A program called “Rector Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya Meets with the Student Representatives of Quality Assurance System” was organized by the Quality Management Coordinator of KAEU and Young Quality Society. Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, Vice-Rectors Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gökbel, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt and Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kasım Karahocagil, Secretary-General Mehmet Zeki Küçük, deans, principals, academic and administrative staff, and students participated in the program held on 25 October 2021 at the Ahi Evran Congress and Culture Center, 15 July National Will Hall.
The opening speech of the program was made by Halil İbrahim Okur, Head of Young Quality Group, and gave information about the community. Explaining the purpose, vision, mission, and activities of the Young Quality Community, Okur said that it is very important for students to be included in the quality process. Halil İbrahim Okur, who shared the activities they realized as a group, emphasized that they wanted the students to internalize that quality would continue with these activities. Noting that they have chosen Student Quality Envoys from each unit and that they aim to spread quality, Okur thanked the university administration for their support at all stages.
After the speech of the Young Quality Group President Halil İbrahim Okur, Deputy Coordinator of Quality Ekrem Öztürk took the floor and explained the quality process. Expressing the contribution of the students to the quality process, Öztürk noted that Kırşehir Ahi Evran University is included in the Institutional Accreditation Program (IAP) of the Higher Education Council (YÖK). Ekrem Öztürk, who also shared information about the IAP process, emphasized that students have an important role in the quality process of the university.
Rector Karakaya: “Youth Movement is the Renewal Movement of the Society”
After the speech of Deputy Coordinator of Quality Ekrem Öztürk, Rector of KAEU Prof Dr. Vatan Karakaya made a speech. In his speech, Rector Karakaya stated that he is pleased that the quality process initiated by KAEU in 2015 reaches the students, and said that every job adopted by the youth is successful. Noting that the quality journey they embarked on in 2015 will be renewed together with the students, Prof Dr. Vatan Karakaya said, “The movement of the youth is the renewal movement of the society.”. Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, who sees the youth as the clean blood of the society, continued his speech as follows: “Youth movement has always existed throughout history. When the dynamism of society fell, it was always the youth who started the movement. Fütüvvet in the 9th century and Akhism in the 12th century are actually youth and community renewal movements. Regeneration in the human body is achieved by cleansing the blood, and youth is the clean blood of a society. When that blood moves, it is renewed and cleaned. In this sense, it made me happy to see so many young people in the quality event.”
Rector Karakaya: “It is necessary to be reborn, to live with hope”
Addressing the young people and expressing his expectations from them, Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya said that because human is dynamic being, it must be constantly renewed, otherwise, stagnation will cause human energy to decrease. “For this reason, it is necessary to be renewed every day, to be reborn every day, and to live with hope,” said Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, and noted that for the young people not to fall into despair, they must have a job, a hope and an aim for the future. Emphasizing that students are here to obtain a higher quality education, Rector Karakaya stated that they serve this purpose with their quality studies and that they aim to make the institution stronger by including students in the quality process.
Rector Karakaya: “Ahilik is the 12th Century Quality Movement”
Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya, who said that quality means transforming the work done to human benefit, expressed that quality is not just a mechanical design, but the name of an internalized honorable life. Explaining that Kırşehir Ahi Evran University is never after a quality that will be just hung on the wall, Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya continued his speech as follows: “Since 2015, our management and all our staff have definitely received training on quality. Because the source of healing is education. Being managed is an organization that results from that.”
Rector Karakaya: “We Must Build Society by Being with the Good and Staying Away from the Bad”
Rector Karakaya, who evaluated Akhism as a quality movement in the 12th century, emphasized that it is important for people to build themselves in their inner world, and noted that unless a person unveils the covers of learning inside, s/he will not be able to connect with the world. Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya stated that the way to know the world is through the opening of the inner world to the outside world and continued his speech as follows: “After opening this door, we only see objects outside. We experience love, compassion, beauty, grudge, and hatred within us. That is, the conquest of man is achieved by classifying these feelings within him. We must build a society by being on the side of the good and staying away from the bad. Because society is built with good.”
Rector Karakaya: “We Need to Show That We are Worth Five-Year Accreditation by Fulfilling the Conditions of the IAP”
Describing the quality journey of Kırşehir Ahi Evran University in the continuation of his speech, Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya said that they took the first step towards the quality journey in 2015 and that they completed all the processes in 2016 and received the Quality Management Certificate from the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE). Rector Karakaya, who stated that they are a university that accredits itself in every field in their quality processes, emphasized that they have originally designed the quality management system together with all business processes. Rector Karakaya, who also stated that KAEU is shown as an example in the Higher Education Quality Board (YÖKAK) with its original design in quality, said that they explained quality studies in many universities in higher education with this design. Evaluating Quality Assurance in Education as the value of Ahilik in the 21st century, Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya said, "I am proud of this because it has a design that puts people first and makes ideas and improvement suggestions based on the truth, not just the needs of people." said. Rector Karakaya, who sees the students as valuable to them and the future of this country, added that he is happy to have satisfied another need in the education process of the students' thanks to the success of KAEU in quality studies. Explaining that as Kırşehir Ahi Evran University, they took part in the Institutional Accreditation Program (KAP), Rector of KAEU Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya continued his speech as follows: “For us, the exam has just begun. We need to demonstrate that we are worth a five-year accreditation by fulfilling the IAP requirements in one year. You must be in close contact with the management. We will put into practice in all areas what we have designed in one year. We all want to leave IAP with a five-year accreditation guarantee by working hard. Your support and contribution are very valuable to us, thank you in advance for your contributions, dear young people.”
Rector Karakaya answered the students' problems at the end of his speech. The program ended after the President of Young Quality Community Halil İbrahim Okur gave flowers to the Rector of KAEU, Prof. Dr. Vatan Karakaya.