Istanbul Kültür University (IKU), which creates the distance education infrastructure by making use of all the possibilities of technology and is one of the leading educational institutions in this direction, has accelerated its efforts for the transition to the "Blended Learning" system with the contributions of the Information Systems and Technologies Department. IKU, which has been providing access to educational activities independent of time and place with its CATs system since 2011, has rolled up its sleeves to switch to the "Blended Education" model in the 2020-2021 academic year as part of the measures taken against the New Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease.

The test training was held on Wednesday, September 2, at 11:00 am in an amphitheater with video conferencing equipment created at https://catsv3.iku.edu.tr. The sample lesson held under the instructorship of our Secretary General Ender Rıza Ekici, Assistant Secretary General Gabriela Oana Olaru and Software Development and Innovation Manager Ahmet Gökhan Uluçay; Our Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, In addition to Prof. Dr. Erhan Güzel, employees of the Information Systems and Technologies Department also attended the video.

What is Blended Education?

In the "Blended Education" model; the instructor will teach in the lecture hall with video conferencing equipment. Some of the students will attend the class face to face, while the rest will attend the class online. Students allowed by the instructor will be able to participate in the lesson by voice.

Istanbul Kültür University (İKÜ) Head of The Board of Trustees Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver published a message regarding the IKU agenda, which has changed with the New Coronavirus Disease.

My Dear Kültür Family,

We are stepping into the last quarter of 2020. The side effects of the pandemic we follow with sadness and the data regarding the second wave keeps its place on the agenda. However, as a university, we are on the verge of an extremely important period.

YKS results were announced on Wednesday, August 26, 2020. We achieved a 79 percent occupancy rate in preferences. In the time we left behind, we made a serious effort for candidate communication in our academic and administrative staff. However, it is a fact that the result does not fully reflect our labor and effort. Regarding the occupancy rates; our evaluations continue from different perspectives in the context of the academic, administrative, socio-economic and health picture of the country. However, we will focus more on receiving a recompense for our efforts with forward-looking, positive, productive approaches.

Registration of our new students will continue until the evening of September 6, 2020. It is very important that the entire Kültür family work in harmony and take an active role in transforming the preferences into registration. I believe that we will manage the next week in the best possible way by correctly translating the characteristics of our university to our new students and their families.

My Dear Kültür Family,

In August, we reviewed the NPS results, where we test the student satisfaction. The outputs also include important keywords related to the emotional state of our students. For example, we have seen that their concerns categorized under three headings as hygiene, financial situation and pandemic. Socialization is the most basic issue they voiced at the point of need.

The 2020-2021 academic year is a very sensitive time for university youth. They experience uncertainty, crisis and risk management in life. In this process, we must be the biggest support of our students. We should be able to make both young people and their families feel that they are safe in Kültür with concrete steps. We should be able to convey that we manage the crisis not by hierarchy but by communication and sharing, and that cultural values are determinant in our bonds. In this context, I will have an online meeting with our Student Council President next week. I believe that the feedback from our Council Chair will be very useful for our 2020-2021 roadmap; and I plan to share my impressions with you in my next post. The panel on “Student Expectations in Distance Education”, which will be organized by our Turkish Language and Literature Department on September 7, 2020, is another meeting for which I waited in order to understand and hear our students. Kültür Point is also working on orientation planning for our new students for September. Our orientation program, which is extremely important for student communication; I kindly request you to support with your constructive criticism, ideas and opinions. Our students are our strongest guides in order to improve our university and to exceed the standards in higher education service.

We need to increase the number of such initiatives to hear the voices of our students, to ensure their involvement and to support their participation. In this context, our main goal should be to design new communication channels as well as to make effective use of our instruments that we can touch our students, especially NPS. We are currently planning to implement the NPS every 3 months to receive feedback from students. In addition, we should engage more intensely long-term applications that can provide mentoring support in the fields of culture, art and technology throughout the year; and also the activities that will nourish their mental, spiritual and emotional integrity. In this regard, I would like to state that I expect mobilization and full participation from our deans, department heads, directors, and all academic and administrative organizations in the studies for student communication

My Dear Kültür Family,

We continue to work on alternative scenarios for the fall semester in education and business processes. The planning of the education-training continues and we will explain the process to you before the new academic year. In the heading of business processes, we make our plans on our working principles, taking into account the circular on Measures for Public Employees in the Scope of COVID-19 shared by the Presidency last week. KOVKOM will continue to regularly share all developments within the scope of our business processes, working order in September and returning to university.

My Dear Kültür Family,

The pandemic is an instructive experience with all its challenges. We've all learned and keep learning a lot, especially to understand the value of what we have. Our commitment to our common values in these difficult days, especially Atatürk's Principles and Revolutions and the gains of the Republic, gives hope and strength for the future. On this occasion, I congratulate our August 30 Victory Day with gratitude and respect.

With my compliments,
Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver
Head of The Board of Trustees

Istanbul Kültür University (IKU) celebrated the 30th of August Victory Day with an event. As part of the 98th anniversary of the Great Victory, our Head of the Board of Trustees Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, our Rector Prof. Dr. Erhan Güzel and our Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Nihal Sarıer, as well as academic-administrative staff and students also attended. Our Rector Prof. Dr. Erhan Güzel made the opening speech of the program, which started with the Turkish National Anthem. Afterwards, a conference titled "The Historical Breaking Point of Our War of Independence: 30 August" was given by Prof. Dr. Ergün Aybars. The ceremony ended with the performance of Pianist Sühendan Kocadere.

İstanbul Kültür University (IKU) Vocational School (MYO) organized an event titled "The Paradox of Success in Entrepreneurship" on August 17, 2020 within the scope of the webinar series "Job Belongs to Knower of It Entrepreneurship Models". Participating as a speaker at the event, Istanbul Director of the Information Commercialization Center (BTM) and İstanbul Kültür University Vocational School Business Management Program Lecturer İbrahim Elbaşı talked about important issues about entrepreneurship and innovation. First of all, Elbaşı gave information about BTM, which he defined as the social structure that works for the commercialization of innovative business ideas and struggles for the spread of entrepreneurship, and defined the entrepreneurship process as a search for a formula. Elbaşı, who started his business life at PricewaterhouseCoopers with Deals & Transaction Services, stated that he did not exclude his personal career from this process. Elbaşı, the founding director of BTM, a foundation affiliated to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, said that their aim is to contribute to the realization of economic and social development through the spread of entrepreneurship.

Emphasizing that ITO was a very deep-rooted institution founded in 1882 from the time of Abdulhamid Han, Elbaşı stated that more measurable and low-risk evolutionary methods were determinant in the establishment of BTM rather than the revolutionary approaches mentioned in the Marxist literature. Until the beginning of the BTM story, Elbaşı continued as Istanbul Commerce University European Union Application and Research Center Expert Researcher and Rectorate Project Office Manager and worked as a manager in many national and international projects, in the concept of 'start-up' formed by the combination of innovation and high growth potential. He claimed that we are not late as a country in entrepreneurship. Claiming that the concept is widely misused in our country, Elbaşı drew attention to the different characteristics of "start-ups" from startups and SMEs. Giving examples through the domestic electric car TOGG, Elbaşı stated that sustainable lean production, lean management and lean marketing approaches should not be abandoned.

As a member of parliament in the TOBB Turkey Creative Industries Elbaşı assumed that the lean solutions in today's start-ups are based more on process and organization innovations than the product innovation of techno enterprises. Claiming that the general trend in the world has also shifted to this side, Elbaşı claimed that the best digital game developers in the world are in our country, but that we cannot achieve the same success in publishing. Elbaşı, who is also a member of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Informatics Specialization Committee and Industry Specialization Committee, said that the entrepreneur's path to success passes through past failures. Continuing his activities as a Member of the Digital Transformation Committee and Head of the Entrepreneurship Working Group, Elbaşı stated that entrepreneurship is an activity to create value beyond starting a business and making money.

Continuing his position as the Accountant Member of the 21st Century Anatolian Foundation Board of Directors, Elbaşı emphasized that it is not the age and the technology used in entrepreneurship, but the solution to which problem. Pointing out the importance of multi-functional hybrid centers that provide customized services according to the needs and levels of entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, Elbaşı emphasized the importance of efforts to match the right projects with venture capital and angel investors at the point of meeting the right projects with investment, while the intellectual capital capacity is at the forefront, beyond financial support.

Emphasizing that the economic sustainability of social entrepreneurship depends on profitability, Elbaşı stated that social enterprises cannot be long-term unless handled with business logic. In addition, Elbaşı stated that the use of crowdfunding tools is not at a sufficient level in our country yet, and that this situation is due to low recognition rather than bad examples.

Answering the questions of the participants in the e-seminar moderated by Lecturer Berrak Köten, Lecturer Dr. Barış Safran and Lecturer Burak Öçlü, Elbaşı invited our Vocational School students to the Information Commercialization Center.

Istanbul Kültür University Alumni and Members Association (İKÜMED) grants 15% discount to our graduates' siblings during registration to IKU. For the discount, the only condition is to become a member of IKUMED.

A conversation was held with Ceylan Coşkunfırat and Muhammed Akkuş, our graduates who came to our university for the registration of his brother.

Ceylan Coşkunfırat

In short, can we get to know you?

I am Ceylan Coşkunfırat. I graduated from the Department of Economics in 2015. The place of Kültür is very different for me. Even when I was still in high school, I wanted İstanbul Kültür University. IKU was one of my first choices. I graduated really happy both academically and socially. I can even say I didn't want to graduate...

What did you do after graduation?

After graduation, I prepared for 1 year KPSS. Then I couldn't break away from my school. I worked at the call center for 7 months. Later, I became an accountant at a sports facility. Finally, I started working at Deniz Bank Head Office 1.5 years ago.

What does İKÜ mean to you?

Kültür is very different for me. For my brother, it was Istanbul Kültür University that was in my heart and it was destined. I feel very lucky in terms of both academic and institutional lines. That's why İKÜ's place is very different for me.

Muhammed Akkuş

In short, can we get to know you?

I am Muhammed Akkuş. I studied English abroad for 1 year after graduation. I improved myself in the field of language. After that, I worked in the marketing department of our family company and I developed myself in the textile field. I have been working in the marketing department for about 6 years. We mainly export jeans to foreign companies. Our company (Akkuş Tekstil) currently has an employment capacity of seven hundred people. In addition to textiles, we also have companies that produce construction and knitwear. We also support domestic employment.

What does IKU mean to you?

İKÜ has added many values to me from the university years until the point I came to. That's why it has a very important place for me. Accordingly, I guided my brother and encouraged him to study at İKÜ.

The article titled “Expectation and Satisfaction Level on Service Quality and Effect on Behavioral Intention of University Students: Online Education Perspective” by Lecturer Emine Anık, an academic at IKU Vocational School Business Management Program, was published in The Journal of International Social Research (volume: 13, 72nd issue) in August 2020.

A research article titled "A Case Analysis Study for the Use of Blockchain Technology in the Logistics Sector and Application of a Logistics Company" by Gökhan Kırbaç, an academic at the Logistics Program of IKU Vocational School, was published in the journal of Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences.

I completed my undergraduate studies at the Middle East Technical University (METU) Faculty of Education, Department of Foreign Language Education (1996), and my master's degree in the Department of English Language and Education (2000) at Istanbul University Institute of Social Sciences. I am continuing my PhD education in the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul Kültür University. After working as an English Instructor in the Foreign Languages departments of Ankara, Pamukkale and Yıldız Technical universities, I still work as the Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at Istanbul Kültür University.

While working at Yıldız Technical University, I wanted to move to one of the newly opened foundation universities due to better academic and working conditions. Kültür College, which has a very respected name and prestige in our primary and secondary education period, established Istanbul Kültür University as Kültür College Education Foundation (KEV). I asked myself "Why should I not be a part of such an institution?" and applied to the "Preparatory School" as it was called then. I was not accepted and our journey with Kültür Family started.

The world is going through a difficult process. How did you go through the pandemic? What has this process changed in your life?

The pandemic reminded us of our desperation as human beings and showed that the disease knows no bounds. By our nature, we want to have the ability to manage, control, rule events. Everything we can't control causes uncertainty, helplessness, insecurity, and therefore fear, anxiety and anxiety in us. In this new process, we are trying to recognize the virus and deal with it. This new situation has allowed us to reconsider community relations. The quarantine period showed us that socializing with family and friendship relationships is just as important as being able to go out freely and breathe fearlessly. It reminded us that it is important not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect someone else. It taught me that one of us is for all of us. In an academic sense, we continued distance learning with synchronous lessons using the capabilities of technology when face-to-face teaching was decamped. This extraordinary situation also showed us how humanity can come up with alternative solutions in the face of difficulties.

For a long time, we have been separated from our working environment and colleagues. What are your thoughts on the new normal these days when our settlements are starting to move?

“Welcome” with the pandemic process is the new normal. Now we have to change many of our habits and get used to living as contactless as possible. In these new conditions, we will start a new era in the settlements by following the rules of mask, distance and hygiene. In the 2020-2021 academic year with the new normal; I look forward to being able to return to our campus again, to be able to take classes with our students again in the classroom environment and to be able to communicate with our colleagues again by paying attention to the rules of distance. I, as the IKU family, believe that we will get through this process.

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