Description
abancı University (Turkish: Sabancı Üniversitesi), established in 1999, is a young foundation university located on a 1.26 million squaremeter campus which is about 40 km from Istanbul's city center.
Its first students matriculated in 1999. The first academic session started on October 20, 1999.
History
Panoromic view of dining hall
Under the guidance of one of Turkey's leading family foundations, Sabancı Vakfı (Sabancı Foundation), the Sabancı Group established Sabancı University in July 1994. More than 50 academics from 22 countries, students and private sector leaders participated in the Search Conference in August 1995.
This conference was followed by university development committees, which worked under the direction of a Student Trend and Preference Survey and other academic program design activities. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Sabancı University campus took place on July 31, 1997. The university began its second academic year on October 20, 1999.
Foundations Development Year
Sabancı University's Foundations Development Program consists of two key educational stages: the Foundations Development Year and University Courses. All student admits are required to take an English Language Assessment Exam (ELAE). Students deemed to require additional assistance enroll in the Foundations Development Year, which consists exclusively of English and Turkish language courses. The language coursework and the related exams are administered by the University's School of Languages.
Students who pass the ELAE matriculate as freshmen. Subsequently, every Sabancı University student is required to take the University Courses – the core curriculum of the undergraduate program.
Foundations Development Year: Students who do not meet the University's English language proficiency standards enroll in the Foundations Development Year (FDY).
Depending on their ELAE score, these students are placed in one of three levels of language instruction: Basic, Intermediate, or Upper Intermediate.
The University uses an instructional methodology that is course requirement- and content-based. As a result, FDY students emerge from the program with sufficient language proficiency as well as academic skills. Student success is judged not from examination results but overall performance in the program so they can seamlessly move on to the University Courses with their freshman classmates.
University Courses: University Courses is Sabancı University's core curriculum for undergraduates. Designed with a multidisciplinary approach, University Courses establishes links between the natural and social sciences as well as among other disciplines.
During freshman year, students take courses that focus on Humanity and Society; Principles of Atatürk and History of Turkish Revolution; Turkish Language and Literature; Science of Nature; Mathematical Functions: Discrete and Continuous; and Freshman English. In the second year, students take “Major Works” courses that focus on various significant literary and artistic works. Law and Ethics, taken in either the third or fourth year, examines the complementary concepts of law and ethics in relation to everyday moral dilemmas and choices. With this multidisciplinary educational training,
Sabancı University students emerge well-prepared to continue their education at the graduate level or start careers in any number of fields.
