Dear Kültür Family,

Last week, when I looked at my posts and notes, I came across a photo. It's dated March 6, 2020. Location is Ataköy Campus, our architecture studio. We listen to the project presentations of our students about the campus garden. Corona is on our agenda as a risk in those days. Therefore we are distant, but the mask is not a necessity yet. A week after this photo, the pandemic was declared and our lives changed.

A year has passed since that day. This experience has taught us a lot, but it is a fact that for some of us the process was much sharper. We had friends, students and graduates who suffered losses that were difficult or even impossible to recover. On this occasion, I would like to state that we share the pain of each of them wholeheartedly and that we are always with them. I hope this year will be the year of recovery and getting back to normal.

When we look at where we have come in a year, we are not as helpless as in the shock phase. We are better able to manage our stress and anxiety depending on where we started. Of course, it is not possible for now to talk about a complete and very rapid recovery. However, our mental and emotional skill sets have improved a lot in combating the pandemic. You are more agile, more creative, and most importantly, more reserved than before. Being able to see and feel them both gives confidence and strengthens our hope for the future.

Dear Kültür Family,

We have gained a very important experience that we will pass on to future generations. This achievement was made by the efforts of the Kültür Family. I mentioned it in my first posts. Times of crisis either untie or tie the ties. Last week, after a long break, we held our first face-to-face meeting with our Board of Trustees at our Ataköy Campus. It was very valuable to meet at our campus after our meetings in digital environment for a long time and to see our ties strengthen despite all the restrictions.

The members of our Board of Trustees have always been with us, generously sharing their knowledge and experience in order to preserve the 'Culture of Kültür'. Their contacts with our Rectorate were very strong. We have always felt their presence.

The knowledge, experience and discipline of our Rectorate and our academic staff were a great power for us in this process. Prof. Dr. Mr. Erhan Güzel, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Mrs. Nihal Sarıer, Esteemed Deans and Deputies of our Faculties, Heads of Departments, Vocational School Managers, Program Heads, Research and Application Centers, Units and all academic staff have worked with great effort to fulfill the requirements of higher education.

The efforts of our Secretary General Ender Rıza Ekici and our Advisor to the Board of Trustees Mr. Özkan Gül to keep the team dynamics alive during the crisis period has been reflected in all our processes.

The working culture of all departments, who successfully adapted to all the change processes brought about by the crisis, worked on the basis of sustainability in service, and took responsibility, was at an exemplary level. However, the patience, effort and devotion of our colleagues in our Support Services Department, which fully fulfills the security and hygiene measures in our campuses in all processes of the pandemic, is admirable.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues who have worked at every level for the Kültür family in the past year for their devotion and hard work.

Dear Kültür Family,

The pandemic continues to trigger change in all areas of life. This process developed our three reflexes: seeing the whole, creating innovation, and the ability to do different tasks at the same time. Now is the time to use the experiences we had in the crisis. Now is the time to look inside and around us again. We are much more experienced and more reserved than where we started. At the end of a year, our goal should be to manage the future. Therefore, we need to reflect and take action on three questions. What can we do to change the student experience? How can we better achieve digital development? What can we do to open the "new path" in education and business processes under the leadership of our Rectorate?

With the pandemic, a new working culture is being built all over the world and in almost every sector. On March 10, 2021, the Remote Work Regulation of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services was published in the Official Gazette. With this development, we started to evaluate our plans for working remotely. In addition to work, education is also being reshaped. Even if the corona disappears completely, certain habits and practices will leave us a legacy. Digitalization in education will be a part of our life beyond a choice. We carefully examine the developments in this topic. We continue to work on alternative scenarios that we can use more intensively after the pandemic, the distance education rate, which was in the band of 10-15 percent before the pandemic.

Dear Kültür Family,

The spring term of 2021 and the following period will require much more effort, participation, responsibility and even initiative. Our students have problems caused by the pandemic. In our human resources, there are health and safety pressure, information pollution, fatigue and digital burnout caused by fitting a life into the house. Candidates and families struggle with different question marks on many topics such as economic uncertainty, dilemmas of distance education, and trust in the education system. All of these are very normal, and they are all challenges that come with the conditions of the day. Therefore, this summer will be a busy period when we will work to make up for the dilemmas created by the pandemic.

In summary, we have a lot of work to do together.

Note: This time I wanted to share two images with you. One is the photo dated March 6, 2020, which I mentioned at the beginning of my message, and the other is a photo from January 25, 2021. Circumstances sometimes alter or delay plans a bit, but if the goal is to do something good, the goal will certainly come true. We are working on the new garden of our campus. Hope to meet you in healthy and beautiful days.

With friendship
Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver
Chairman of IKU Board of Trustees