core of Student-Centered Teaching and Learning: Lessons Learned From the Experience of the Center of Academic Development of the West University of Timisoara

Implementing the Bologna Process in European universities has faced many challenges, especially in Eastern countries where the academic modus operandi was mainly teacher-centered. Thus, substantial resources have been invested in building academic development units to promote sustainable and effective student-centered learning. This paper presents the work of the Center of Academic Development (CAD) of the West University of Timisoara (WUT), Romania. The activities implemented by the CAD to stimulate effective student-centered teaching and learning and their institutional impact are further detailed. CAD started its activity in July 2016 by employing a need analysis to identify topics of interest, academic availability, and requirements for future pedagogical training activities. Next, the CAD team successfully implemented several projects funded by national entities of around 2 million euros, training around 1364 academics from five Romanian universities. Also, the CAD team developed the Reflexive—Collaborative instructional model, which later was promoted by the Rector of WUT as the university Teaching and Learning Brand and adopted as the main theoretical framework of the CAD training initiatives. Implications for academic developers, researchers, experts, and policymakers are discussed.