As the saying goes in sports, Dr. habil. Tamás Sterbenz, Vice Rector for General Affairs at the University of Physical Education (UPE) had to be away from the pitch for two weeks, but he is back at work now. He is looking forward to a busy period because the National Accreditation Board’s (MAB) accreditation procedure and the development of UPE’s educational programmes give him enough work to do in the near future.  

Entering the university building, it seems as if life had stopped, but work at the Rector’s Office and other departments still goes on. As far as I know, you had to stay away from work for two weeks. Why?

Well, I had to be in quarantine for 12-14 days. I regularly visit basketball games and trainings, and every time I felt weak, I had myself tested for the virus. Once I tested positive, so I had to start working from home. This is when the MAB accreditation procedure was taking place, therefore I had to monitor the second summary day from home. Then I began to feel even more sick, I felt extremely tired and I had fever for 5-6 days. It wasn’t the best time of my life but I tested negative recently and I am happy to make a comeback and be involved in positive issues at the university.

In addition to being the Vice Rector for General Affairs of UPE, you are also a member of the National Higher Education Accreditation Board’s Plenary and leader of MAB’s Sports Science Committee. Holding these three positions, how do you evaluate the accreditation procedure?

The accreditation requests are first seen by MAB’s Plenary. Since I hold a position at UPE, due to conflict of interest, I cannot follow UPE’s accreditation procedure, but it is always a substantial issue. Of course, I hear the reactions, which makes me feel satisfied. I am aware that me and my colleagues spent a whole year with the preparations, but I think it has been noticed by others, too. Whatever the final results will be, I can state that we had participated in progressive negotiations that are based on European education standards, so we benefited a lot from these few days.

Under the direction of Prof. Dr. h. c. Lajos Mocsai, Rector of the UPE, the university leadership is working on the establishment of a new educational programme structure. With the settlement negotiations going on, how is the planned programme seen?

The Rector’s Conference is currently revising the Bologna Process. In relation to this, the Sports Science Committee is to deliver a proposal that aims to renew and broaden the whole domestic sports science training. We are planning to carry out positive changes and extension in BSc, MSc and teacher training programmes. The work is about to begin and the whole picture looks good mainly because what UPE’s autonomy and development is to bring will be incorporated into the independent educational programme structure.      

What is it exactly?

The university developments target more students and create a broader educational spectrum. Some of our specific programmes require an MSc while at the same time we have plans to launch some independent trainings offering a BSc degree. Regarding this issue, me and Lajos Mocsai, Rector of the university recently visited state secretary Prof. Dr. József Bódis and deputy state secretary Dr. Balázs Hankó. We had a progressive negotiation but as I mentioned, the process has just begun.