THE EUROPEAN POLICY STATEMENT

With the increase in globalisation in the new millenium, Turkey recognises the pivotal it can play in building bridges and the contribution it can make to cultural and scientific development between East and West. Situated in one of the westernmost cities of Turkey, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (COMU) is in a situation of a window opening onto Europe and thus of being a leading actor in current developments. The future of our country will be directly affected by its relationship with the European Union and, whatever the outcome of negotiations in other areas of activity, in the fields of education and research, with both of which we are closely concerned, we can envisage only limited future expansion or development for the university without direct involment in the relevant programmes and activities of the EU. Such participation will be benefit to both our staff and students, and ultimately, therefore, to the country, as well as contributing to mutual international understanding and development.

In the light of these convictions, in recent years COMU has expanded increasing effort on establising and supporting collaborative agreements and projects with institutions in European and other countries. To date, COMU has signed eleven bilateral agreements of cooperation with institutions in siz countries, seven of which are with universities in four EU member and candidate states (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain), and negotations are underway to conclude several more. One of these agreements refers specifically to Erasmus students and staff excahnge, two more SOCRATES Bilateral Agreements are due to be signed in the next few days or weeks and plans are in place to conclude a few more. In connection with the agreements concluded previously, a number of students and members of academic staff, mainly from the fields of education, economics/management studies and archaeology have participated in exchange programmes, study or cultural visits, joint conferences and the like and other projects. For example, for the pasrt two years, students have been exchanged between COMU and its partner in Czech Republic for education and vocational training programmes and joint conferences have been arranged in the fields of economics and foreign language teaching with European partners. It is anticipated that further fields, such as agriculture, physics, fisheries, tourism and fine arts will be included in the new SOCRATES agreements. Academic personnel have alos participated in other international educational and research projects not covered by these agreements. Through its Japanese Language Teaching Department, the university also has a special relationship with Japan. Several agreements have been concluded and other visits and projetcs undertaken with institutions in that country.

Since  COMU is acutely aware that one of the chief prerequisites for successful international cooperation is a knowledge of foreign languages, all students are encouraged to develop their language skills. First year students who do not have a basic knowledge of foreign language are required to take a course in either English, German or French. In addition, many students take a vocational foreign language course in later semesters, the purpose of which is to familiarise them with terms and writings relevant to their specialist field. In some departments of the university (Foreign Language Tecahing, English Language and Literature, Tourism, all departments of Faculty of Engineering, all departments of Faculty of Fine Arts), on entering the programme, students are either required or strongly recommended to be proficient at a more advanced level in a foreign language. Those who are not attend a one-year intensive pre-programme preparation class, currently offered for either English or German. In addition to these in-programme courses, students and staff also have the opportunity of attending extra-curricular language courses in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek or Japanese. In the framework of cooperation activities with overseas institutions, summer courses in Bulgarian and Czech have also been organised.

The university also considers it important to encourage members of staff to develop their sk,lls and widen horizons through participation in international courses, projects and other events. In addition to the locations mentioned above, members of staff taken part in activities or visits to a number of other countries such as Israel, Malasyia, Austria, France and Australia.

Over the next few years, COMU aims to engage in futher development taking into account both the speacial features of the region in which is located and the opportunities available in a wider context. Canakkale possesses a rich historical and cultural heritage, a largely unspoilt natural environment, including many miles of coastline on two seas, a climate conducive to cultivation of a wide range of agricultural produce, and a relatively well-educated population with a generally positive towards Europe and the EU. These and other features offer many opportunities in fields such as archeaology, history, agriculture, fisheries, natural sciences, education, tourism and fine arts, to name but a few. The region is not heavily industrialised and, as such, opportunities to undertake local projects in this field are less plentiful.

With respect to the university itself, in recent years the number of students has increased rapidly, and parallel to this the administration has drastically stepped up its efforts to recurit suitable academic staff. It is planned to continue with this campaign and thus to improve the student/staff ratio still further, in order to ensure that COMU fulfills its role as an institution offering a high-quality education. In addition, emphasis is being put on the importance of increasing both the quality and quantitiy of research undertaken and on the publication of research findings, since this is the second important function of a university.

In order to facilitate these endeavours, preparations have been underway for some time for entry into the EU education and research programmes open to participation by universities in Turkey.  With regard to the anticipated entry into the SOCRATES programme, the first priority has been to educate and inform staff by ensuring participation by individuals from COMU seminars and other meetings organised by thre National Agency and others and alos by arranging a series of seminars and meetings within the university to disseminate information to as many members of staff as possible. There are plans to provide infromationfor students by means of similar activities during the academic teaching period, some of these in collabration with the AEGEEE student group which has also recently been established. There appears to be a great deal of interest among students with reagrd to spending a period of study in Europe, since such an experience is perceived as greatly increasing their employability as well as providing insights into another culture and a chance to improve foreign language skills.

The university also intends to adopt the ECTS system to be used alongside the local creditsystem by students taking part in Erasmus exchange programmes. To this end, an institutional and deparymental coordiantors have been appointed and an ECTS workgroup established, with the result that preparations for participation in this system are quite well advanced. In addition, the number of personnel employed in the International Relations Office has been increased and it is intended that some of them will concentrate exclusively on activities connected with SOCRATES, especially once active participation is underway. As well as the Erasmus programme, COMUY has the intention of participating in some of the other programmes, such as Leonardo da Vinci, deemed to be very suitable for the needs of some students, since there are quite a large number of vocational courses included within the university's programmes.

As a supportive measure, the university alos plans to increase provision for students to study foreign languages during their time in Canakkale. In addition to the compulsory or elective foreign language courses already available to students as part of departmental programmes, it is inteded that foreign language preparation classes will gradually be opened to students from more nad more departments, and eventually be made availbale to all students. Parallel to this, the university will need to increase and diversify the number of foreign language instructors in order to be able to offer more courses in both English and other languages as part of the curriculum. COMU intends to continue the trend of offering extra-curricular language courses in a wider variety of languages, possibly thorugh cooperation with partners, and aims to include languages used in neighbouring countries as well as those already being taught, since there are many issues of mutual historical, cultural and practical interest to Turkey and her neighnours and the university would like to further develop relationships with institutions in those countries, as well as those further afield. In order to accomplish these objectives, COMU has made plans to established a School of Foreign Languages. Bureaucratic procedures in connection with this project are already well advanced and it is hoped that these will be completd in the near future.

This European Policy Statemnt was developed by combining policies and suggestions put forward by various interested parties within the university following discussions on the subject. The final version was then disseminated to all departments within the university, who are then responsible for implementing policy on day-to-day basis. However, the final decision as to what extent a particular academic unit participates in the SOCRATES programme lies with that unit itself.

Activities concerned with SOCRATES will be centrally organised and coordinated. However, all participating departments will be extensively involved in may aspects of this organisation. The first priotiy is to ensure a continual two-way supply of up-to-date information and ease of access to this information by all interested staff and students. The second is to advise and assist those from COMU who wish to participate in the programme, and to provide counselling and practical assistance for visitors. The chief responsibility for these functions will lie with departmental coordinators and other staff connected with international relations. Attention will be paid to the suitability of partner institutions and of courses of study to be undertaken at them by COMU students. The main criteria for selection of students to take part in the programme will be academic achievemnt, personality and level of foreign language skills. There is the possibility of offering visiting students support with Turkish language skills, either through intensive pre-programme courses or consecutively with their stsudy programme. Students from COMU will also be asked to play a role in welcoming and offering practical assistance to visiting students, with the intention of facilitating the integration of visitors into life in Canakkale and the university.

In the case of mobility and projectsinvolving university staff, the relevance of such activitiesto the university's need will be considered, as well as the suitability and qualifications of the individuals who are to participate in them. Emphasis will be given both to projects in areas in which university is strong and those it is weak, in order that the former may increase in excellence and that the latter may aspire to it through collaboration with partners.