To celebrate the 20th year of our university, we have prepared a set of four questions to ask faculty and administrative personnel who have been with us since the beginning, and to our first students. They all tell "the story of 20 years" from their own perspectives.
Going in alphabetical order, this week's interviewee for "The Story of 20 Years" is Oya Arus.
Oya Arus has been a member of the Sabancı University family since 8 October 1998. Oya Arus, who has been working in the Information Center (IC) at Sabancı University for 22 years, started to work at the university as an intern when she was a student and continued as an Information Resources Organization Employee. Oya Arus worked at the IC as the Information Resources Organization Officer and the Collection Development Officer. She has been serving as the Director of Collection Development and Information Access Systems at the IC since 2011.
Oya Arus’s answers to our four questions are below.
What was your initial memory / impression of when you met Sabancı University for the first time?
O.A: I started working at Minerva Han in the building in Karaköy. At that time, the Information Center was on the 2nd of Minerva Han. They organized a picnic event at Sabancı University's Tuzla campus shortly after I started working. By the time we got to the picnic, all the buildings including the Information Center were still under construction. In fact, the stairs inside the Information Center were just frames. I still remember that image even today. At that time, I was very active and very excited by both the grandeur of the building and what our Founding Director Hilmi Çelik said. I never forget that moment. I told my friends studying in the same department as me many times about that.
What are the differences between yourself 20 years ago and yourself today, and how did Sabancı University contribute to that change?
O.A: I was a student when I first started working, I had not graduated from university yet, and I was pretty excited about my job. I had a lot of ideals, a lot of things I wanted to do. I loved my profession. I wanted to work in a place where I could make the most of my profession and make my dreams come true.
At this point, Sabancı University was a great chance for me.
The Information Center was formed as a service unit of Sabancı University, which was established with its mission, vision, values, very large and very beautiful goals, with the goal of becoming a “world university", and I took part in this stage of establishment with great pleasure and excitement. We have worked and managed to be one of the leading institutions of today with all our employees and students.
In my 22 years of service, I have learned a lot and I have had the opportunity to do a lot of things that I wanted to do. I have given presentations at several national and international meetings, I have found the opportunity to write an article with my knowledge in the field of librarianship, to visit different universities around the world, to meet with my colleagues abroad, to share professional experiences with them, and to promote Sabancı University and the Information Center by participating in the “Erasmus+ Staff Mobility” program, to volunteer at ANKOS (Anatolian University Libraries Consortium), thereby contributing to the national economy and indirectly to academic research on behalf of the Sabancı University Information Center. Being an internal quality auditor at the university allowed me to learn about different subjects in addition to my profession, and again, Human Resources training at the university allowed me to constantly improve myself and my management skills. And much more…
What comes into your mind when you think of Sabancı University in 20 years? What are your dreams for Sabancı University for the next 20 years? What about yourself?
O.A: I try to pass on what I have been taught, the values to my friends who are coming after me. I am sure that in 20 years, Sabancı University will be one of the leading universities with its vision and important values. I hope that I will also be able to see more of the University's growing achievements in 20 years.
Where and how would you be now if your paths hadn't crossed with Sabancı University?
O.A: I could have been working in a different organization, a different kind of library. I could even make a different career plan at the point where I could not realize my dreams.