Dear Kültür Family, 

March 11, 2020, where the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization, created a global breaking point in all areas of life. As of March 13, 2020, COVID-19 was now our exam as country.

I must say that the first two days were chaos for me. The return of my children from abroad was stressful for both them and us. I remember very little time that we were so vigilant. Fortunately everything developed as we hoped, we are together with health. I am sure we all had our own experience in this process, but the main issue in these times is to be okay and safe as Kültür Family. In this sense, we passed a part of the exam.

Of course, the pandemic effect not only made itself felt in our individual or family practices, it infiltrated all processes of life. Medically, politically, economically, educationally, psychologically, sociologically and technologically, we are no longer where we stood yesterday. Probably many things will not be as before. But what we focus on during this change process, we grow it. I maintain my hope that everything will return to its order and that all stones will fit in place. I think the main problem that breaks hope is the wrong and incomplete information fed from chaos. Therefore, I felt the need to share some basic topics about our business and academic processes.

First of all, as Kültür Family, we will continue on our way without making no concessions on our principle of value to the labor. All our efforts are in this way. Our salaries will be paid into our accounts as of the 1st of the month, as always. You should not doubt that all processes are handled with care to ensure that there are no injuries related to your benefits and social security. Likewise, the instructors who are paid over class hour and who are charged with the 31st and 40th articles of the law number 2547 will continue to be paid as long as they actually teach.

Dear members of our family,

Serious protective measures regarding the COVID-19 were taken at various levels in our university. KOVKOM, founded in our university, has performed a very precious effort in the academic and administrative information flow. In addition to the health and safety measures taken, we have taken sustainability in service to students as well as uninterrupted and qualified information flow. In this context, we are starting a new study called “İKÜ Virtual Counter”. Separate virtual office preparations were made for our Student Affairs Office, Department of Financial and Administrative Affairs, International Relations Unit, and Institutes. İKÜ Virtual Counter that is  planned to be commissioned as of Monday with the support of the Corporate Information Management Department,  is run by the Information Systems and Technologies Department. It will work for our students to produce concrete solutions in the titles they need with its integrated structure. In addition, I would like to share some of my notes about distance education and working, which we have been transitioning for this period.

Distance education that is applied at elective courses and  various levels until now; due to the pandemic, has been put into operation at all educational levels of our university since March 23, 2020. Our distance education system CATS, and our corporate resource planning system SAP-ORION, which we invested 10 years ago, responded to almost all our needs regarding the sustainability of our services in the extraordinary conditions we are in. Our main expectation in the distance education process is the content quality in synchronous and asynchronous education. I know that we will gain a serious momentum in this regard over time. Focusing on quality beyond quantity in course materials is another target on our agenda. I believe that we can succeed  because distance education, in a sense, is in the DNA of Kültür. .In addition to Kültür Dersevi established by Halil Akıngüç in 1938, his taking the Turkey representative of Fernschule in Berlin that is an education system with correspondence;  and the establishment of a distance education system with 600 students enrolled in the conditions of that day is the strongest proof.

If needed to mention another process that changes with pandemic… At the point we have reached, we all experience a radical transformation in our working time and palce. Our working conditions; is evolving towards a distant and technology-oriented structure. Working from home is a new experience in Kültür family. We should see this process, which we started with compulsion, as an opportunity rather than a crisis. It is very important to make our team communication sustainable. At this stage; we hold our meetings with Financial Affairs, Legal Counsel, General Secretariat with technological solutions. Skype Corporate and Microsoft Teams will be our tool for a while with the communication functions. On Monday, we will hold our meetings with our Deans via remote connection.

Another topic that is as important as internalizing the systematic of working from home is to review our work. It is also very important to reorganize our calendars;  the cancellation workflows, projects and organizations or to make them compatible with the process. But health comes first to ensure all this, health first. The main thing is to be able to survive with our loved ones, health and safety.

Finally, I will conclude my message by telling you about a group study that I attended the other day dealing with pandemics in the context of public health. It was a stimulating and worth sharing experience for me. It is all we need to format our sets of thought  built with the fear, anxiety and uncertainty. This abbreviation, which is briefly called BASIC PH, and includes 6 basic coping strategies, may be a good compass for our confused minds at this time. We need more than ever to nurture and purify our Belief, Affect, Social, Imaginative, Cognitive and Physiological channels. These days we knit a protective cocoon as per the conditions; taking time to consider the responses of the 6 subjects in our lives will be a good spiritual exercise.In these days that we need to be  participatory,  to advance based on trust, and  to act together on the way of overcome the crisis,  it is at least as important as social distance to keep our sets of thoughts positive and to keep our connection with ourselves 

Hope to see you in health as soon as possible
Sincerely
Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver
IKU Head of the Board of Trustees