Dear Student,

First of all, we hope that you and your family are doing well in this intense struggle against the pandemic.

We left a year behind in which new words and alternative practices, especially corona, new normal, social distance, distance education and restrictions, shaped our lives. It was undoubtedly difficult and wearing. In the first month of the 2020-2021 academic year, which started in the shadow of the pandemic, our wish was to welcome our students with health and well-being on our campuses. In this context, as well as the hygiene practices that we carried out in our physical areas, we also made improvements in our distance education system in the context of access, communication, course contents, live lessons, assessment and evaluation. At this stage, as Istanbul Kültür University, we are prepared for all possible scenarios of the pandemic, taking into account your health, safety and education needs. On this occasion, we would like to state once again that no matter how harsh the conditions are, we are always there for you.

Dear Student,

We are aware that this year you couldn’t have the chance to live the university life that you and your family worked hard, that you prepared with great enthusiasm, and that you have successfully earned, as you had in your ideals. We know how difficult and wearing conditions are for you, and share all the emotions you feel.

All of us are affected by the dilemmas of the pandemic at certain levels and we make various comments regarding the process. We describe the past nine months sometimes as a sick joke, a misfortune, a tragedy. Of course, the pandemic has deeply affected everyone, from 7 to 77, in life, especially health workers, and even created unutterable pain and destruction. The whole world is going through a global test against the anxiety and sorrow we feel for the health of our relatives, the pressure created by the unknown, sociological, psychological-economic erosion, and the constraints that affect the normal flow of life. Based on our education and life experience, we would like to state that these days will pass. Every observation and experience you have about this period will be an extraordinary guide for you on your life journey. In the face of crises, risks, pressure and constraints, you will surpass our generation with your flexibility, agility, digital experience, and most importantly, your life culture and courage. We trust you all very much.

In the light of scientific developments, our country and the world will leave the pandemic crisis behind in 2021. We, as Kültür Family, will meet again on our campuses. We sincerely believe that better times will come very soon; and congratulate your and your family's new year with our best wishes.

Best regards 

Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver                                                                Prof. Dr. Erhan Güzel   
Head of the Board of Trustees                                                         Rector 

Dear Kültür Family,

Every New Year's preparation is an introspection for me; it is a confrontation where I evaluate my life, my decisions and my priorities. Last year, while I was getting ready to welcome 2020, I created a dictionary. I drew on doubt, anxiety, fear, prejudice, regret, and wrote in capital letters hope, production, communication, dialogue, democracy, equality, family. In 2020, which was under the shadow of the pandemic, I tried to give the right of every word I wrote down in my life. Besides, while revising the words in the dictionary; as a self-criticism, I realized that I missed some of them. For example, health, solidarity, courage and risk ... In this sense, 2020 was a year where I wrote, did not write, postponed, forgot, knew or thought I knew the essence, value and meaning of all the words I knew better every day.

Dear Kültür Family,

We are now preparing to welcome a new year. 2021 will be a year that will require individual and social challenges and our responsibilities will increase. We have to rethink our roles not only against ourselves and our family, but towards the environment in which we live, especially in order to achieve individual and mass recovery. To pass the pandemic exam, we must reread the message of our education, research and social responsibility mission.

In this process, our priority is our student, due to our job and service area. At the undergraduate level, our second year students have only been able to experience the atmosphere of university life for 6 months so far. Our students, who started their associate degree education in 2019, will graduate from the university by distance education in the scenario where the conditions continue remotely. Another critical topic is our students who will graduate this year. In addition to the economic crisis, they will seek jobs in an increasingly different work culture. The excitement of graduation has already left its place to anxiety of finding a job. Our graduates, who received their diplomas in the 2019-2020 academic year, when the pandemic crisis and the new normal intertwined, are also an important part of our circle of responsibility. In summary, understanding the needs of our youth and working to meet them within our means under the conditions created by the pandemic is one of our most important agenda items in 2021.

In 2021, our responsibility to each other will increase in terms of personnel relations. Physical, mental and emotional, the pressure of the crisis is obvious. In addition, our work and private life balances are intertwined. I am aware of the superhuman effort of our academic staff while teaching in this complex, distance education conditions. Remote working is a very sensitive issue for our administrative staff. It is not easy to deal with the various challenges of running daily operations, business and communication processes remotely. I would like to thank my teammates who worked devotedly throughout the year in all these topics.

As Kültür Family, we will focus on managing the side effects of the pandemic crisis in the most gentle way in terms of students, graduates and staff. In addition, we have a lot of work to do so that the city, region and country where we live as a university in 2021 can come out of this crisis with the least damage. In summary, 2021 will be the year in which hard work, production, and problem solving is not a choice but an obligation for Kültür Family.

My Dear Kültür Family,

In this phase, the vaccine news from the science world give hope to mankind for take them to safer shores once again. As İstanbul Kültür University we have created a particular heading about vaccine studies in our 2021 budget for the safety and health of our personnel. In this context, we follow health and safety policies and procedures with precision in our country and higher education. At the point of need, I would like to share with you that we have allocated the resources needed for the Kültür Family to access the vaccine. In addition, due to the course of the second wave, it was decided to extend the off-campus work, which was determined until January 4, 2021, until January 11, 2021. Information on our working system will be regularly shared by the General Secretariat.

My Dear Kültür Family,

Yes, it has been a difficult year for us. The decisions taken and implemented with the side effects of the pandemic crisis deeply affected the management, staff and sometimes students. However, as Kültür Family, we have also achieved good things together. With the contributions of our Alumni Association, we transformed the burden of the pandemic in education and health into a story of mobilization. As Kültür Family, we have started a project in which we have a presence at all levels. During the sharpest period of restrictions, we continued to hold our values. We celebrated our children, our youth, our teachers, our Republic. We hailed together 61 years of Kultur College, which inspired our founding Foundation. Besides these, we have had difficulties together. There have been decisions, practices that we have criticized, questioned and even judged this year. Differences of opinion, communication accidents caused by crisis pressure, Road differences that have a fairly heavy emotional burden... In a nutshell, it was difficult. Will it be any easier? It's too early to say anything right now. However, I sincerely believe that in 2021, no matter how challenging the conditions are, we can overcome them together.

My Dear Kültür Family,

Even in the most positive scenarios, the economic side effects of pandemic will continue. Therefore, 2021, will be a year where we will use our sources cautiously. In this context, let's not stop dealing with issues from a calm, constructive and rational perspective. Let's divide our loads to maintain our standards in education and service quality. Let's continue to maintain our social sensibility. Let's feed the solidarity projects that we started in 2020 with new, creative and constructive ideas in 2021.

Despite the difficult conditions we are in, I am in favour of trusting people and the world, keeping alive the hope that everything can be improved, pushing all available opportunities for ourselves, for our family, for the sustainability of our business. With the pandemic, our view of time and space changed, transformed, evolved to another point. There are many details that will be criticized, changed, improved, and there will be. We have a long way to go in the tone of our communication, the instruments we use, the way we look at work and do business, as much information as the world we learn, a lot of work we will achieve together in 2021. But first comes health.

I congratulate you on your new year with my sincere wishes on behalf of my personal and Akıngüç family, and wish you a healthy, beautiful year in which we will be together with our loved ones.

Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver
İKÜ Chairperson of the Board of Trustees 

The event titled “Vocational School New Year’s Meetings” by IKU Vocational School Student Representive Board organised on December 27, Sunday. In the event in which Bengisu Ankara, Program of Public Relations and Publicity 2nd year student and Emre Çelikhan, Vice Chairperson of the Vocational School Student Representative Board were the moderators; there were greeting videos, collage art presentation of the students’ memories and a raffle that ended with free English course to 5 students. At the end of the event, Vocational School Student Representative Caner Gökay Guguk stated “As the Student Representative in this challenging time around the world, we aimed to have fun together by organizing a moral motivation evening for our fellow students and academicians. Thank you to fellow students and everyone who supported this process.”

The Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design organized an e-seminar titled "A Road Story" on the Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application on Monday, December 21, 2020. Photograph Artist F. Dilek Uyar who attended the event as a speaker, shared her views on her photography adventure by explaining the connection between photography art and architecture.

IKU Vocational School Opticianry Program organized a webinar titled "Glasses From Design to Production" on Friday, December 25th. Luxottica Turkey Training Director Tuğba Elbasan, who participated in the event as a speaker, conveyed the latest technological developments in eyeglass design and production in our country and in the world. In the seminar moderated by Optician Program Consultant Lecturer Emin Aksan, Luxottica, which has been successfully in the sector for more than 50 years, shared the design to production processes.

The history of the registered and licensed brands of the institution and the growth process were detailed. Stating that Luxottica has a vertical business model, Elbasan talked about product design, production, distribution, trainings, after-sales support, wholesale and retail departments. Explaining that the factory productions are predominantly in Italy, Elbasan explained that the fairs were held first and the production and shipment of the products according to the requests received was managed by a wide operation process. Stating that their first factories were opened in Agordo, Elbasan said that the Oakley factory is the most curious factories and drew attention to the fact that the world's most durable glass and frames are produced here.

Elbasan also mentioned the structure of the factory, which includes materials with ballistic properties and where more than 800 patents have been developed, and underlined that the institution has 45 brands in 150 countries as a single group. In the seminar, our students were informed in detail about the management of Luxottica and which details were highlighted.

Information and examples were given about the approaches of fashion brands, 60s and 90s designs, which are 2020 and 2021 trends. Stating that the emergence process of a new design takes an average of 1 year, Elbasan said creative information, aesthetic sketches, technical drawings, real and 3D prototypes, first physical prototype resin, prototype finalized using real materials, technical, professional and aesthetic tests, approval stages and production phase and shared detailed information about the latest technologies of eyeglass frames, glasses and lenses with our students.

Our guest also answered the questions of our students at the end of the presentation.

The work of our academician from the Faculty of Art and Design Department of Radio, Television and Cinema Assist. Prof. Bilgehan Ece Şakrak titled “Reflection of the COVID-19 Pandemic Process in the Context of Digitalization on Film Festivals: 39th Istanbul Film Festival” took place in the book titled “The Effects of Digital World and Technological Developments on Social Sciences” published by Nobel Publications, which is an international publishing house.

The students of IKU Vocational School Alternative Energy Resources Technology Program, with the participation of the instructors Assist. Prof. Sawsan Başpınar, Lecturer Gizem Yavuz and Lecturer Gözde Yılmaz, came together at the motivation event which was conducted by the Head of the Program Lecturer Makbule Tamkaş.  

The second issue of the "KÜLTÜRK" Journal of Turkish Language and Literature Studies (WINTER 2020) that had been first published within the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at the Faculty of Science and Literature at Istanbul Kültür University, was published on December 25, 2020.

Dear Graduates,

We share with you the news of Zafer Öztürk, one of the Istanbul Kültür University Turkish Language and Literature Department's 2012 graduates & İKÜMED member number 69, titled "The New President of TÖZOK, Zafer Öztürk" published in the Education News section of Hürriyet newspaper, and wish you continued success ...

Best regards,
İKÜMED

Who is Zafer Öztürk?

He was born in Istanbul in 1972. He graduated from Bilkent University, Department of Political Sciences. He worked in the tourism, construction and textile company of his family. He worked actively in the family business in Poland until 1998. In the same year, he entered the education world as the founding representative of Florya College. With the thought that education and training is not just a job, it is a lifestyle and a great responsibility, he graduated from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature at Istanbul Kültür University and became a Turcologist, and later a teacher at Yeditepe University.

He holds a master's degree in Educational Administration and Supervision. Now he runs his 22-year-old schools with his cousins. He also works in Rumeli Education Foundation, Rumeli Executive Businessmen Association and TOBB Education Council. Zafer Öztürk, who has been actively involved in the management of TÖZOK since 2015, sports, art and travel are essentials of his life. He played football and water polo as an amateur. He is fluent in English, Bosnian and Polish. He is married to his Turkish teacher Elida Öztürk and has four children.

Turkey Private Schools Association (TÖZOK) new board of directors were announced. TÖZOK President Nurullah Dal died on December 19 due to the COVID-19 disease and stated that the management needed to be restructured. Zafer Öztürk became the new Chairman of the Board of Directors in the elected assignments.

With the decision of the Board of Directors dated December 23, 2020 and numbered 20 Zafer Öztürk was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Saim Meral as Vice Chairman of the Board, Erdoğan Bozdemir as an Accountant Member, and Nesrin Cihangir as General Secretary of the Board and  Kenan Taçyıldız, one of the substitute members, was elected to the place vacated from full membership.

In his statement, Zafer Öztürk said, “Continuity is essential in association management, as in all management organizations. For this reason, the need to structure the management arose in these difficult days when we suffered the loss of our Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr. F. Nurullah Dal. Due to the epidemic that shook the whole world, it would be neither possible nor rational to hold an ordinary or extraordinary general assembly at the moment, and in accordance with the charter of the association, appointment was made to the board of directors through election. The Board of Directors after this as it is since today, and since 1951, the Great Leader Atatürk, according to the currency exchange is where secular and democratic Republic of Turkey Constitution of our country in order of priority, our students, our parents, our teachers and our institutions will continue to serve for the good. On this occasion, we once again commemorate the late Nurullah Dal with mercy and extend our condolences to all of his loved ones, especially his family.’’

Vocational School Public Relations and Publicity Program Head Lecturer Gözde Kuzu and Consultant Lecturer İrem Aydoğdu brought together students and graduates on Saturday, December 26, 2020 in a virtual environment. In the event, the students who graduated from the Public Relations and Publicity Program gave advice to their friends who are continuing their education by talking about their experiences. The event, which continued with the recall of memories and the students giving songs to each other, ended with a photo shoot.

Assist. Prof. Nagihan Çakar Bikiç, one of our academicians from the Faculty of Arts and Design Department of Communication and Design, took part in the selection committee of the “14th Crossroads International Short Movie Festival.” Premiere night of the festival carried out online on December 26, Saturday at 20.00 and broadcasted from the JCI Istanbul social media accounts. Assist. Prof. Bikiç, who awarded the “Best Fiction Award” at the Gala, congratulated the directors who produced films during the pandemic process and the festival committees which organized short film festivals in this process with these words: “During the pandemic period, we saw when the whole world was affected, our minds were not confined at home despite the new conditions that restricted our physical freedom and closed us in our homes and produced the creative results of our intellectual freedom. Therefore, I congratulate all the directors who produced films in this difficult process. At the same time, I would like to thank all the festival team who brought us together with these films and directors.”

The second of the webinar series organised in the context of collaboration in education by T.C. İstanbul Kültür University Vocational School Program of Business Administration and Microsoft Turkey Peak UP, carried out on December 25, 2020, Friday. In the education which lasted approximately an hour and lectured by PEAKUP Business Consultant Nisanur Demir; the subjects such as task planners, video conferencing applications, momentary work systems on the same document, analysis practitioners, project studies, common follow-up applications, usage and features of social activities were discussed.

The Department of International Trade and Finance organised an e-seminar titled “Department of International Trade and Finance Fall Seminars-III: E-Trade & Cyber Threats” on December 25, 2020, Friday at 18.00. Zülküf Çetin, Cyber Security Engineer, guest of e-seminar, gave tips about internet security in addition to his informative presentation about cyber security.

“Tea and Coffee Meetings-3”, in which students and lecturers of İstanbul Kültür University Vocational School Program of Business Administration are gathered in order to lift the spirits up throughout the curfew period carried out on December 26, 2020, Saturday. Lecturer Ayşegül Kılıç and Lecturer Gözde Kuzu who were the guests of the meeting, shared their experiences on their student and career years. The meeting ended after the group photos and birthday celebration of Yusuf Aslan, Program of Business Administration 2nd year student.

Assist. Prof. Nagihan Çakar Bikiç, one of our academicians from the Department of Communication and Design, took part in the selection committee of the “Fotofilm International Short Film Festival.” The premiere night of the festival carried out online on December 22, Tuesday at 9.30.

Istanbul Kültür University Vocational School (MYO) organized an e-seminar titled "Corporate Communication and Branding" on December 29, 2020, Tuesday. The event, in which E-Bebek Corporate Communications Specialist Melisa Ece Taner attended as guest, the Program of Public Relations and Publicity 1st year student Sevgi Rabuş and 2nd year student Bengisu Ankara were moderators. In the seminar; The activities carried out within the scope of the communication sector, the place and importance of corporate communication, branding in the public relations discipline, the methods applied in the communication sector to create customer value, satisfaction and loyalty, and many concepts that are important in the internal and external communication of brands. Answering the questions that students wonder about the corporate communication unit, Taner made recommendations for achieving success on the road to branding, by stating the important points in maintaining healthy communication with stakeholders and customers.

The in-book section of Head of the Program of Banking and Insurance Evening Education Lecturer A. Berrak Köten’s “The Measures Taken in the Banking Sector During the Pandemic Period and Their Effects on Global Financial Stability” was published in the editorial book "Health in the Grasp of Pandemic and Economy".

Two works of Assoc Prof. Reyhan Uludağ Eraslan, an academic from the Department of Art and Cultural Management, took place in the "International Non-Stop Online Art Exhibition" organized by the Green Crescent.

The article titled "Medical Tourism and Sustainability of Marketing in Turkey - Medical Tourism And Sustainability in Terms of Marketing" that was written by Lecturer Emine Anık (from IKU Vocational School Business Management Program), Lecturer Merve Bayraktar (from Foreign Trade Program), and Lecturer Canan Bulut (form Health Institutions Management Program) published in JOURNAL OF SOCIAL, HUMANITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES.

In cooperation with İKUVENT and Asimov Technology Club, "Innovative Entrepreneurs Summit" will be held to provide information on entrepreneurship. Oğuzhan Sarıtaş, Kutluhan Hakan and Doğu Can Seyidoğlu from Car4future company will be the speakers. The event will be held in four sessions on January 2-3 (19.00-22.00 hours) via Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

Department of Industrial Engineering will organize an e-seminar within the scope of "IE5403 Facilities Design and Planning" course. The event, where LC Waikiki Logistics Deputy General Manager Feza Kırgız will be a speaker, will be held on Monday, January 4, 2021, between 13.00-14.00 on CATS.

IKU Vocational School will organize an event titled “Online Career Days Titanic Hotels” in which recruitment processes and Successful Resume Preparation ways will be explained. The event, where our students will gain the right to apply for internships at Titanic hotels, will be held on Monday, January 4, at 14:00 on Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

The Fashion Design Program will organize a webinar titled “A Successful Portfolio Design” to support the portfolio preparation stages of our students. The event, where Erol Albayrak, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Fashion Designers Association, will be a speaker, will be held on Monday, January 4, at 18:00 on Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

In cooperation with the Accounting and Auditing Club and the Business Management Program, a webinar titled "The 2020's: New Career Areas and Trends in Accounting, Finance and Auditing" will be organized in order to inform students and support their career planning processes. The event, where ACCA Turkey and Developing Countries President Filiz Demiröz will be the speaker, will be held on Wednesday, January 6 at 18:00, via Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

Effective Communication Club, New Media and Communication Club, New Media and Communication Department, Communication Arts Department and Public Relations and Promotion Program will organize a webinar titled “The Establishment Story of an Agency and Digital Dynamics in the Pandemic”. The event, where Stradesco Digital Contact Agency Founder Zeynep Kömürcü Bulut will be a speaker, will be held on Thursday, January 7 at 20:00 on CATS (Effective Communication Club Meetings).

The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics will organize a training titled “Creating CV and Writing Motivation Letters” in order to ensure that students make a prepared entry to business life and transfer their experiences in the best way possible. The training, which will be given by Mücella Ezgin, Deputy Head of the Kültür Point Unit, will be held on Thursday, January 7 at 10:00, on CATS.

IKU Vocational School, in order to convey up-to-date information about career opportunities and education in the field of cyber security, will organize a webinar titled "Career in Cyber Security: Where Should I Start?". The event, where Barikat Academy Manager Emre Çamalan from Barikat Cyber Security and Cyber Career Program Manager Didem Tufan will be speakers, will be held on Thursday, January 7, at 17:00 on Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

The Department of Psychology will organize an event to inform students and related people about current studies by bringing them together with experts in their fields. The event, where Prof. Dr. Işık Karakaya from Istanbul Bilgi University will be a speaker, will be held on Thursday, January 7, at 21:00 over CATS.

Vocational school organizes a "MICROSOFT TURKEY PEAK UP ONLINE EDUCATION WEBINAR SERIES" in order to give students competence in subjects such as microsoft office, code writing, simulation and 3d processes. The event, where PEEKUP Senior Business Consultant Hande Tarhan will be the moderator, will be held on Friday, January 8, at 10:00 on Microsoft Teams.

IKU Vocational School will organize a webinar titled "Doyen Fashion Designer Vural Gökçaylı from Past to Present" in order to inform students about the "Draping Techniques" course given in the Fashion Design Program. The event, where fashion designer Vural Gökçaylı will be a speaker, will be held on Friday, January 8 at 14.30 on Adobe Connect Virtual Classroom Application.

Hello, I am Murat Taha Bilişik. I work as an Assist. Prof. in the Department of Business Administration at Istanbul Kültür University. I have been part of this family since 2004. Since I completed my undergraduate education at Istanbul Kültür University, I have been in this adventure since 2000.

In 2004, I finished the Department of Business Administration as the top student of my class. Afterwards, I wanted to work with my professors, whom I was very fond of, with a very high desire and to be with them. My professors, especially Prof. Dr. Tamer Koçel and Prof. Dr. Güneş Gençyılmaz, helped me join this valuable family with their Research Assistant staff. In the years that followed, I always felt their support with me.

IKU taught me above all that being a good person, honesty, adherence to ethical principles and scientific thinking are the most important concepts. In addition, it enabled me to embrace the word “Kültür” in the name of our university as a way of life.

Is there any unforgettable memory in your life with Kültür?

Of course, there are many, but let me tell you my most memorable memory. We were probably preparing a surprise for our friend's birthday during an exam period. We wanted to lock the door of the room with our teachers Assist. Prof. Andaç Toksoy and Resarch Assistant Pınar Sarp. As you know, in order not to spoil the surprise 😊. Then, while I was trying to open the door, the key was broken in the lock and we were stuck. We had to call technical staff. Our door was located to the exact opposite of the dean's office. We broke the door lock loudly. Thus, our surprise was revealed. 😊 

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