International Trade and Logistics

My name is Mustafa Yılmaz. I am a graduate of Selçuk University Industrial Engineering. After graduating from the doctorate program I entered in 2002, I was appointed as the Head of the Department of International Trade and Logistics at Kaynarca School of Applied Sciences. Our department was established in 2013 with the establishment of the vocational school, and in 2014 we started to accept students. We have quite the graduates. In our department, basic courses are given in the first two years. The first fundamental courses of economics, business and logistics, and international trade are taught. Our courses are then diversified with international trade and logistics compulsory courses and elective courses. Students can learn about international trade or logistics according to their interests. In addition, we also provide professional practice in the 8th semester, students do internships in places where they can apply the knowledge they have gained in the courses they have taken and gain skills for 1 semester. We have a computer lab for 40 people in our faculty, apart from that, we have an English Cafe to help them improve their English, and students speak only English there. In order to gain skills related to the courses they have taken in the 8th semester, students do internships for 1 semester, 16 weeks, in companies operating in the field of logistics and international trade in Sakarya and especially in Istanbul. We have an internship program that we have developed together with the Chamber of Commerce, through this internship program, it is planned in which areas students will study and develop, divided into days and weeks. Thus, it is aimed to enable them to gain skills related to the theoretical course content. Our department students go abroad with the Erasmus program, and there were students who came to us from abroad as well. In 2020, 4 of our students went abroad with Erasmus, so we can say that they have many international benefits.
70% of our students work in their field when they graduate. In other words, they work in logistics companies and international trade businesses, customs companies, customs clearance companies. Apart from these, some students have also established their own businesses and we observe that we have some students who are also active as entrepreneurs. Our department aims to train qualified individuals that our country needs, and qualified individuals and employees to be employed are needed in this field. In this sense, we think that we are fulfilling an important task. Sakarya University of Applied Sciences’ mission is to be a university that combines knowledge with skill. Advisory boards have been established in all faculties and colleges, including our faculty, our graduates and business people are in these advisory boards, and we work with our students to determine the course content and quality and characteristics. Similarly, we decide together what kind of program will be followed in professional practices and what path will be followed. Thus, they actually graduate as employees with the qualifications that employers want. We are a fairly new university. We have taken on a different mission and we think we have fulfilled this. We think that we fulfill it by developing ourselves continually. Therefore, students who will come here will graduate from a boutique department and in a department where the professors coach them, help them out personally, contribute to their development, and because of this, they will see that they are preferred by employers. I think this is the most important benefit that will make you come here, I ask you to consider these while making your choice.