The Agency for Student Support
Position held: Inspector, 2005-2006
The Agency for Student Support served within the Ministry of Education, Research and Innovation, then within the Cabinet of the Romanian Prime Minister and then under the Romanian Youth Authority (1999 – 2008). After the Parliament elections from 2008, it became the Direction for Student Programs within the Ministry for Youth and Sports.
During 2005-2006, together with Ficu Anghel–The Director of the Agency–and Marian Rujoiu–my fellow Inspector–we initiated three major programs:
1. The budget line for student organizations: this was destined exclusively to the legally established student organizations (we also received some support from Viorel Proteasa, former President of the National Alliance of Student Organizations from Romania).
2. The “Training of Trainers” Program.
3. The Student Gallas “Costinesti Unplugged” 2006.
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1. The budget line for student organizations
Ficu Anghel and I, wanted to create a funding scheme for the legally established student organizations ever since the National Council of Students was active at the level of the Ministry of Education (1993-2003). We only managed to create a Projects Commission, but did not find Governmental support to effectively launch the Program. But we did it in 2006, under the leadership of Ficu Anghel. The funding scheme is still active and highly appreciated by the student organizations. Although the application process has become a little more bureaucratic for my taste, the Program is perfect for the students who want to organize their first project under contract conditions with a donor. The last call for proposals was done under the leadership of the Ministry for Youth and Sports.
2. The “Training of Trainers” Program
This program consisted of three stages. At the first stage, approximately 1,000 young people applied to become a 
recognized trainer and approximately 350 were selected. In the end, only 20 of them received the diplomas. One of the problems that Romanian young people have, is a poor access to resource persons for non-formal learning projects. This also affects the quality of the projects that student and youth organizations submit for funding to national or European donors.В There is also a lack of trainers who are actively engaged in the projects of the governmental agencies that target the youth sector.
The program was organized until 2008, summing up a total of three editions. The training sessions were held by companies like Schultz Consulting and Codecs.
3. The Student Gallas “Costinesti Unplugged” 2006
In 2006, the Student Gallas were held in Costinesti, on the Black Sea Coast. We selected private and non-conventional venues for the following sections:В rock-jazz, folk, dancing, theatre, fashion, carricature, movie, and photo. Over 600 student artists performed in the program.
