Vision of the Department of Architecture
The vision of the Architecture Department is to be a dynamic, contemporary, democratic, public focused, pioneering department that educates architects who have a creative, researcher, innovative thinking system, have gained knowledge and skills on theory, design, application, can establish interdisciplinary cooperation, can adapt to the dynamics of the era, and have ethical values and academicians who produce knowledge in the field of basic architecture, research, establish the relationship between theory and practice, and have ethical values, at national and international level.
Mission of the Department of Architecture
The mission of the Architecture Department is;
- To prepare and implement training programs in accordance with the requirements of the current architectural environment,
- To educate professionals who are competent in the field of theory and practice, who can think in multiple ways, who can provide cooperation between design disciplines, who play a leading role in the national and international arena, who have honest, impartial and ethical values,
- To produce and share knowledge at national and international standards in education,
- To create an academic environment where ideas are freely discussed and shared,
- To support academic studies in the field of architecture,
- To keep up with the developments and changes in the field of architecture.
Strategic Plan of the YTU Architecture Department
2019-2024
Providing Innovative and Leading Architecture Education in the Core Field of Architecture
Core Values of the YTU Architecture Department
The YTU Architecture Department, along with its academic and administrative staff and students, will operate in line with values that support progress in academia, research, and service. The fundamental values that our department adheres to as guiding principles are as follows:
Innovative – We consider innovation as the foundation of design and implementation and aim to foster its development.
Collaborative – Our academic staff and students value interdisciplinary teams, which are a distinctive feature of professional practice. As a department, we establish relationships with stakeholders who contribute to our work in addition to our professional disciplines.
Inclusive – We represent and value diverse backgrounds, perspectives, interests, and skills. We carry out our actions integrated with the highest academic, professional, and ethical standards.
Responsible – We strive to enhance the social and environmental awareness of our academic staff and students. We are conscious of and take responsibility for the consequences of our actions when designing structures and environments.
Sustainable – We work towards creating an institutional memory that ensures sustainability in education, research, and management practices.
EDUCATION-LEARNING FOCUS
GOAL 1: INNOVATIVE APPROACH IN ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION
OBJECTIVE 1.1: IMPROVING UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PROGRAMS AND ENHANCING STUDENT PROFILE
EDUCATION QUALITY
ACTIVITIES
- Ensure equality and inclusivity in teaching and learning processes
- Establish open architecture learning platforms
- Strengthen adaptation to technological advancements in architecture education
- Enhance innovative learning and teaching methods
- Criterion: Number of seminars on digital technologies held within a year
- Criterion: Increase the rate of using innovative teaching methods
OBJECTIVE 1.2: STRENGTHENING AND DIVERSIFYING ACADEMIC AREAS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT
SPECIALIZATION
ACTIVITIES
- Raise awareness among students about the integration of different specializations in architecture
- Maintain a dynamic academic staff with diverse expertise
- Develop principles and methods for continuous performance and planning in education
- Criterion: Organize two workshops per project with different specializations
- Criterion: Number of seminars held in different areas of specialization within the department
- Criterion: Increase in student satisfaction percentage
- Criterion: Implementation rate of the educational plan
GOAL 2: CREATING AN EFFECTIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY ENVIRONMENT IN ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION
OBJECTIVE 2.1: STRENGTHENING INTERDISCIPLINARY CULTURE IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION
INTERDISCIPLINARY CULTURE
ACTIVITIES
- Train students to lead multidisciplinary teams
- Develop and improve opportunities for national, international, and/or intercultural educational experiences for department students
- Support students in architectural project competitions through academic staff
- Criterion: Offer at least one course and/or seminar on entrepreneurship and leadership each term
- Criterion: Increase the number of agreements in existing exchange programs by %...
- Criterion: Invite two visiting lecturers per term from universities with exchange program agreements
OBJECTIVE 2.2: STRENGTHENING INTERDISCIPLINARY PARTNERSHIPS IN GRADUATE EDUCATION
PARTNERSHIPS
ACTIVITIES
- Develop international partnerships in graduate programs
- Encourage students to undertake joint theses with co-advisors from different scientific fields
- Identify thesis topics based on the needs of external stakeholders and establish cooperation protocols
- Criterion: Number of joint theses completed annually from different scientific fields
- Criterion: Number of cooperation protocols with external stakeholders
- Criterion: Number of international partnerships in graduate programs
GOAL 3: BENEFIT TO SOCIETY IN ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION
OBJECTIVE 3.1: TRAINING ARCHITECTS WITH A FOCUS ON SOCIAL BENEFIT
SOCIETY
ACTIVITIES
- Instill architectural professional ethics in students
- Integrate concepts such as honesty and justice at every stage of education
- Produce architects who are sensitive to social issues and use their professional knowledge for societal benefit
- Increase the department's involvement in social responsibility projects
- Teach students responsibility, initiative, entrepreneurship, versatility, and self-confidence, and integrate professional notions into all areas of their lives
- Criterion: Execute two social responsibility projects with students annually
- Criterion: Organize two talks on professional career each year
- Criterion: Conduct one seminar on professional ethics annually
- Criterion: Number of collaborations with non-governmental organizations
RESEARCH-TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
GOAL 4: ESTABLISHING POSITIVE RECOGNITION IN ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, PUBLIC SECTOR, AND ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENT
OBJECTIVE 4.1: LEADING ARCHITECTURAL THOUGHT, CREATING, SHARING, AND DISSEMINATING KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITIES
- Increase the quantity and quality of national and international publications and enhance their impact
- Inform academic staff about academic activities and publication incentives
- Increase the number of academic staff participating in national/international scientific meetings (conferences, seminars, workshops, poster presentations, unpublished oral presentations)
- Support faculty members in international work opportunities and enhance research possibilities
- Criterion: Number of academic publications
- Criterion: Number of faculty members participating in scientific meetings
- Criterion: Number of faculty members assigned abroad for education/research during the academic year
- Criterion: Number of sponsorships
- Criterion: Number of faculty members assigned abroad
OBJECTIVE 4.2: INITIATING NEW RESEARCH INITIATIVES FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND CREATING RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH PROJECTS
RESEARCH
ACTIVITIES
- Increase the frequency of interdisciplinary research project development meetings
- Utilize university programs and develop research funding opportunities for research and scientific work
- Criterion: Increase in project support funding
- Criterion: Increase in the number of faculty members participating in exchange programs
- Criterion: Number of project development meetings organized
- Criterion: Increase in the number of publications produced from theses
- Criterion: Annual number of completed TÜBİTAK projects
OBJECTIVE 4.3: INCREASING RESEARCH-FOCUSED ACTIVITIES FOR INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
ACTIVITIES
- Facilitate interactions among alumni, academic staff, and students through extracurricular activities
- Organize meetings and workshops with potential strategic partners in the sector
- Criterion: Number of project applications made to national/international organizations outside the university
- Criterion: Number of extracurricular activities
- Criterion: Number of meetings/workshops organized with sector partners
OBJECTIVE 4.4: INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN AWARD-WINNING COMPETITIONS, IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS, AND CONSULTANCY AT LOCAL, REGIONAL, NATIONAL, AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS
DESIGN
ACTIVITIES
- Publicize achievements of faculty members and assistants who have won awards or implemented projects in national/international institutions
- Faculty members' participation in national/international competition juries
- Criterion: Number of awards won in project competitions
- Criterion: Monthly department newsletters
- Criterion: Number of faculty members on national/international competition juries
OBJECTIVE 4.5: PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
ACTIVITIES
- Support interdisciplinary working environments that facilitate collaboration in research projects and joint initiatives
- Conduct stakeholder analyses based on market expectations in architectural research
- Initiate interdisciplinary joint research projects with other departments of Yıldız Technical University and other schools at national/international levels
- Criterion: Number of faculty members serving on organizing committees for architecture-related congresses and symposiums
- Criterion: Number of cooperation protocols with different institutions and organizations
- Criterion: Implementation rate of action plans
- Criterion: Number of interdisciplinary joint research projects
GOAL 5: EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN ARCHITECTURAL RESEARCH
OBJECTIVE 5.1: STRENGTHENING TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
TECHNOLOGY
ACTIVITIES
- Obtain technology support for research from sector partners in collaboration
- Improve the infrastructure of the existing computer lab and add new hardware/software
- Criterion: Number of projects receiving technology support
- Criterion: Number of new hardware and software additions
OBJECTIVE 5.2: EFFECTIVE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN RESEARCH
PRODUCTION
ACTIVITIES
- Develop interdisciplinary projects that promote new digital technologies in architecture
- Utilize 3D printing technology in architectural research
- Criterion: Number of research projects using digital technologies
- Criterion: Number of research projects using 3D printing
PROCESS AND SUPPORT SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT FOCUS
GOAL 6: PROVIDING SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS FOR STUDENTS AND ACADEMICS
OBJECTIVE 6.1: CREATING WORKABLE AND COMFORTABLE SPACES FOR STUDENTS AND ACADEMICS
SPACE
STRATEGIES
- Increase the number of studios, classrooms, and workspaces equipped with technology for drawing, model making, computer use, and research activities
- Create storage areas such as cabinets and shelves for students to securely store their models, drawings, etc.
- Develop a digital environment where academics and students can store (e.g., course materials, assignments, projects) and potentially use as an archive
- Create comfortable workspaces for academic staff with private areas for each faculty member
- Criterion: Number of technologically equipped workspaces
- Criterion: Annual increase in storage space per student
- Criterion: Implementation of the digital archive
OBJECTIVE 6.2: IMPROVING PROCESSES TO INCREASE EFFICIENCY FOR STUDENTS AND ACADEMICS
PROCESS
STRATEGIES
- Develop effective support resources for students and simplify processes
- Clearly define and communicate administrative and academic processes to staff, and ensure fair and equitable distribution of work
- Criterion: Academic staff satisfaction rate
- Criterion: Student satisfaction rate
- Criterion: Renewal and analysis of work distribution charts each term
GOAL 7: ENSURING THE DEPARTMENT'S ADMINISTRATIVE SUSTAINABILITY
OBJECTIVE 7.1: MAINTAINING THE DEPARTMENT'S INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY AND CONTINUING ALL ACTIVITIES WITHIN THIS IDENTITY FRAMEWORK
IDENTITY
STRATEGIES:
- Increase institutional affiliation and ownership awareness among academic and administrative staff
- Create a digital archive for the department’s management and operational processes
- Criterion: Increase and update the number of management processes added to the digital archive
- Criterion: Preparation and publication of the Architecture Department Yearbook
OBJECTIVE 7.2: ENHANCING THE DEPARTMENT'S VISIBILITY AND RECOGNITION
VISIBILITY
STRATEGIES:
- Publicize the achievements of academic staff and students in various platforms
- Increase the presence of department activities in the media (print, visual, social)
- Provide information to academics and students about competitions organized by national/international institutions
- Criterion: Annual number of department activities featured in print/visual media
- Criterion: Annual number of department activities featured on social media
- Criterion: Number of informational communications made to academics and students about national/international competitions