At ÖzÜ, meaningful engagement of external stakeholders – including local residents, municipal/local government bodies, civil-society organisations, industry partners, alumni and professional/community advisory boards – is embedded into governance, planning and operational decision-making. Below are the main mechanisms in place:

1. Advisory Boards at Faculty/Department Level

• Each faculty or department forms an External Advisory Board composed of industry experts, alumni, civil society representatives and sometimes local/regional stakeholders. For example:
  • The Faculty of Law Advisory Board includes attorneys, judges and legal-industry leaders drawn from professional practice. — see “Faculty Advisory Board – Faculty of Law” for members.
  • The Civil Engineering Department (Faculty of Engineering) lists an Advisory Board including members from construction companies, industry associations, and professional bodies. 
  • The Hotel Management (HMAN) Program Advisory Board includes senior industry representatives in tourism, hospitality, and related sectors. 

• These boards advise on curriculum, programme design, co-curricular activities, internships, research linkages and stakeholder needs.For example, the School of Applied Sciences’ Gastronomy & Culinary Arts Department published its “Advisory Board Bylaws”, setting out the purpose of the Advisory Board to assist in strategic planning, update teaching/research/service programmes in line with stakeholder needs (student body, industry, community).  Here
• Through these boards, local industry, community agencies and professionals become part of decision-making, bridging university and external stakeholder needs.

2. University-wide Boards & Committees with External/Local Stakeholder Input

• The “Boards, Committees and Commissions” page of ÖzÜ lists various governance bodies — including the Campus Services Advisory Board, Ethics Board, Quality Commission, HSE Committee, etc.  . For example, the Campus Services Advisory Board is tasked with determining general rules and principles for services offered to staff, students and the campus community (e.g., transportation, food, parking, cleaning, security). It includes permanent members from operations, accommodation, health & safety, a student union representative, and representatives from each faculty/school serving for 2-year terms. (Özyeğin Üniversitesi)These bodies create formal mechanisms for stakeholder engagement beyond just faculty/department level: they bring in staff, students, and through them often external perspectives on campus services and environment.

3. Research- & Centre Collaboration with External Stakeholders

• Focused research centres or innovation hubs at ÖzÜ engage with local/regional stakeholders, including civil-society organisations, industry and local government.
• Example: The Center for Energy, Environment and Economy (EÇEM) at ÖzÜ partnered with Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) on the project “Turkey’s Energy Efficiency Outlook in Industry” — showcasing strong collaboration with external stakeholders (industry, government, associations) for societal impact. (ozuecem.net)
• These collaborative projects provide a channel for external voices (industry, policy/regulatory bodies, civil society) to influence and co-design research agendas and university-community engagement.

4. Feedback & Representation Mechanisms for Local Residents, Civil Society, and Student/Staff Voices
   ÖzÜ places strong emphasis on inclusive engagement and systematic feedback loops across internal and external stakeholder groups. While specific memberships of local resident groups or refugee-resettlement agencies in governing bodies are not always publicly detailed, the university has established a broad set of mechanisms that embed voices of students, staff, local communities, civil society and other external actors into strategic planning, decision-making and service design.

Key Mechanisms

• Under the umbrella of the Özyeğin University Sustainability Platform the university explicitly states that it “coordinates, follows, and measures the social impact of its social services. … The University takes responsibility for the provision of quantitative and qualitative quality in social services by continuously developing and improving the content of its service strategy through feedback systematically collected from internal and external stakeholders…”
• The university’s Schedule of Stakeholder Engagement lists a range of groups engaged in sustainability decision-making including “local communities” alongside students, staff, business partners, industry groups, NGOs and government bodies.
• Community engagement projects such as the Community Engagement Projects (CEP) and “Duyarlı ÖzÜ” volunteer team enable students (and by extension staff and external partners) to work directly with community organisations, social responsibility projects and neighbourhood-level activities.
• The university’s Social Contribution Framework articulates that partnerships with “social actors such as local organizations, public institutions or organisations, and non-governmental organisations” are a core part of its mission to respond to regional socio-economic and cultural needs.

Practical Implications

• Local community and civil-society inclusion: Though not always labelled explicitly as “local resident groups” or “refugee-resettlement agencies,” the language of the university’s frameworks indicates that the campus engages local neighbourhoods and civil society. For instance, the Sustainability Platform describes projects such as the “yaklaş” initiative bringing together the disadvantaged neighbourhood surrounding the campus and university members.
• Staff and student voices: Students and staff are formally included in feedback mechanisms, surveys and focus groups. For example, the stakeholder engagement chart includes students and staff via annual surveys, focus groups, advisory boards, etc.
• External partner feedback: Industry, NGOs, suppliers and government partners are invited through advisory boards, project collaborations, joint events, and surveys, which gives external parties a role in informing university strategy.
• Continuous improvement loop: The systems are designed to feed stakeholder feedback into the University’s strategy and operations: the social contribution framework emphasises regular updating of its service strategy through need-analysis and stakeholder feedback.

How External Stakeholders Connect & Influence Decision-Making

• External stakeholders (industry, local government, NGOs, alumni, community leaders) are nominated or invited to serve on advisory boards for faculties/departments, which meet regularly to advise on curriculum, research priorities, student training and institutional strategy.
• These advisory boards inform faculty/department governance, ultimately contributing to university strategy, thereby ensuring that stakeholder input is formally channelled into decision-making.
• At the university-wide level, committees such as the Campus Services Advisory Board and Quality Commission ensure that stakeholder-relevant issues (including campus services, safety, accessibility, and environment) are considered and managed with input from staff, students, and external advisory voices.
• Research centres and special initiatives establish dedicated platforms for collaboration with external stakeholders, aligning university activities with societal or local/regional needs (e.g., energy efficiency, environmental sustainability) and enabling external stakeholders to co-design and co-deliver projects.

Özü has developed a comprehensive system of participatory bodies for stakeholder engagement, ensuring that local stakeholders — ranging from industry and professional organisations, local authorities, and NGOs to alumni, students, and staff — have meaningful mechanisms to engage in governance and decision-making. Through advisory boards at the departmental and faculty levels, university-wide committees, and research/engagement centres, the university integrates external voices into curriculum development, service planning, research agendas, and institutional strategy. The formal presence of external representatives in advisory and oversight bodies gives measurable and sustained opportunities for stakeholder influence.