Dear Students and Members,

In line with the decisions of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) dated February 17, 2023, upon evaluating the impacts of the earthquakes that took place on February 6, 2023; the following arrangements in various important dates for the Spring Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year were announced to our students: The classes in the Department of Basic English will commence on February 27, 2023; interactive course registrations and advisor approvals (for the associate degree, undergraduate degree, and graduate degree programs) will take place on March 1-3, 2023; the classes (for the associate degree, undergraduate degree, and graduate degree programs) will commence on March 6, 2023.

Based on the decisions of YÖK dated February 17, 2023, our University Senate convening on February 20, 2023, have made the following decisions regarding the processes to be conducted in the Spring Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year:
 

1. Spring Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year will be conducted via distance education (online) methods.
    
2. Until a new decision by YÖK is announced at the beginning of April, only online and synchronized distance education methods will be carried out as the teaching method by taking the necessary measures to provide students with the targeted knowledge, skills, and competencies.
    
3. In April, if YÖK announces that hybrid education can be adopted for the rest of the term, all our education processes will be carried out through hybrid education methods for the remainder of the semester.
    
4. The theoretical parts of the courses, of which a certain amount of the credits is reserved for practical applications (practical studies, as well as laboratory, workshop, studio, and similar studies), will be conducted by distance education methods. Practical parts of these courses have been postponed until April. If it is decided that distance education will continue after April, the University Senate will reevaluate how the practical applications of these courses will be completed.
    
5. The "Teaching Practice" course in the programs of the Faculty of Education will be conducted face to face.
    
6. Our students who are impacted by the earthquake and therefore cannot complete their course registration within the period allocated for interactive course registrations are expected to apply to the department they are enrolled in via writing a petition or sending an email until the last day of the add-drop period, which is March 17, 2023. Subsequently, with the approval of the department and the decision of the relevant Administrative Board, these students will be allowed for late registration for the Spring Semester.
    
7. Our students who are impacted by the earthquake and therefore cannot register for an elective course (or multiple courses) within the period allocated for interactive course registrations due to the lack of vacant quotas are expected to contact and inform the faculty member offering the course, then apply to the department they are enrolled in via writing a petition or sending an email until the last day of the add-drop period, which is March 17, 2023. Subsequently, with the approval of the department and the decision of the relevant Administrative Board, these students will be allowed to register for these courses.
    
8. Our students who want to apply for a leave of absence (registration freezing) for the Spring Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year are expected to submit their request to the department they are enrolled in via writing a petition or sending an email (mentioning their excuse for this request) within the first 3 weeks after the beginning of the classes at the latest, which means before March 24, 2023. Subsequently, with the approval of the department and the decision of the relevant Administrative Board, the leave of absence requests of these students for the Spring Semester will be approved, and this period will not be included in their total duration of study. The students who cannot submit their leave of absence requests in the allocated period due to their excuses are expected to apply by documenting their excuse so that their requests can be evaluated by going through the same steps.
    
9. For associate degree and undergraduate students who were in their last semester as of the Fall Semester of the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the resit examination applications, which were previously planned to be held between January 30 and February 17, 2023, have been extended until February 24, 2023.
    
10. Our Ph.D. students who defended their thesis before September 2, 2022 (at the end of the Spring Semester of the 2021-2022 Academic Year) and were granted a 6-month extension by the jury were previously expected to hold their thesis defenses on March 2, 2023. The thesis defenses of these students have been postponed until March 31, 2023.
     
11. Students who meet the criteria for the "special student" status determined in accordance with the decisions of YÖK dated February 17, 2023, are expected to submit their requests for obtaining the status of "special student" within the first 3 weeks after the beginning of the classes at the latest, which means before March 24, 2023. No fee will be charged for the special student status within this scope.

Best regards,