Exclusive Interview: EMU Rector, Prof. Dr.Necdet Osam with Scanty Gela and TEDxEMUniversity

Excerpts of the interview with the New Rector Prof. Dr.Necdet Osam on Friday November 7th 2014. Also present is the TEDxEMUniversity Team and Scanty Gela.

1. What plans do you have for International Students currently enrolled at EMU?

Rector: Ofcourse we have to provide all kinds of facilities, features, and advancements for International students, that means we are going to establish more ties with International communities, the best of everything.

2. Some students are worried about the scholarship benefits currently being enjoyed by many and wondering whether your tenure will retain or scrap it?

Rector: Honestly i do not understand where the rumour started. Who is spreading this rumour. Nothing like that happened. This is just, i think, general normal gossip among the students. I had always been a student all my life and always been a recipient of Scholarships.

For instance in 1977, i received a scholarship when i did part of my studies in the United States. Afterwards i received another scholarship in Italy for years. These are all important points so why do we need to cut down the scholarships of students but... there's always a caveat.

Scholarships are important but they are not open ended. This is the point to put into consideration. What does this mean? We are not giving scholarships to our students in order to enjoy life. A student given a scholarship must know that he/she is expected to excel and achieve a certain threshold of success.

3. What would you like your Rectorship to be viewed as, at the end of your 4 years tenure. What would you say you would do or have done to achieve success?

Rector: Success means good communication. Success means to be able to reach every single individual, staff and students in the University. Success is having a certain amount of respect among EMU family and society. Every student should have a chance to meet the Rector of the University. Not only by specific groups or associations. One can book an appointment to discuss anything with the Rector as a student of EMU.

4. Tell us about your family. We would like to know more about you?

Rector:  I lost my father and mother so i don't have any parents. I lost my mother in 2000 and my father 10 years later, in 2010. I have a brother practising Law in the United Kingdom. My wife is a  professor in EMU. She was the Vice Rector of Social Affairs in the last administration. She teaches now at the Faculty of Education. Bit of an Irony i became the Rector and she lost her job hehe. She's a linguist. I have a daughter graduating this year from a Top University in the United Kingdom. She did her major in Applied Psychology. She is very clever like me (laughter). I'm 53 years old and my hobbies include, studying. I love animals. I have 23 cats in my garden. I feed them all the time. My day begins around 6am every morning to take my cats outside and feed them.

I have a big dog and a beautiful Arabian horse for the last 5 years, raised here in Cyprus. My daughter rides the horse for show jumping and it's my hobby to wash and clean the horse too lol. I do a lot of sailing too. When i was in the states, i worked at the shipping yards too, cleaning the boats so i learnt how to sail from there. Even though we were on scholarship then, i had to do extra works so i could make ends meet and take care of my other extra curricular affairs expenses.

Finally i had a time to own a boat so i do sailing whenever the times gives. I used to play tennis when i was much younger but can't any more because of my knees. I do a lot of writing in  my spare time. I wrote a lot of books on the Cyprus issue because i witnessed them first hand. I do have a lot articles published in International Journals worldwide.

I love driving cars. I love washing cars to. The Rector is just a position. It doesnt matter as long as you are a nice person with a good heart and conscience. Human beings are very important for me. This is the reality of the Rector. I am not saying any lie here. That's me your new rector in a nutshell.

You are welcome to visit me anytime for any issue you want to talk about. Just book an appointment online or with the secretary and i will see you soon.

More pics:

For the FULL AUDIO of the Interview, kindly download here:
[Video will be uploaded soon]


REMEMBER: 

TEDx EMUniversity: "Ideas worth spreading" [TEDx Event!]
[x=independently Organized TED Event]

In Collaboration with Eastern Mediterranean University, presents...

!MOTIVATE!
!CREATE!
!INNOVATE!

A TEDx EVENT! | EMU Famagusta Cyprus.

Date: 14th November, 2014
Venue: Mustafa Afsin Hall, CL [EMU]
Time: 5pm

NOTE: Registered attendees only! Follow status updates here

More information here...