Yalçın and Özvar Meeting: Reviewing the Livelihood Demands of Turkish University Staff

During a strategic meeting in Ankara, Ali Yalçın, President of the Memur-Sen Confederation and the Eğitim-Bir-Sen union, met and consulted with Professor Dr. Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK). This meeting, which took place on July 1, 2026, focused on a set of key challenges facing academic and administrative staff at universities across the country [1]. During the meeting, Yalçın presented a package of reform proposals aimed at improving welfare and professional conditions in academic environments.

Financial Pillars and the Necessity of Academic Salary Increases One of the main topics discussed in this meeting was the need to revise the salaries and benefits of university academic staff. Ali Yalçın, emphasizing that "increasing academic salaries is a vital matter," called for doubling tuition fee rates and increasing research bonuses [2]. He noted that to maintain the quality of higher education, the purchasing power of professors and researchers must be improved in line with current economic conditions. In response, Özvar expressed a positive approach to these demands, emphasizing that the Council of Higher Education, as in previous years, maintains a supportive view toward improving the financial rights of academics [3].

Transfer Rights for Administrative Staff; Ending the "Stepchild" Treatment In part of his remarks, Yalçın referred to the status of university administrative staff, stating that these individuals should not feel treated like "stepchildren" within the university system. He called for the creation of a permanent, continuous, and transparent system for the movement and transfer of administrative staff between different universities [1]. Currently, the lack of a centralized structure for transferring these employees has caused numerous family and professional problems. The President of Memur-Sen emphasized that this process must move away from being discretionary and become an institutionalized structure [2].

Promotion Exams and 2026 Educational Developments During the meeting, the issue of holding centralized "Promotion and Title Change" exams for the year 2026 was also discussed. Yalçın requested that the call for these exams be announced by October 2026 at the latest to ensure justice in professional advancement [3]. Additionally, the parties consulted on new developments in the educational system, including the possibility of reducing the length of undergraduate programs to 3 years in some fields, as well as facilitating access for teachers with doctoral degrees to university libraries and databases [1].

Student Amnesty and Future Steps The President of the Council of Higher Education, Erol Özvar, provided promising news regarding "student amnesty" during this meeting, announcing that the most comprehensive plan for the return of students who have dropped out for various reasons is being drafted [2]. The meeting concluded with an emphasis on maintaining the balance of power and status between permanent staff and workers in university environments, stressing that workers should not be appointed as direct managers of permanent civil servants to preserve the administrative hierarchy [3].