Lecturer of Public Relations and Publicity Department of Istanbul Gelişim University, Prof. Dr. Sacide Vural became the chairman of the Communication Education Assessment Accreditation Board (İLEDAK), in addition to her studies on accreditation and communication for years. Deputy Head of Public Relations and Publicity Department Dr. Esra Tunçay has conducted an interview with Vural to the ILEDAK Presidency.
You have been working on accreditation and communication for many years. You have recently been elected as the president of ILEDAK; we congratulate you. Could you give us information about your election to ILEDAK Presidency and the works you have done?
Communication Research Association (İLAD) was founded in 1989. It has been actively working in the field of communication since its establishment. In 2015, we started preparatory work in order to obtain the accreditation, quality certificate and accordingly, to conduct accreditation studies on communication programs. In 2017, we received our certificate from the Higher Education Quality Board. Subsequently, we started our accreditation studies on communication programs.
We carry out the quality and evaluation of the undergraduate programs in terms of accreditation, including the communication programs within the communication faculties and other faculties.
This process actually started with the integration of the programs into Europe as a result of our country entering the Bologna process in 2001 and was completed in 2010 with ECTS (European Credit Transfer System). The basic umbrella in Europe is actually within the framework of NCOA basic policies. The Higher Education Quality Board is actually a member of NCOA. We are also under this umbrella and we accredit at national level. We continue our work in this process. We are currently doing the accreditation of undergraduate communication programs in universities, and we aim to accredit associate and master's communication programs in the future.
What will the accreditation process be like for the communication programs at associate degree and master's degree?
We need to develop criteria in the future. Our current system and documents are clearly on our website. Likewise, we will do the necessary procedural processes. I am also at the head of the education programs and I gave a training workshop to the Deans of communication faculties. This work continues. We train our professors to make evaluations. Each team consists of at least four people, including a chairman and co-chairman and two evaluators. At least four people go to evaluate a program. Sometimes we take observers from the industry or our own academics. In the following process, we also included students. Now we are training undergraduate students. These students follow the evaluation process from start to finish, but they are not included in the evaluation process.
What is the biggest challenge in this process?
Bringing the assessors together and the suitability of time schedule are difficult. Before the distance education process, our work was starting on Saturday; On Sunday, we were making some evaluations with the team members in terms of the opportunities of the university over the university trips and self-evaluation reports. Subsequently, intensive work began on Monday. We were leaving the university on Monday afternoon, reading the exit statement in the presence of the rector. There is also a process of returning to whether these processes have an objection. Then the team leader writes the final report. This report is sent to the Communication Education Accreditation Board. The report goes through the Consistency Commission. Then the Communication Education Accreditation Board makes the final decision and the decision on whether to give accreditation is made by us personally by going to the Dean of the relevant faculty; The accreditation certificate is presented to them. Accredited universities are listed on YÖK's and our website.
If there are negativities in accreditation, is time given? Can every university applying for it get the accreditation?
There were also universities that we could not accredit. We have a number of criteria and these criteria are included in ten items with sub-items. Accreditation is given based on these articles as I have mentioned.
How did the pandemic period affect you?
We had to make an arrangement according to the pandemic period. We hold our meetings online. We also made our interim evaluations online. But we always have colleagues that we send to the institution for evaluation. Because it is necessary to go to the institution, to be seen and evaluated. During the pandemic period, we choose our friends from that region to visit the institution and do the necessary work. If there is a meeting room allocated with the necessary precautions, the work may also be completed at the university. Self-assessment reports need to be prepared very well. It starts with the basic elements such as the program's mission, vision, the institution's strategic plan, and regulations. Faculty policy is also very important. We attach importance to these issues at the places we go, we want at least six faculty members in a program, but the fields of study should not overlap. The jobs of the future are very different and therefore need to be questioned well.
Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us in this interview that we came together on the occasion of your election as the President of ILEDAK.
