Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe, who has been serving as acting Rector as of February 1, 2023, was appointed as rector by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan upon the proposal of IKU Board of Trustees. The appointment decision was published in the Official Gazette dated September 14, 2023, and entered into force.

A cooperation protocol was signed between Istanbul Kültür University and BiP, the local communication and life platform operating under the structure of Turkcell, on Thursday, September 14 at 14.00 at the Design Factory on our Ataköy campus.

Within the scope of the protocol signed by our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver and Gökhan Yüksektepe, General Manager of BİP İletişim Teknolojileri ve Dijital Servisler A.Ş., the closed and open communication channels of our university will be transferred to BiP, enabling our students, academics and administrative staff to communicate through a single channel. BiP, which has made its first university cooperation, will support the digitalization process of our university with the solutions it will offer through BiP Discover within the scope of the agreement.

Within the scope of the joint project, many features such as course and school notifications, cafeteria information, university announcements, digital student ID card, and especially some transactions in student affairs were transferred to BiP channels.

"Channels were designed together with students."

Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, stated that BiP focuses on the experiences and needs of students and said,

"Collaborating with BiP is an important step for us. It is our responsibility as educators to develop alternative communication and interaction channels for young people and to open new paths for them. "With the pandemic, we all understood the value of fast, reliable, interactive digital solutions in the field of communication and education. Especially the new generation draws a profile that expresses their expectations very well in this regard, looking for speed, security and flexibility. In this sense, I believe that Turkcell BiP and IKU cooperation can provide significant benefits to today's young university students, who are the communication and interaction generation. This cooperation is also a learning and interaction experience between institutions. Channels were designed together with students. I believe that every dialog between telecommunications and information technologies and higher education will make a difference for institutional perspective and development in the medium and long term."

Providing information about the project, BiP General Manager Gökhan Yüksektepe said, "As BiP, we carried out the first of our university collaborations with Istanbul Kültür University. In this context, BiP Discover now includes a closed channel as an instant communication platform with approximately 20 thousand users, accessible only to students, academics and administrative staff of Istanbul Kültür University. In addition, the university's open channel, which is used as an alternative social media network for potential students, is now also included in BiP Discover. Information about the university and departments, events and interviews, and special award-winning survey questions for students can be easily accessed through this channel."

Our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe, Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Gülce Öğrüç Ildız, Secretary General Ender Rıza Ekici, Deans and Heads of Departments also attended the protocol and the cocktail afterwards.

The Curious Fox and Cute Hedgehog activity book set, prepared by Istanbul Kültür University Publishing House for children aged 3-6, took its place on the shelves in the new school year. The set consisting of a total of 12 books titled "I Can Do It", "Space", I Listen to Myself", "Our Environment", "Insects", "Water", "Imagination", "Curiosity", "Journey", "Emotions", "Dinosaurs" and "Health", offers alternative activities for children and their families. The training set, which presents games and life intertwined, includes four basic activities in a book each month.

Activities with the Fox and the Hedgehog, written by Burcu Günver and illustrated by Seçil Zeynep Büyükçolak, attracts attention with its content that will build a bridge for families and educators to establish healthy communication with children.

Offering an entertaining guide for children on multiple topics such as critical thinking, questioning, self-care practices, emotional awareness, and creative thinking, Activities with the Fox and the Hedgehog supports children in spending active and productive time throughout the year.

Name of the Set: Activities with the Fox and the Hedgehog
ISBN: 978-625-8180-16-9
Author: Burcu Günver
Illustration: Seçil Zeynep Büyükçolak
Editor: Uğur Salgar
Publisher: İKÜ Publishing House
Print Date: September 2023
Binding Type: Paperback
Number of Books: 12

Lecturer Dr. Esin Akalın, who has been teaching "Literature and Mythology", "Readings in Milton", "Topics and Trends in Enlightenment Literature" courses at IKU Department of English Language and Literature since 2001, gifted her book "Istanbul in my suitcase, Toronto in my kismet (Valizimde İstanbul Kısmetimde Toronto)" to our Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, our Rector Prof. Dr. Fadime Üney Yüksektepe, our Head of Corporate Communications Department Nilgün Eryeşil and our Alumni Relations Manager Ali Kaplanoğlu. Our professor has been invited to the "IKU Alumni Day" to be held on Sunday, October 15, 2023.