Our President Prof. Barış Tan Meets Faculty and Administrative Staff at the State of the University Address

This year, the State of the University Address was held on October 2, 2024, where our President Barış Tan met with our faculty and administrative staff. The meeting was widely attended by both on-campus and online participants, with simultaneous translation services and an online English presentation provided for our international members.

Prof. Barış Tan began his presentation by welcoming the new colleagues who joined for the 2024-2025 academic year. “I congratulate all our new colleagues who joined us in the 2024-2025 academic year to build the future together,” remarked President Prof. Barış Tan and continued his address by announcing recent promotions. During his address, President Tan focused on the key activities planned for the academic year in line with Özyeğin University’s strategic priorities.

President Prof. Tan then highlighted OzU’s current standing and upward trajectory in global higher education rankings as a testament to OzU’s goal of becoming an “entrepreneurial research university” with a high global impact focused on transforming students, delivering exceptional education, and providing an excellent university experience. In addition, Prof. Tan introduced the newly launched undergraduate and graduate programs for the 2024-2025 academic year and stressed the importance of prioritizing quality over quantity in all academic endeavors and research efforts in the upcoming period. He further underscored the importance of academic and administrative staff working together to elevate the university's already high standing to new heights in scientific and institutional-social impact.

Prof. Tan also emphasized that we need to carry forward into the future our identity as an entrepreneurial and innovative university, our educational approach, which is transformative, personalized, and career-supporting, and our liberal and participatory campus environment. He further explained that managing today calls for introducing innovative approaches to education and research, recruiting more successful faculty and students, increasing our social impact, developing more sponsored projects, engaging in more intensive and effective collaborations with external stakeholders, and enhancing resource development. Addressing the University’s vision for the next four years, Prof. Tan also laid out OzU’s main goals as follows: “Becoming an entrepreneurial research university,” “Becoming a leader in education and student experience,” “Winning with all students and leader graduates,” “Creating value with our human resources,” “Becoming an international university,” “Improving our global impact,” and “Winning through excellence in management.”/p>

Prof. Barış Tan concluded his address by answering the questions that OzU members submitted before the meeting.