The Advisory Board of our department held its fall meeting of the 2026-2027 academic year on Tuesday, 20 October 2026 at 10:00, chaired by the Head of Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Talip ARSU. The meeting was attended by board members Asst. Prof. Dr. Serap SERİN KARACAER and Lecturer Dr. Gülsüm Cansu DİKKAŞ, external stakeholder members Mehmet KARAMANLI (professional) and Osman KOÇAK (graduate), and student representative Barış Eray ÖZDEMİR.
The meeting addressed the evaluation of the curriculum and course contents in terms of the needs of the tourism sector, internship and Cooperative Education Program practices, graduate employment and tracking, and department–sector cooperation. Our external stakeholders highlighted the importance in recruitment of guest communication and vocational foreign language skills, familiarity with hotel management systems used at the front office and online booking channels, and compliance with hygiene and food safety rules. Our student representative conveyed students’ views on hands-on courses, business visits and internship opportunities.
The recommendations of the Advisory Board were discussed at the Department Board meeting held on the same day and adopted for implementation by decision no. 2026/7. Accordingly, hotel management systems and online booking channels will be introduced in relevant courses; sector-specific dialogues and role-plays such as reservations, check-in/check-out and handling complaints will be emphasized in vocational foreign language courses; a list of accommodation and food and beverage businesses that can host students for internships and the Cooperative Education Program will be created with the support of our external stakeholders and shared with our students; a pre-internship information meeting will be held every spring semester; a graduate contact list will be created and a graduate survey administered; and at least two seminars or talks and one technical visit will be organized during the year with the participation of sector representatives and our graduates.
The implementation of the decisions will be monitored by the Department Quality Commission and evaluated at the Advisory Board meeting to be held in the spring semester. We thank our external stakeholders and board members for their contributions.
