Istanbul Ticaret University Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Torlak was our guest in the Geniş Açı Program themed “A New Term at Istanbul Ticaret University”.
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Istanbul Ticaret University Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Ömer Torlak answered İsmail Mücahit Aydemir’s questions in the Geniş Açı (Wide Angle) program. Starting his speech by wishing Allah’s mercy on those who lost their lives after the earthquakes we experienced on February 6th, a speedy recovery to the injured and patience for our whole country, Prof. Dr. Torlak talked about the works done by Istanbul Ticaret University in the aftermath the earthquake. Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak, who conveyed his thoughts and projects regarding the new term at Istanbul Ticaret University, emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between industry and university. Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak stated that they are working to maintain academic education in the most effective way by combining theory and practice in all faculties of the university, and added that works are being carried out to build sustainable business and internship models between the industry and academia and to increase and support projects based on digitalization, artificial intelligence, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“We Desire a Deeper and Stronger Cooperation with the Business World”
Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak has said: “Considering that our university is affiliated to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), one of the world’s leading business organizations, we wish our university to have a much deeper and stronger cooperation with the business world. We intend to continue our work around this focal point in the new term. With this in-depth cooperation, the academia will both produce solutions to the problems and needs of the business world, and new developments in the business world will give academicians a new horizon in the context of new research areas.”
“We Need to Update Our Curricula in this Changing World”
Stating that the world has been in a rapid globalization and digital transformation process in recent years, Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak has said, “While we are preparing our young brothers and sisters for life via education, we have to review and revise our curricula within the framework of the changing needs of the world and digital transformation. I’m not talking about a change from scratch, but an update. For example, we experienced an earthquake. In this context, relevant matters such as crisis management, disaster management, regulation of planning, organization, coordination control functions should be handled with a multi-disciplinary approach. New business models such as flexible working are emerging. What will be the equivalent of these new business models in law for example? Beyond these, we are faced with realities such as artificial intelligence, robotic coding, and algorithms. When we look at how we can be more beneficial to people and institutions in all these processes, the necessity to review our curricula emerges once again. Revising our curricula will also offer opportunities for our academicians to gain new research horizons and update themselves.”
“We are Working on a Sustainable Model”
Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak, who said, “First of all, we think that the institutional relationship is the right approach”, continued his words as follows: “Istanbul Ticaret University is affiliated to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), and both of these institutions have different needs and areas of expertise. How can these needs and areas of expertise overlap institutionally? While we seek an answer to this question, we will sometimes be able to offer alternative solutions to the problems experienced by ITO, and sometimes we will be able to ensure that the works carried out on the basis of personal relations are carried out at with a holistic perspective at the level of institutional relations. From the university’s point of view, we do not want matters such as employment, internship, workplace practices to be handled as singular processes and carried out based on personal relations. Instead, we aim to handle all these matters within the scope of a sustainable model we are trying to build within the framework of an institutional systematic. The patronage project may meet this need to some extent. We also want the part-time working model to become permanent and sustainable. In this way, our students can get a job before they graduate, while our businesses will not have to search for qualified employment and will get rid of the related costs. On the other hand, our academicians will be faced with new research topics and they will be able to obtain support for their publications, studies and projects at a much more institutional level.”
“Internationalization is an Unavoidable Phenomenon”
Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak, who said that internationalization is an important reality and an anavoidable phenomenon today, said, “As a university, we have been doing our part in terms of internationalization in recent years. We have students from almost every country in the world, and we want to further increase our student diversity. On the other hand, we want our own students to experience the culture and education life abroad through various exchange programs. Our works to that effect have increased recently with the efforts of our friends. Of course, factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic process caused some interruptions, but these are exceptional cases. What is important here is that we care about internationalization in terms of human and cultural aspects as well as scientific aspect by attaining diversity in scientific researches and publications at the university level.
“Our New Generation Entrepreneurship Course is offered at TechnoPark and BTM Incubation Centers”
Emphasizing the importance of providing theory and applied education together and preparing the necessary ground in this framework by the university, Acting Rector Prof. Dr. Torlak has said: “We have a New Generation Entrepreneurship course that we opened in this term to update our curriculum in the context of current needs. TechnoPark and Center for Commercialization of Information (BTM), subsidiaries of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), opened incubation centers in Ümraniye and Beyoğlu Districts with the support of the municipalities of the respective districts. We enable our students to benefit from the experience and knowledge of our colleagues working in the incubation centers with the elective New Generation Entrepreneurship course that we offer to all departments of our university. I personally teach some of the classes of this course, and see that students from all departments of our university attend the classes. I realized that most of our students are not aware of our university’s know-how in these areas. With this course, they will have the chance to meet with entrepreneurs as well as angel investors. We need a new generation of entrepreneurs, and our young people have a very open horizon as long as we can guide them properly.”
