The diversity and speed in digitalization, the widespread use of technology development in every field, the radical change in the most basic services that make up the daily life actually gained a completely different dimension with the pandemic process.
Along with the pandemic process, the "new normal" has brought some irreversible changes together, and different needs that vary immensely in short time have emerged.
For education, it should be noted that this circumstance should not only be seen as a temporary change, but a transformation and that this transformation should be structured with a strategic perspective and road map.
As an important stakeholder of this transformation process, BAU Family, which has adopted the mission of transferring innovation and improvement within the international academy since its establishment, has prepared a road map to pioneer the transformation that it has taken on as a mission. The focus of this roadmap is "BAU Hybrid University Quality Management and Standards".
BAU hybrid university quality standards are classified under six categories. While making these classifications, it is aimed to maximize the contributions of stakeholders not only in education processes, but also in all service processes that have direct and indirect effects on these processes. Therefore, with this standardization, all administrative and academic units will have measurable metrics regarding the minimum service quality they must meet in their services. On the other hand, this structuring is expected to redesign administrative and academic processes in a way that will nourish each other and bring them together functionally in one pot thus reflecting the interdisciplinary approach that has become the BAU culture academically to all the operational processes of the university.
While defining the Hybrid University; First of all, the definition should be clearly stated in terms of management.
In this context, it should be underlined that the university is a new management approach and process in which an agile management approach is blended with an optimal balance while preserving its traditional hierarchical structure. At this point, in addition to the central hierarchical structure with optimal balance, the matrix structure in which agile units are included, managerial understanding has been adopted.
Our duty in terms of managerial communication is to present traditional and agile approaches as an original model compatible with both our own system and the system of the world.
The definition of Hybrid University refers to enabling students to achieve in all fields such as academic, psycho-social, career, physical, ethical and intellectual development by supporting all learning - teaching processes in BAU with educational technologies; helping learners to adopt an up-to-date , interdisciplinary approach as well as getting equipped with 21st Century skills and technologies.
Therefore, this transformation aims to individualize face to face and online learning in a way that they are viewed as attractive and efficient. This is to be done through enriching developmental areas like interdisciplinary education, global learning experiences, sectoral research and application centers and entrepreneurship centers. In short, it should be considered as redesigning learning processes on and off campus (online, global, internship etc.) and it should be acknowledged that face to face education , valuable life lessons of the campus have not been abandoned .
BAU hybrid university model, structured with a holistic system approach, also aims to develop research and development in terms of quantity and quality in accordance with BAU objectives. It also aims to review and automate all processes to improve student experience and quality in education, and to increase the effects of the social benefit in local, national and international scale. To achieve all these goals, the entire administrative and academic body should work in an integrated manner, be accessible in a hybrid working order and it is necessary to establish data-based decision mechanisms that can give fast and accurate results.
Behind this approach is not only the idea of solving the difficulties encountered during the pandemic process but also the passion to be the pioneer of the modern education approach that is evolving into a very different structure in the globalizing world. In this context, it is aimed to follow a road map that strengthens learning outcomes by focusing on increasing the quality of education in every step to be taken.
This change especially emphasizes the need for individualized services to improve students in academic, physical, psychological, sociological, intellectual, ethical and career related areas.
In addition, facilitating the transfer of learning outcomes to business life, the effective use of the rich opportunities offered by the BAUGLOBAL network and thus increasing intercultural competence; learning, experiencing, developing with international professional observations and experiences; Increasing the inter-stakeholder support of our alumni network and strengthening it internationally are the other important aims. Considering all these goals and objectives, the hybrid learning experience should be perceived as the students’ gaining experience outside the campus, in the R&D fields, in the industry and in the international arena, without limiting the activities to be carried out within the campus area. In this context, it is important to encourage the enrichment of the development and career process with programs such as international R&D, sectoral collaborations, Erasmus, World Exchange, BAUGlobal certificate and dual-up. All these stated goals aim to make the learning experience accessible to the student anytime, anywhere with an agile approach. They also intend to increase efficiency in the design of activities on campus and to strengthen the competencies of the 21st century based on the interdisciplinary perspective of the whole learning experience.
In summary, a hybrid university approach focuses on the need that every stage of the learning-teaching process is technologically and institutionally accessible, individualizable, and ensuring continuous improvement based on data.
