Our Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver published a message about new IKU agenda changes with the New Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).

My Dear Kültür Family,

We are in a period of intense political and economic agenda as well as health-related topics.

The decisions about Istanbul Convention which is the assurance for gender equality among the society, rapid changes in the economy make us think. We are doing a job which is labour inensive and surrounded with people as our Honorary President Civil Engineer (M.SC.) Fahamettin Akıngüç states. We are workers of a field where people and the future are at the centre. In short, whatever is related to life is in our responsibility area.

My Dear Kültür Family,

As a university, while our education and business processes continue uninterruptedly, we are working to resolve the concerns deepened by the pandemic and to resolve the dilemmas.

I am aware that this period is not easy for you, as well, and the struggle you wage on different fronts. As the top management of culture, we have implemented some studies in order to make life a little easier.

For instance, remote working is currently on the agenda of our university's legal counsel. We will share with you the plans to be made without compromising the personal rights of our staff. However, due to the restrictions brought about by the pandemic, our Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Nazif Ekin Akalan and the academic staff of our faculty continue to work for the health consultancy project, which includes sports and nutrition.

In addition, a Personnel Expectation and Needs Survey was conducted between 16-22 March 2021 in cooperation with our Department of Human Resources and Department of Corporate Communication. The results of the study are currently in the analysis phase. When I looked at the preliminary results, I observed that participation from the Kültür family was approximately 15 percent. In a university with close to a thousand staff, this rate is sad and thought provoking. In such difficult times, we need to understand you better, to be structured according to your suggestions and to hear your voice.

We are workers of a field that touches people's lives. In an environment where we cannot express our expectations and do not demand our needs, we cannot make the necessary effort for our business. We care about your opinions and suggestions about the organizations to be held within the university. We want to organize events that are compatible with your expectations and that can meet your needs. The survey studies regarding the opinions and suggestions of the personnel of the Department of Corporate Communication and the Department of Human Resources will continue. I ask you to be a participant by conveying your feedback in the activities within this scope.

My Dear Kültür Family,

The midterm period for the spring term of 2021 is approaching. Our youth are experiencing the effects of the pandemic more intensely due to their ages and expectations. I believe you will provide the necessary support for our students to complete their exams in the best and healthy way.

Studies for 2021 university candidates are also on our agenda. In this context, the infrastructure work required to open our digital education platform CATS to candidates has been completed. The CATS Candidate application is a good opportunity to explain our digital education infrastructure and the quality of our academic staff to our candidates in the best way. I trust that our academic staff will enrich the process with creative academic activities. Studies that will increase the knowledge and experience of the candidates about Kültür University will be possible with the active participation of the entire Kültür Family.

My Dear Kültür Family,

This period is difficult for all of us around the world. None of us is alone, just like last year. It is not easy to live with the fear of bereavement, possibility of getting hurt. In this matter, we understand each other much better. We need to focus on our strengths in these times where we question reconsider everything. We are an institution with high material and moral strength, standing with its own resources and root values. Our aim is education. We have training and research instruments that can produce solutions to the problem. In a period when everything slows down, we continue to produce and multiply within ourselves.  We are close to the end of our work for our Technology Transfer Office, our Movement Analysis Center. We are developing our campuses for the days when we will return together and work together again.

Yes, there is a difficulty, there is a crisis. However, we are obliged to keep our hope high and alive at all times, just like our awareness. We have very important things to do together.

Hope to meet you on beautiful and healthy days.

With Friendship…
Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver
İKÜ Chairman of the Board of Trustees