Atatürk University (Turkish: Atatürk Üniversitesi) is a land-grant university established in 1957 in Erzurum, Turkey. The university consists of 23 faculties, 18 colleges, 8 institutes and 30 research centers.[3] Atatürk University's main campus is in Erzurum, one of the largest cities in Eastern Anatolia. It is now one of the city's most significant resources. Since its establishment in 1957, it has served as a hub of educational and cultural excellence for the eastern region.
History
At the beginning of the Turkey Republic, the importance of building a regional university in Eastern Anatolia was expressed by the founder of the Republic, Atatürk, in his opening speech on Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 1 November 1937. However, implementation of this idea was delayed due to World War II. After twenty years, in 1957, building the first structures of Atatürk University has started and it was completed in 1970. Initially, the university begun by teaching 135 students in the Faculty of Agriculture and Faculty of Science and Literature. As of 2016–2017 academic year, approximately 280,000 students, 2,610 faculty members, 22 faculties, 18 colleges, 8 institutes and 30 research centers had over 170 thousand graduates in total since beginning.[3]
Atatürk University offers many facilities to the university students to make their life more convenient and easier. It has one of the biggest training and research hospitals in Turkey. The university hospital in the center has an important health center role for all Eastern Anatolia and Eastern Black Sea. The students who are under 25 years can utilize the health care services free and these medical services are available 24 hours. In addition, there are several kinds of social facilities in the campus area such as movie theaters, fitness centers, Olympic swimming pools and bowling center. Moreover, the university offers some courses, such as traditional folk dances, Turkish folk music, western music and theater, to the people are interested. Throughout the year, Atatürk University campus can host many cultural festivals, concerts, celebration ceremonies, exhibitions and other such that kind of activities.
In the Atatürk University campus, 4 grand refectories, 40 canteens, 5 restaurants and 7 cafes are serving multi-choice food alternatives at relatively cheap prices.
The university has one of the richest and most distinguished libraries. The library, which is a member of Online National Academic Information Network, has many collections, records, handcrafts and historical books. In addition, the library provides students both private and common study rooms.
Atatürk University also provides exchange programs with EU countries under the Erasmus pilot project. There are 2,323 thousand international students are studying in different departments. These students consist of 1,366 undergraduate, 423 graduate and 451 doctorate students.
