The introduction of modern computing systems and the internet in Romanian universities in the last two decades has undeniably increased the efficiency of teaching processes, of all academic activities, as well as the level of adaptability of graduates on the labor market. Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen an increase in bureaucracy in the Romanian academic environment, with negative repercussions on student training and on the university's relations with the business environment in the community to which it belongs. This paper summarizes some of the evidence for the growth of academic bureaucracy, some of its causes, and several of its effects on the professional development of future engineers. The first part of the research was conducted from secondary sources and analyzed information from various situations and documents related to the activity of a Romanian Faculty of Engineering. The second part of the research was based on semi-structured interviews conducted over the last three years with final-year and master's students of the same faculty, with the aim of understanding how they view the effects of the bureaucratic dimension of their university's culture in their professional training and other academic activities. An important conclusion of the paper is that students perfectly understand the importance of a quality management system in the university based on clear procedures, which must be strictly followed by academics, students and administrative staff, but they strongly reject the idea that quality education is based on bureaucracy. They view the excess bureaucracy created for their training and assessment as an element that hinders the implementation of quality procedures and reduces the strength of the professional relationship between teacher and student.

Keywords: Time, teaching, learning, bureaucracy, students.