We are Strenghtening Our Cooperation with Southern University and A&M College

On October 10, 2022, Prof. Dr. Barbara West Carpenter, Mr. Huey Lawson, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Kandara, Dr. Mehtap Kandara, Dr. Nadia C. Gadson, Ms. Christal Carroll, and Kamil Dönmez visited Kırıkkale University in order to start "Study Abroad in Türkiye" program.

The program started with a visit to the Mayor of Kırıkkale, Mehmet Saygılı. The guests also had a short campus tour and visited the International Office and Global Connection Center.

A panel entitled "Bilateral Cooperation Opportunities with Southern University and A&M College: Academic Staff Exchange and Study Abroad Program” was organized. In his opening speech, our Vice Rector, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Başalan highlighted the fact that internationalization is one of the important missions of universities and that in today’s world where global communication is growing rapidly, it has become very important to work with education and research institutions in other countries. He stated “as Kırıkkale University family, we are making efforts both for our students to be in different educational environments and to educate themselves in accordance with the future of the world, and for our academic and administrative staff to produce and share information in a scientifically interactive manner”. Our Head of International Office, Assist. Prof. Dr. Zeynep Başer talked about the cooperations carried out with Southern University from 2012 to 2022.

In the panel moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Kandara (Liaison for Türkiye at Southern University), Prof. Dr. Barbara West Carpenter (Member of the Louisiana House of the Representatives and Dean of the Center for International Affairs and University Outreach) said that it was her fifth visit to Türkiye and third to Kırıkkale University. And since she saw many beauties every time she came, she came again with her friends so that they could see them, as well. Prof. Carpenter indicated that the purpose of their visit was to take their relationship one step further. She said that Turkish was among the 14 critical languages to be learned by the American Federal Government and therefore it was important for their students to learn Turkish. She also reminded that before the pandemic, they exchanged students from Kırıkkale University to Southern University, but they did not exchange students from Southern University to Kırıkkale University before. Thus, she added that now they were here to change that, and they were planning a group of students to come to Kırıkkale University this summer.  Mr. Huey Lawson, Tittle III Director, Assoc. Prof. Dr Osman Kandara and Dr. Mehtap Kandara also shared their ideas about cooperation opportunities between two universities and answered the questions.

On the same day, a seminar entitled “Being a Student in the USA: Education Opportunities” was also organized. In the program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Osman Kandara, Dr. Nadia C. Gadson (Vice-Dean of International Education Centre) and Ms. Christal Carroll-Johnson (Coordinator of International Students Department) gave a speech on the education opportunities in the USA, application requirements, and the student life at Southern University and A&M College. The seminar ended after the guest speakers answered students’ questions.