Quality Commission Meeting was held within the scope of quality improvement processes at Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU). Ondokuz Mayıs University invited Prof. Muzaffer Elmas, Rector of Sakarya University (SAU) which is in the forefront of the elements and processes that serve to enhance institutional competence such as accreditation, quality management, strategic planning and continuous improvement.

The meeting was held with the participation of OMU Rector Prof. Sait Bilgiç, Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas, Rector of Sakarya University, Vice Rector Prof. Mehmet Kuran and Vice Rector Prof. Vedat Ceyhan, Prof. Mehmet Ali Cengiz, Principal Consultant of the Rector, Rector’s Consultant Prof. Hüsnü Demirsoy and Assoc. Prof. Onur Bekiroğlu, Yılmaz Taşova, Deputy of the General Secretary, Deans, Heads of the Departments, administrators of the Faculties and Schools, and relevant guests.

OMU, which is in the process of preparing the Quality Commission Report, is carrying out a very serious and intensive work in this direction. At the meeting which was held in order to evaluate OMU according to certain criteria and to evaluate the applications made with the decisions and to evaluate the quality of services and to improve the quality, Prof. Muzaffer Elmas, the Rector of Sakarya University, shared his ideas and recommendations.

“We have to become successful”

Rector Bilgiç made the opening speech, and he stated: “we have to make our university a preferable institution that is trusted on in terms of its products and activities. We are convinced that it would be possible to become a preferred and reliable university if we evaluate this whole process in a healthy way as well as being a university fulfilling its quality processes. In this context, we think that it is very important for all our academic and administrative staff to believe in this objective because we have to become successful. It will not be enough for the top management to show this will. We believe that this process will be very productive and useful because it will be possible to spread all over the university with your faith and participation. We are a team and we need to move this team spirit.”

“This is a sharing meeting”

Prof. Dr. Muzaffer Elmas, the Rector of Sakarya University began his speech as follows: “there are certain areas in which the universities become at the forefront. All this knowledge and experience need to be shared and transferred because this is a sharing meeting”; and he continued: “we have to take into account the quality of the students in education and training because everything is built on certain elements such as program's output, course outcomes, active learning activities, measurement and evaluation, graduate questionnaires, etc. This quality cycle is completed with the education outputs”.

“We succeeded it with simple and result-oriented works”

Rector Prof. Elmas also remarked: “Strategic management is very important in terms of education, training, mission, values, resources, community service, R&D (Research and Development), continuous improvement and finally the sustainability of the events, corporate competence and quality. These subjects are on the foreground in the mentality of institutional evaluation made by the Council of Higher Education. This process in fact indicates a change in the mentality. These processes are already happening in the country, municipality, company management. So, you will identify, apply, monitor, and revise your objectives, if necessary”.

In the light of the technological developments, Rector Elmas shared the modules in the Information System of Sakarya University, and he said: “If you can measure this competence effectively and healthily, there is no point in where you give education. OMÜ can be among the top 5 universities of Turkey with its experiences, information accumulation and institutionalism as long as it can make the roadmap simple, plain and clear”.

Finally, Rector Prof. Muzaffer Elmas received the seedling certificate issued on his behalf from Prof. Sait Bilgiç, the Rector of OMU.

“Seedlings are planted on behalf of Elmas and Aşçı”

After the meeting, seedlings were planted in front of the Rector’s Office on behalf of Rector Prof. Muzaffer Elmas and charitable businessman Kaya Aşçı and his family. Then Rector Bilgiç gave the seedling certificate to Aşçı.

Rector Bilgiç gave the picture drawn by the students as a gift to Prof. Elmas visiting him in his office.

What has SAU accomplished?

Sakarya University received 2010 Turkish National Excellence Award, 2013 Turkey Award for Continuity in Excellence, and 2015 European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Award by means of the improvements in the quality management process. Sakarya University was also awarded with ISO 10002 Certificate in 2015, and it demonstrated a huge success in European University Association Institutional Evaluation Programme.

The outcomes of the quality process carried out by Sakarya University are given below:

ECTS (European Credit Transfer System –) DS Etiquette  (2013 and 2017)
Accreditation in 45 program (2016)
Most Successful Technopark Award (2014)
Three-fold increase in publications and projects (2011 – 2016)
Ranking 40 in Turkey in URAP (University Ranking by Academic Performance) (2011 – 2016)
Ranking 30 in entrepreneurship and innovation (2013 – 2016)

Story: Sinan Akdoğan

Photography: Gökhan Çetin