Appointed acting rector doesn't approve Feyzi Erçin's course, citing his tweet as a reason

* Photo: Can Candan

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Just as he did not approve the courses to be taught by lawyer-academic Feyzi Erçin in the summer school of Boğaziçi University, Prof. Naci İnci has also prevented him from teaching classes in fall semester.

When he was still the vice rector of appointed rector Prof. Melih Bulu, Prof. İnci did not approve Erçin's courses for the summer school this year. In the wake of his appointment as the acting rector following the dismissal of Bulu by a Presidential decree, İnci has now prevented Feyzi Erçin from teaching classes at Boğaziçi University in the fall semester of 2021-2022.

CLICK - Appointed vice rector doesn't approve Erçin's course

İnci 'didn't approve it'

Prof. Aslı Tekinay, the Head of Boğaziçi University Department of Western Languages and Literatures, has shared the decision indicating that the course to be offered by Erçin "is not approved."

According to a note sent by Naci İnci titled "About Feyzi Erçin's hourly paid assignment", it is said that "it has not been approved that Feyzi Erçin gives the courses FA 487.01, FA 48G.01 and FA 484.01", as part of the "Film Studies Certificate Program" of the Department.

The note has then moved on to explain the reasons. According to the note, "it is essential that the classes taught at the university are offered by academics who did their PhD on the subject of the related course and who are doing research activities in the related field."

The note has added that "a different practice can be the case only for applied courses or non-credit courses."

Recalling that "the minimum condition for offering classes even at the Preparation School is that the related person is a lecturer, in other words, he or she has a BA or MA degree in a related field," the note has said that the other conditions are 70 points at the academic personnel and postgraduate education entrance exam and a certification of English knowledge.

Saying that the courses of FA 487, 48G and FA 484 are credit courses taken as Humanities and Social Science (HSS) electives, the note has said, "Lawyer Feyzi Erçin has a BA Decree and his BA degree is in a field unrelated to the subject of the course, namely the law."

"On the grounds that he did not have a formal education related to the subject of the course, lawyer Feyzi Erçin has not been approved for giving these classes," the note of Naci İnci has said.

Reason: Erçin's tweet

İnci has also added a tweet by Erçin and said, "Erçin has been posting messages smearing the academics of university and targeting them by giving their names on social media. It is not appropriate that a person who does not observe ethical principles teaches students classes."

In the related social media post, Erçin was criticizing the fact that the appointed administration of Boğaziçi University had Haluk Özener, the appointed director of Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, elected to the university's executive board by multiple votes.

Mentioning the Twitter account of Özener, Erçin said that the incident "both undermined the trust in the Kandilli Observatory and drove the final nail in the coffin of the university's administrative structure. 

CLICK - Appointed university administration elects member to executive board with multiple votes

'PhD degree is not a condition'

Prof. Aslı Tekinay has made a statement about the issue, by citing previous examples. According to Tekinay's statement, "In the fields of culture and arts (except for conservatories, since 1982), PhD is not sought; the highest academic degree is the MFA, the master of fine arts."

She has underlined that "if such a condition of having a PhD degree is stipulated, there will emerge an odd situation where Turkey's world-renowned pianist İdil Biret will be unable to teach history of music."

Referring to Nobel laureate writer Orhan Pamuk from Turkey, Tekinay has recalled that Pamuk, without a PhD degree, has been teaching creative writing classes at the Columbia University in the US. That being the case, Pamuk will be unable to teach at Boğaziçi, she has noted.

"In short, there are innumerable examples like this," Tekinay has said, raising concerns that "limiting the classes on culture to persons with a PhD degree in specific disciplines will be the death of the program."

'We will struggle against it'

Erçin says, "In fact, what we will do about my classes will be determined by how the electoral process for the rectorship will work. The person who does not want me to offer my class has appointed himself as the acting rector. So, I do not think that anything will happen in the short run, but I believe that we can achieve a gain by struggling and that I will be there in fall."

Erçin also comments on Bulu's dismissal by a Presidential decree:

"Even though it is a win that we need to approach with caution, it is definite, important and symbolic. But there is still so much to do to introduce the electoral system that we want and to ensure a proper functioning. Because the school has been damaged so much.

"The closure of Boğaziçi University Commission of Preventing Sexual Harassment (CİTÖK) and the BÜLGBTI+ club, the loss of the school as a safe zone and the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed... There has been so much damage! We need to make more efforts."

CLICK - Appointed rector Melih Bulu removed from office

What happened?

Prof. Naci İnci, the then vice rector of the appointed rector of Boğaziçi University Melih Bulu, did not approve a class to be taught by lawyer and academic Feyzi Erçin at the summer school of the university.

As part of the "Film Studies Certificate Program" of Boğaziçi University Department of Western Languages and Literatures, Feyzi Erçin had been teaching classes on cinema as a part-time lecturer since 2013.

After his class was cancelled, the Department of Western Languages and Literatures requested the justification of the decision in written form. However, no written document was sent to the department in response.

In the rejection notification sent to the faculty dean via the Electronic Information Document Management System (EBYS), the grade-point averages (GPA) of the two classes taught by Erçin in the first semester of the 2020-2021 academic year were cited as the reason.

The related note was signed by Prof. Naci İnci, who accepted his appointment as the vice rector of Boğaziçi University while his two students from the Physics Department were arrested and was appointed as the acting director of the Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences and the Institute of Graduate Sciences in Science and Engineering later on.

In the note signed by İnci, the following remarks were made about Erçin:

"The letter grades given by the person named Feyzi Erçin are seen as problematic. He either does not give grades in a fair manner or the content of the course does not reflect a three-credit course load.

"There has emerged the opinion that courses are not taught in line with the standards of Boğaziçi University. Thus, it has been considered that this person affects the quality of education of our university negatively. For this reason, he is not deemed suitable for teaching at our institution." (DŞ/SD)