 On Thursday, April 10, Rector Prof. Ali Doğramacı and members of the Central Administration held an open meeting in the new Lecture Hall (V) building. Their presentation included new and ongoing projects, a report on the revenues and expenditures of the university in the calendar year 2007, and a question and answer session in the meeting attended by the students, faculty and administrators.
The Rector stated that the agenda of the meeting was substantially shaped by the suggestions of faculty members communicated to their Deans and then conveyed to the Central Administration.
Among the construction projects discussed was the the new building for the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering scheduled to be completed this year, and the plans for a new residential building in the middle campus. This residential building, currently named building 107, has been designed by RMJM Hillier architects of New York. The construction is planned for 2009 and will house 30 one-two bedroom faculty apartments and 80 studios for graduate students.
The presentation also included plans to renovate various restrooms and plumbing systems in the north-west corner of the FEASS Building.
Further more, the establishment of a new e-mail hot-line, destek@bilkent.edu.tr, that will accept complaints regarding infrastructure problems in the office buildings of the university was announced.
The Central Administration and the Engineering School Dean’s Office are exploring the possibility of starting a new Mechanical Engineering Department. The current proposal involves admitting students into this department in the academic year 2009-2010.
In the meeting, external funding strategies were addressed as well. Researchers and grad students were particularly encouraged to extensively utilize TÜBİTAK programs.
A brief update was given in regard to the Eastern Anatolian project in Erzurum.
Also announced in the meeting was the establishment of a new center for teaching excellence. This center will offer workshops, one-on-one consultancies, and other faculty development activities. The aim is to enhance student learning and teaching performance of faculty members who choose to volunteer for the services of the center.
The last segment of the meeting involved a presentation by Prof. Tayfun Özçelik entitled "Walking on All Fours: Evolution and Human Disease." Prof. Özçelik and his team were the first to identify a genetic mutation that causes a quadrupedal gait in humans, a condition called Unertan syndrome, which was recently discovered in Turkey.
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