Akdeniz University offers its students a high standard of social and cultural life on campus.
YAKUT LIVING AREA
The Yakut Living Area opened in February 2011 with the aim of making campus life easier and more enjoyable through the provision of a wide range of services to the students and staff members of the university.
The facilities of the Yakut Living Area are designed to meet the needs of the growing student population, and include a social area consisting of a student dining hall with a capacity of 2,000 people, various restaurants, cafeterias, cafes and a bank, as well as a shipping company, post office, pharmacy, hairdresser, stationery shop, market and open air cinema.
OLBİA CULTURAL CENTER
The Olbia Cultural Centre is home to several socio-cultural facilities which provide activities for students and staff members, and a living area that offers a variety of businesses such as banks, markets and cafes, shops selling stationery, souvenirs and clothing, intercity bus company Office, and a hairdresser. Olbia also provides students and staff members with cultural facilities which include an Amphitheatre for 1,500 people, 2 cultural halls with capacities of 100 and 150 people, a culture cafe, art gallery and handicrafts workshop, and is also home to a large number of Student Clubs. In 2001 the Centre was awarded the world famous “Aga Khan Architecture Award” for the originality of its architectural quality.
CEYPARK SOCIAL CENTER
With our ever-growing campus and increasing number of students, a new enhancement has recently been added to the social/living areas of Akdeniz University. The Ceypark Social Centre, with a total indoor area of 2,653 m², opened in 2017 to help meet the needs of both students and staff members with a range of restaurants and cafes, a stationery store, boutique and hairdresser.
STUDENT SERVICES
PSYCHOSOCIAL SERVICES
The Psychosocial Unit provides individual, social, educational and oc- cupational psychological counseling and guidance services to all stu- dents taking associate degree, undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as to members of staff and their dependents. Through the pro- vision of psychological support, emotional, social and mental problems can be addressed though guidance, and with preventive and supportive measures. The unit has two psychologists, two social service specialists, a child development specialist, and a family counselor.
HEALTH SERVICES
The Health, Culture and Sports Directorate offers numerous services to students in order to address their most basic needs for nutrition, accommodation, health and recreation in tune with their interests and skills. Thus, by helping to meet their needs and expectations, the directorate contributes to the development of healthy, confident and social individuals who know themselves. Akdeniz University students and staff are provided with outpatient treatment services at the Medico-Social Centre. The unit provides consultations on health-related issues, and also accepts patients for dental health and dental diseases.
CULTURAL SERVICES
The Cultural Services Department, operating under the Health, Culture and Sports Directorate, is responsible for the planning, organization and coordination of social and cultural activities which can help students to make better use of their free time in accordance with their interests. The department carries out its duties by maintaining the philosophy of “tolerant and gracious communication within the framework of love and respect”.
STUDENT CLUBS
There are a wide variety of student clubs within Akdeniz University which have been established for purposes of helping students to improve their skills, utilize their free time in a productive way, communicate more effectively with each other, share their ideas and gain greater experience of group work. There are 127 student clubs within the Cultural Services Department and 27 student clubs within the Sports Services Department.
SPORT SERVICES
The sport services in Akdeniz University are the responsibility of the Health, Culture and Sports Directorate. The infrastructure includes an indoor swimming pool, an indoor sports hall, a fitness centre, a grass surfaced football pitch to international standards and quality, and an astro-turf pitch. There are also facilities for basketball, volleyball, handball, badminton, beach volleyball, tennis, and a climbing wall, all within the campus area. Open sports areas are also available in the many faculties and schools located outside the campus area. Akdeniz University sports teams represent the university in many branches of sport including athletics, badminton, tennis, basketball, football, handball, chess, mountaineering, wrestling, table tennis, muaythai, fencing, triathlon, beach volleyball, indoor football, sailing, karate and shooting.
AKDENİZ UNIVERSITY STADIUM
The Akdeniz University Stadium was constructed in 2012. It has the facilities to host many national and international sports organizations as a stadium designed in accordance with FIFA-UEFA criteria for football, and includes a synthetic athletics track with IAAF Class 2 certification. The stadium has seating for 7,982 spectators, 4 dressing rooms, 2 infirmary rooms with beds, 14 coaching rooms, a training room, 2 referee dressing rooms, 2 offices, an accreditation room, and 2 technical training rooms.
SOCIAL SERVICES
CATERING SERVICES
Akdeniz University meets the catering needs of students and staff with the Central Dining Hall, where the needs of the diners are calculated by nutrition experts, and meals are prepared from ingredients selected according to food safety and quality regulations under the highest quality hygienic conditions. In 2006, the Central Dining Hall was selected as the university dining hall which provides the best catering service following a survey of national university students. Catering services are also provided for students in the dining halls located within the Yakut Living Area, and in the Faculty of Theology. Catering services are available to all students studying in the Vocational Schools, Schools and Faculties located outside the city of Antalya.
ACCOMMODATION AND TRANSPORT SERVICES
The Akdeniz Student Dormitories provides accommodation to students on the university campus, and is affiliated to the Higher Education Credit and Dormitories Institution. The Akdeniz Student Dormitory accommodation is of a standard appropriate to the needs of the students, and has a total capacity of 8,620 beds, which includes space for 5,196 female students and 3,424 male students. As a result of cooperation between the university and the city, the accommodation needs of students are also met by a range of privately run hotels and hostels located around the campus. The Akdeniz University campus is 1.5 km away from the main inter-city bus terminal. As the campus is close to the city centre, students can easily reach their destinations using public transport. Municipal buses offer free transport to students within the campus, and are supplemented by other on-campus transport services, including bicycles supplied by Akdeniz University. These came into service in 2007 with the aim of reaching the zero-emission targets which the university considers to be of the greatest importance to the ecological balance.
SCHOLARSHIP SERVICES
An effective scholarship system has been established with the provision of scholarships from various local and national foundations and associations, as well as from non-governmental organizations, government agencies, individuals and private business firms. The aim is to ease the education life of students who need economical support, and to improve their motivation by rewarding their achievements. The scholarship recipients are selected by the Scholarship and Social Services Units in cooperation with the Scholarship and Social Service Boards located in each faculty and school. Coordination between the scholarships and social services is carried out by the Psychosocial Department.
PART-TIME WORK
A variety of social service activities are offered to enhance the value of the free time of the students, and to make a contribution to their financial situation. One of the most productive, in terms of motivation and results, is part-time work. This practice has been a feature of our university since 1996. Students who benefit from the scheme are employed for a maximum of three hours a day within university units, and are insured against work accidents. Students working part- time are paid monthly based on the minimum hourly wage. The number of students who are offered part-time work is determined by the University Administrative Board every year. The part-time work agreement is valid for one academic year, and applications must be renewed each year.
SUPPORT UNIT FOR DISABLED STUDENTS
The Unit was established in 2006 to take necessary steps to ease the university experience for students with disabilities in our university, and to provide the facilities needed. The unit is responsible for identifying the academic, administrative, physical, psychological, accommodation and social needs of our disabled students, and for determining what must to be done to meet their needs. It is also responsible for planning and implementing the work to be done, and for evaluating the results. The Disability Support Unit was awarded the “Barrier-free Education Award”, part of the Turkish Barrier-Free Informatics Awards, for the electronic library service which includes the visually impaired support technologies and training and remote assistant technologies, which are available to visually disabled students in the Central Library Visually Impaired Unit. On September 10th 2013, the unit received the “Barrier- Free Education Award” at a ceremony held at Istanbul University.
LIBRARY
The Central Library was established on March 7th 1985 as part of the Library and Documentation Directorate of Akdeniz University. The library an area of 4,407 m² and with a seating capacity of 850 people, the library offers access to over 4.6 million resources, providing a rich academic environment for users.The Central Library carries out essential work in direct support of the education and research activities undertaken within our university. This work ensures the supply of the required information resources in various formats, which enables library users to study effectively and guarantees that users will obtain the maximum benefit from the information sources in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
