2009-2011 National Team of Bologna Experts Project

National Team of Bologna Experts Project

The main approach of the National Teams of Bologna Process 2009-2011 Project for the Top-Up part will be to focus on the issues and activities regarding implementation of ECTS and DS at Turkish higher education institutions (HEIs), the creation and the activities of Bologna Coordination Committee (BEK).

During the previous project, Bologna Working Groups were established at each Higher Education Institution in order to screen the level of Bologna activities and implementation at each institution. Moreover, the Group would then prepare a workplan to improve their Bologna activities within their institutions. At the end of their workplan the Group would prepare a progress report and submit it to the Council of Higher Education. What is now called "Bologna Coordination Commissions (BEK)" has been established at all HEIs in Turkey. The BEK has been trained by the Bologna Experts during the previous phase of the project. Various regional workshops will be organized in the new phase of the project in order for these Groups to function more effectively.

Council of Higher Education in Turkey strongly supports the widespread implementation of ECTS and Diploma Supplement at TR HEIs. Issuing Diploma Supplement to the students graduating from HEIs has become common practice in spite of some problems at individual institutions. In order to achieve the similar success also in ECTS implementations at Turkish HEIs, site visits by the Bologna Experts will be conducted to promote the proper implementation of ECTS. It is also one of the main aims of this project to encourage Turkish HEIs to apply for ECTS Label by organising various workshops and site visits organised by the Bologna experts in the field.

The problem of recognition of credits obtained abroad is another issue which will be tackled during the Project. It will be dealt with during the site visits to the institutions for the ECTS & DS Label visits. The outcomes of these visits will be shared with the rest of the institutions during various workshops and seminars.

In order to realise the main aims of the Bologna Project in Turkey, various organisations will have to be involved in the Project as stakeholder. HEIs (Administrators, academic staff, students).

Although significant progress has been achieved towards realizing the objectives of the Bologna Process at various levels during the previous phase of the project, it is obvious that certain action lines of the Bologna process remain relatively weak in Turkey. We are aware of these areas and will certainly focus on them for further improvements such as correct implementation of ECTS and DS. We expect that once the operation of the BEK group starts fully implementing their activity plan according to their needs, the TR HEIs will advance rapidly in the implementation ofBologna reforms in all fields.

Workshops on National Qualifcations Framework

Based on National Team of Bologna Experts Project, workhops on National Qualifications Framework (NQF) were held in which participants from differentt faculties were informed about implementation of NQF and the learning outcomes.

These workshops took place in the following places and dates:

1. Workshops for Deans of Faculties of Agriculture, Aquaculture, Forestry, Veterinary, Communication, Theology and Law. October 22-23, 2009; Marmara University (Istanbul) (For presentations.)

2. Workshops for Deans of Faculties of Education and Architecture January 22, 2010, Mustafa Kemal University (Hatay) (For presentations.)

3. Workshops for Deans of Faculties of Dentistry, Medical Sciences and Pharmacy February 12, 2010, Hacettepe University (Ankara) (For presentations.)

National Conferences/Training Seminars for the Model of Bologna Coordination Commissions

In every higher education institutions, Bologna Coordination Commissions (BCC) was founded in order to foster implementation of the Bologna Process. In order to inform the members of these commissions, national conferences/training seminars were held in the following places and dates:

December 4, 2009, İstanbul University, Istanbul (For Vice Rectors-the President of BCC) (For the presentations.)

March 19, 2010, Anadolu University, Eskisehir (For Vice Rectors-the Heads of BCC) (For the presentations.)

May 14, 2010, Akdeniz University, Antalya (For Student Representatives) (For the presentations.)

May 25, 2010, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Eskisehir (For the Personnel who fill in BCC Reports)

June 18, 2010, Akdeniz University, Antalya (For Rectors and Vice Rectors) (For the presentations.)

October 22, 2010, Sabancı University, Istanbul (For the Heads of Strategic Development Department and Internal Auditors) (For the presentations.)

November 26, 2010, İnönü University, Malatya (For Secretary General and for Heads of the Department of Student Affairs) (For the presentations.)

December 10, 2010, TOBB Economics and Technology University, Ankara (For Vice Rectors-the Heads of BCC) (For the presentations.)

May 20, 2010, Turgut Özal Üniversitesi, Ankara (For Vice-Rectors-the Heads of BCC) (For the presentations)

Regional Workshops

In implementing the Bologna Process, there are differences among higher education institutions especially the newly established ones need assistance for their training activities. Hence, regional workshops for the newly established higher education institutions were held in which good practices in regarding the Bologna Process were shared with the participants.

These workshops were held in the following places and dates:

1. For Central Anatolia Region, October 2, 2009, Nevşehir University (Nevşehir) (For the presentations.) 
2. For Mediterranean and Aegean Regions, November 13, 2009, Süleyman Demirel University (Isparta) (For the presentations.)
3. For Black Sea Region, April 16, 2010 Ondokuz Mayıs University (Samsun) (For the presentations.) 
4. For Marmara Region, May 28, 2010, Namık Kemal University (Tekirdağ) (For the presentations.) 
5. For Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Regions, November 5, 2010, Muş Alparslan University (Muş) (For the presentations.)

Site Visits

Based on demands from higher education institutions (HEIs), selected HEIs were visited by different groups of at least two Bologna Experts. In these site visits, either ECTS/DS Label applications were discussed or the activities of Bologna Coordination Commissions (BCC) were evaluated and assisted. These visits were made at the following higher eduction institutions:

Workshops on ECTS

Workshops on implementation of European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and Diploma Supplement (DS) were held as sections in the annual Erasmus meetings organized under the coordination of the National Agency. The workshops aimed to encourage higher education institutions (HEIs) to apply ECTS/DS Labels. In these workshops, by sharing good practice examples as well as underlining general mistakes made in applications gathered by the National Agency Bologna Experts guided HEIs for their upcoming applications.

These workshops were held in the following places and dates:

November 5-6 2009, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep

April 8-9, 2010, the Universities of Ege and Yaşar, İzmir

November 4-5, 2010, Atatürk University, Erzurum

The workshops for the Students

Based on the Project of 2009-2011 the Implementation of the Bologna Process, the regional workshops for the students were organized in order to make them be involved in the Bologna Process.

These worshops were held in the following the dates and places.

February, 25 2011 - Muğla University (Program) 

March 11, 2011 - Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University (Program)

                             Karadeniz Technical University (Program)

                             Batman University (Program)

March, 25 2011 - Uludağ University (Program)

                             Karabük University (Program)

                             Ankara (Turkish National Agency) (Program)
May 13, 2011- İstanbul Bilgi University For the program and the presentation of Magnus Malnes (from ESU)

For the presentations click here.