Pursuant to the Law No. 6114 on the Services of the Assessment, Selection and Placement Center dated February 17, 2011, and the Presidential Decree No. 4 on the Organization of Ministries and Their Affiliated, Related and Associated Institutions and Organizations, as well as Other Institutions and Organizations, published in the Official Gazette dated July 15, 2018 and numbered 30479, the Presidency of the Assessment, Selection and Placement Center is a independently-budgeted institution with public legal entity and administrative and financial autonomy, affiliated with the Council of Higher Education, and headquartered in Ankara.
The Presidency consists of its central organization, as well as representative offices directly affiliated with the Presidency and electronic examination centers. The locations and number of representative offices are determined by a Presidential decision upon the proposal of the Board of Directors, while the locations and number of electronic examination centers are determined by the Board of Directors.
President of the ÖSYM
The President is the highest authority of the Presidency and organizes and conducts its services in accordance with the legislation, the decisions of the Board of Directors, the objectives of the Presidency, its strategic plan, performance criteria, and service quality standards, and ensures coordination among service units.
The President is appointed by a Presidential decision for a term of four years from among candidates who meet the general requirements set forth in Article 48 of the Law No. 657, who hold at least a four-year higher education degree, and who have worked for at least five years in the public sector and/or in international organizations, the private sector, or as self-employed, provided that they are subject to social security institutions. The President may be reappointed upon the expiration of the term.
During the term of office, the President is considered to be on unpaid leave from their position at the university. Throughout the term of office, the personal rights related to the President’s academic position continue, and these periods are taken into account for promotion and retirement; promotions are carried out in due time without the need for any further procedure. Upon the expiration of the term or in the event of leaving the position before the end of the term, the President returns to the academic position at the university without the need for any further procedure.
Vice Presidents of ÖSYM
The President appoints three Vice Presidents to assist him, limited to his term of office, with at least one of them being selected from among faculty members serving at state universities. Vice Presidents appointed from among those subject to the Civil Servants Law No. 657 dated July 14, 1965, must hold at least a four-year higher education degree and have a minimum of ten years of civil service experience.
During their term as Vice President, they are considered to be on unpaid leave from their institutions; their personal rights related to civil service continue during this period, and this time is taken into account for promotions and retirement. Promotions are carried out in due time without any additional procedure. Upon the end of their term or if they leave the position before the end of the term, they are assigned within one month to positions in their previous institutions that correspond to their acquired rights.
The period served as Vice President is considered for the payment of position allowance and representation or duty allowance, and they benefit from the additional indicators, position allowance, and representation or duty allowance for ministry deputy general directors in the same manner and according to the same principles for retirement purposes.
Board of Directors of the ÖSYM
The Board of Directors, which is the decision-making body of the Presidency, consists of eight members, including the President and Vice Presidents. The term of office for the members of the Board of Directors is four years. Members other than the President and Vice Presidents continue to hold their original positions. If the appointed representatives leave their positions in their institutions, their membership on the Board of Directors also ends. New representatives are appointed by the relevant institutions to complete the remaining term.
The Board of Directors convenes upon the call of the President, with at least five members present, based on the agenda set by the President, and makes decisions by majority vote. In case of a tie, the President’s vote prevails. Abstentions are not allowed in decision-making. Members who do not participate in a decision must state their reasons in writing. Board meetings may also be held via information systems that transmit voice, video, or text.
The President also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors. Members of the Board, other than the President and Vice Presidents, are:
a) One representative from the Ministry of National Education, at least at the level of general director;
b) One representative from the Council of Higher Education, selected from among the members of its Executive Board;
c) One representative from the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, at least at the level of department head;
d) One representative selected by the Council of Higher Education from among faculty members serving at state universities.
The duties of the Board of Directors are as follows:
a) To determine the principles necessary for the preparation of exam questions or the administration of exams.
b) To approve the guides, instructions, and documents required for the conduct of exams.
c) To prepare the annual work program of the Presidency in order to meet requests from other institutions without disrupting the exams prescribed by the Council of Higher Education.
ç) To determine the service fees to be collected from candidates or institutions for exam, measurement, evaluation, and placement activities, as well as the services for which no fee will be charged, specifying them by individual, institution, or organization.
d) When necessary, to decide on the partial or complete cancellation or postponement of exams, the admission of candidates to equivalent exams, the invalidation of candidate procedures, and to initiate necessary actions against responsible parties.
e) To define the duties of exam coordinators and personnel assigned to these coordinators.
f) To make decisions regarding the locations and number of representative offices to be established directly under the center, to be submitted to the President.
g) To discuss and decide on other matters within the scope of the Presidency’s duties that are placed on the agenda by the President.
ğ) To make proposals to the President regarding companies to be established or participated in by the Presidency for its exam-related activities.
The service units of the Presidency are as follows:
a) Department of Measurement and Evaluation.
b) Department of Examination Services.
c) Department of Foreign Language Examinations.
ç) Department of Information Security and Management.
d) Department of Strategy Development.
e) Department of Personnel and Support Services.
f) Department of Institutional Relations.
g) Department of Exam Personnel Management.
ğ) Department of Research and Development.
h) Department of Candidates with Disabilities.
ı) Legal Consultancy.
Permanent and temporary working groups may be established directly under the President or under the departments within the Presidency.
The duties of the service units of the Presidency are as follows:
a) Department of Measurement and Evaluation: To prepare or have prepared the questions to be asked in exams conducted by the Presidency, to supervise them, securely encode and store them, create and maintain a question bank, enhance the validity and reliability of the questions, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
b) Department of Examination Services: To conduct exams related to associate, undergraduate, and graduate education, as well as exams for the selection of academic personnel, within the procedures and principles determined by the Council of Higher Education; to carry out professional exams requested by public institutions or private legal entities, including entrance, qualification, promotion, and similar exams, prepare evaluation and result documents, handle objections, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
c) Department of Foreign Language Examinations: To prepare or have prepared exam questions aimed at measuring foreign language proficiency in required areas and languages, especially for exams prescribed in legislation for academic title acquisition and promotion, as well as for public personnel appointments, and to carry out related services, prepare result documents, review objections, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
ç) Department of Information Security and Management: To carry out and coordinate all work related to the Presidency’s software and hardware infrastructure while maintaining the highest level of information security, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
d) Department of Strategy Development: To perform the duties assigned to strategy development and financial services units under Law No. 5018 on Public Financial Management and Control (dated 10/12/2003), Law No. 5436 on Amendments to Certain Laws and Decrees (dated 22/12/2005), and other relevant legislation, and to perform other duties assigned by the President.
e) Department of Personnel and Support Services: To conduct studies on human resources planning and personnel policy; propose improvements to the personnel system and performance criteria; plan and implement civil defense and mobilization services; manage personnel appointments, administrative, disciplinary, retirement, and health-related matters; prepare the training plan, organize and conduct pre-service and in-service training programs; manage the leasing or purchase of required buildings and land; carry out cleaning, lighting, heating, maintenance, and transportation services; organize general correspondence activities; manage the library and general archive services; and perform other duties assigned by the President.
f) Department of Institutional Relations: To define exams to be conducted for the first time by the Presidency, determine exam admission requirements, prepare exam-related protocols, create the exam calendar, prepare exam instructions and guides, coordinate business development for exam implementation, handle copyrights, printing and distribution of exam documents, manage external relations, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
g) Department of Exam Personnel Management: To coordinate application centers and exam coordinators; assign personnel for exams and manage exam fee processes; manage representative offices directly affiliated with the center, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
ğ) Department of Research and Development: To conduct or commission research in all areas in which the Presidency operates, primarily focusing on new exam or question types and scoring methods; to follow and adapt new methods and technologies to national conditions; provide necessary in-service training in these areas; organize training programs, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
h) Department of Candidates with Disabilities: To track all processes related to candidates with disabilities applying to exams conducted by the Presidency, collect necessary reports, provide required information, make necessary arrangements regarding exam materials and support personnel to ensure smooth exam procedures, provide related training, organize domestic and international meetings, research and implement measures to improve exam conditions for candidates with disabilities adapted to national conditions, and perform other duties assigned by the President.
ı) Legal Consultancy: To perform the duties assigned to legal units in accordance with Decree-Law No. 659 dated 26/9/2011, and to perform other duties assigned by the President.