DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
DIPLOMA PROJECT PRINCIPLES
1. Aim and Scope of the Diploma Project
The aim of the Diploma Project is to measure and evaluate whether the student has acquired the necessary knowledge and problem-solving skills in all fields that constitute the education and training framework of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and whether the student has reached the maturity and competence required to synthesize and apply the knowledge and experience gained in the solution of a planning and design problem assigned to them. Unlike the first seven studios, the Diploma Project is essentially a process in which the student is expected to demonstrate, through the knowledge, planning, and design skills acquired, that they have reached the required professional level, rather than a process primarily intended for acquiring new knowledge.
Although the Diploma Project includes research and analysis studies within certain limits, its essential characteristic is that the final product must be a planning study and research work in the field of Urban and Regional Planning.
2. Requirements for Taking the Diploma Project
The student must fulfill the prerequisites for the Graduation Project (SBP 492, SBP 492E) or Diploma Project (SBP 4902, SBP 4902E) included in the curriculum to which the student is subject, as well as the “Other Requirements” determined by the Senate.
3. Formation and Coordination of the Diploma Project Jury
The following bodies and responsible persons take part in the Diploma Project process in three successive stages:
Core Jury: This is the body formed by the Department Board at the first stage of the process, consisting of a total of three members, and constituting the core of the Final Jury. It is responsible for preparing the project topics in terms of their content and organizational dimensions.
Jury Chair: The Jury Chair is appointed by the Department Board during the formation of the Core Juries. The Jury Chair ensures that jury activities are organized and coordinated, and that correspondence and announcements are prepared in accordance with the work schedule and regulations. The Jury Chair carries out the necessary work in coordination with the Diploma Project Coordinator. The Jury Chair is responsible for preparing, distributing, and announcing all documentation produced during the jury process, recording the minutes and grades related to the evaluation of projects, and forwarding them to the Diploma Project Coordinator.
Final Jury: The Core Jury determines the topic/theme of the Diploma Project and the disciplines related to this topic/theme, and proposes jury members accordingly. The Department Board appoints the proposed Final Jury, which consists of five to seven members. Members may be appointed to the Final Jury from within the faculty and department, from other universities, and from experts outside the institution who are related to the subject matter.
The Final Jury, as approved by the Department Board, is responsible for evaluating the project topics and for carrying out, in accordance with the academic calendar, the procedures related to signing, recording, and forwarding all information produced during the jury process, as well as students’ achievement grades, to the Diploma Project Coordinator.
4. Diploma Project Coordinator and Responsibilities
The Diploma Project Coordinator is appointed by the Department Board each semester. In cases where there is more than one jury, the Coordinator ensures the necessary coordination among them in a manner that provides consistency in terms of documentation and process. The Diploma Project Coordinator is responsible for organizing the sketch examination and project submission, obtaining all documentation produced during the process from the juries and other bodies, recording it digitally, and transferring it to the automation systems in accordance with the academic calendar. In cases where there is only one Core Jury, the Jury Chair also serves as the Graduation Project Coordinator.
5. Assignment of the Diploma Project Topic
At the beginning of each semester, the Diploma Project topic is communicated to the students who are eligible to take the Diploma Project, together with the work schedule prepared by the jury selected by the Department Board within the framework of the Diploma Project Principles, during the first week of the semester. Under the coordination of the Diploma Project Coordinator, students are distributed among juries through the student preference method during the first week of the semester, with a maximum of 25 students assigned to each jury. If student preferences exceed the quota of any jury, balance is ensured through a lottery method. The minimum and maximum number of students may be changed with the approval of the Department Chair.
In the second week of the semester in which the Diploma Project topic is assigned, registered students submit their questions regarding the work to the jury in writing. The jury answers the written questions by organizing a workshop in the third week of the semester.
The Diploma Project cannot be offered outside the Fall and Spring semesters, including the Summer semester.
6. Examinations and Other Reviews Related to the Diploma Project
The stages required for the review of the Diploma Project and the procedures to be carried out at these stages are determined by the jury and announced within the scope of the work schedule.
During the Diploma Project process:
a) Juries conduct their evaluations independently of one another.
b) At least one sketch examination is held. Sketch studies carried out during the semester are evaluated by the jury.
c) The review and evaluation of the Diploma Project are carried out in accordance with the jury work schedule through a total of four sessions, consisting of three interim sessions and one final session scheduled in the academic calendar.
d) The jury communicates general critiques and tendencies regarding the Diploma Project collectively to Diploma Project students during the interim juries.
e) Records related to the evaluations of jury members are collected by the Jury Chair on the standard forms provided by the Diploma Project Coordinator, duly recorded and bearing wet signatures, and are transferred to the faculty automation system by the Diploma Project Coordinator.
7. Preparation and Review of the Diploma Project Final Submission Content
The final submission content of the Diploma Project is defined in the project brief to be provided at the beginning of the relevant semester to students who have fulfilled the requirements for taking the Diploma Project. Students are responsible for fully completing the final submission content specified in the project brief, and the Diploma Project Jury is responsible for reviewing compliance with this requirement.
8. Submission and Evaluation of the Diploma Project
The Diploma Project is submitted to the assigned Core Jury, to be presented to the Diploma Project Jury, on the date determined and announced by the Faculty Administrative Board during the examination period following the relevant semester. If the Diploma Project is not submitted within the announced period, the assignment is deemed not to have been completed, and the student takes a new Diploma Project at the beginning of the following semester.
The final evaluation is carried out independently by all juries on the basis of the submitted documents, collective jury work, and the results of the sketch examination. As a matter of professional ethics, jury members may not pressure or direct one another to change their grades.
The jury holds all its meetings with an absolute majority and makes its decisions by the majority vote of the members present at the meeting.
9. Success Criteria for the Diploma Project
For the Diploma Project to be considered successful, a minimum achievement grade of CC is required.
The academic status of a student who does not attend two interim jury sessions is defined as VF.
A student who does not submit the project, or who submits the project but does not attend the final jury, is evaluated as unsuccessful and receives FF.
Students registered for the Diploma Project are responsible for complying with all matters specified in the project brief provided by the Diploma Project Jury for the academic semester, including the project program, requirements, and related explanations.
10. Entry into Force
For general matters and provisions not specified in these principles, the “Senate Principles on Taking, Submitting, and Examining the Diploma Project” apply.
These principles enter into force as of the Spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year.