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The research attempts to aim to evaluate the perception that different stakeholder groups have of one of the largest and most important Romanian university with respect to its sustainability orientation. The exploratory empirical research reveals some important aspects which must be closely pursued and properly implemented by the management of the university to further develop sustainability strategies. The paper offers a novel approach regarding the way a university can and must focus on different specific measures on sustainability to gain a better position on the educational market, to attract new students and lifelong learning (LLL) programme participants, as well as to become a trend setter for defining and transferring good practices within the society.

Data were collected by questionnaires and in-depth-interview guides which were distributed to different stakeholder groups: bachelor (undergraduate) and master’s students versus LLL programme participants coming from different high schools across the country enrolled on a training course organized by the university and high school principals versus staff members of the university holding coordination and/or management positions. The collected data were then analyzed by means of econometric analysis. Data validity, reliability and internal consistency were checked (Cronbach’s α coefficient, “item-to-total” correlation, the KMO criterion (>0.7) and Bartlett’s test of sphericity). With the help of exploratory factor analysis, the way in which different stakeholders value and perceive the specific measures and efforts undertaken by the university has been extracted.

Students, LLL participants and members of the university staff perceived the university’s positive orientation towards sustainability and the measures taken in this respect. All stakeholders expressed highly favourable opinions of the university’s dealings with different sustainability aspects, such as its attitude towards its employees, its performance within the higher education market and its establishment of an attractive and innovative educational programme, in compliance with sustainability principles, environmental protection and modern attitudes towards society.

The research has been conducted on a sample of students of bachelor and master level, belonging to the biggest faculty of the university (as to number of students and staff). In a more comprising study, the focus should also be on bachelor, master and PhD students of the other faculties of the university, as well as on citizens of the community or in general on people from Transylvania and/or Romania. The university under investigation is one of the most important employers of the region. Further dimensions of sustainable development could also be pursued in a future study.

The university shows an orientation towards civil society by means of specific actions and programs. The university supports and takes part in the organization of cultural and artistic events in cooperation with local authorities and other cultural and/or social institutions and organizations. Respondents also refer to some examples of best practices that might be applied by education institutions to educate young people towards developing a proper sustainable mentality.

There exist almost no comparative empirical studies of sustainability on Romanian universities that take account of the perspectives of students, LLL participants and staff members. The findings have a high potential in developing a proper strategy for the university involved but could also be used by the government if designing a national wide policy regarding this issue. Different authors argue that young people are more conscious about sustainability, organic stuff, environmental protection, green marketing, etc. Taking into consideration the sensitivity of young peoples (students, staff members, etc.), as well as the fact that the university establishes social trends, the idea of studying sustainability in a university could be regarded as a novelty approach.

This paper proposes a method for multi‐terminal resistor optimal design based on a stochastic optimization algorithm coupled with a high accuracy boundary element method numerical analysis module using spline boundary elements. The aim of the optimization process is to find out the optimal shape of the resistor so that the values of the partial resistances between its terminals can be globally reduced. In the first part of the paper, a short introduction to the boundary element method formulation using spline interpolation of the boundary unknowns is performed. Then, the genetic algorithm optimization method is briefly described, emphasising the numerical implementation particularities related to the actual application. In the second part of the paper, three numerical examples are proposed and the final conclusions are outlined.

This paper aims to identify campus greening initiatives on a sample of universities in Romania reflected in the university curricula, the behavioral patterns of students and teachers, the administrative actions that carry out empirical investigation of students/teachers/management staff perception on campus greening (based on self-administered questionnaires); detect the way campus greening initiatives are promoted/made visible; and identify the gaps and needs of the universities under scrutiny in terms of campus greening initiatives.

The current research relies on two major components reviewing campus greening-related activities and initiatives, as reflected in the scientific literature and university curricula (empirical and quantitative assessment) and inquiring selected universities’ about the campus greening programs they unfold through questionnaire surveys (qualitative assessment).

Generally, sustainability topics (e.g. environmental protection, waste management and sustainable development) are largely addressed and, to some extent, applied in faculties dealing with earth sciences (e.g. geography, ecology) and technical sciences (e.g. environmental engineering). This can be explained by the traditional theoretical background of the first, and the experimental-oriented profile of the latter, which supports the development of innovative technologies (green technologies). However, there is a need to better undertake and promote greening initiatives for most of the higher education institutions in Romania. Some spatial (between institutions throughout Romania) and structural (according to the profile of the institutions) disparities are visible.

The limitations of the study might be the small number of universities providing a positive feedback to the questionnaire survey and the degree of subjectivity of some of the answers, directly linked with the professional background and issue awareness of the persons who answered the questions.

The findings can be useful to the university managers to better orient their actions toward campus greening, increasing their knowledge and awareness toward sustainability-related actions.

This is the first attempt reporting in the literature to analyze the campus greening initiatives to a large number of universities in Romania based on a common approach, identifying the main gaps and challenges in this process.

This study aims to assess enterprise risk management (ERM) practices in waqf institutions (WIs) along with their strengths and weaknesses; highlight ERM trends in WIs; and determine the best ERM practices for these institutions.

Data were collected via structured interviews with nine WI managers in Malaysia. A standardised questionnaire was adopted for the interviews, which focussed on ERM implementation in WIs. The collected data were analysed in three steps, namely, data reduction, data display and verification/conclusion. The frequency distribution of these data were then illustrated and the mean values and differences of the studied groups/variables were examined.

WIs have a sub-optimal ERM implementation, whose aspects need to be improved over time. These institutions have focussed on their ERM practices at the strategic level yet ignored those at the operational level. Specifically, WI officers have well-defined internal environments and objectives, but risk monitoring, which ensures effective implementation of ERM, is lacking. The presence of risk management committees and units may be linked with the successful implementation of ERM. However, ERM knowledge and top management support do not show clearly associations with ERM implementation. WIs should focus on improving their ERM implementation governance.

Findings underscore the need for WIs to launch a formal ERM programme and for relevant stakeholders to create the appropriate infrastructures that support ERM implementation, including amended rules, ERM policies and allocated funds for training and education, to promote ERM implementation knowledge and awareness. The successful implementation of ERM not only improves the service quality, sustainability and performance of WIs but also promotes the national waqf agenda as a key economic driver.

ERM in non-profit organisations, such as WIs, has received limited research attention relative to that in profit-driven organisations despite having unique risks. To the best of the knowledge, this study is the first to identify those trends that explain ERM practices and to determine the ERM best practices of WIs.