Our University operates institutional food services to support regular access to adequate, balanced, and affordable nutrition for academic and administrative staff. On the University’s Sustainability portal, this approach is explicitly defined under the heading “Hunger Interventions – Staff”, where it is stated that a comprehensive meal-service infrastructure is maintained to ensure balanced and adequate nutrition for academic and administrative personnel. Food services are coordinated by the Department of Health, Culture and Sports, and menus are prepared under the supervision of food engineers, dietitians, and cooks to ensure adequate and balanced energy and nutrient content .
Evidence: https://www.ktu.edu.tr/surdurulebilirlik/aclik-mudahaleleri-personel
The continuous and active implementation of this intervention in 2025 is documented in the 2025 Unit Activity Report of the KTÜ Department of Health, Culture and Sports. The report states that the nutritional needs of students, academic staff, and administrative staff are met through University dining facilities, and that academic and administrative staff are provided with a four-course lunch, prepared in an adequate, balanced, and hygienic manner while taking energy and nutrient requirements into account. The Kanuni Campus includes a dedicated Academic and Administrative Staff Dining Hall, while joint student-staff meal services are also provided at Maçka Vocational School and the Coastal Campus. Lunch service for staff is provided between 12:00 and 13:00.
Evidence: https://www.ktu.edu.tr/dosyalar/sks_RTqne.pdf
Quantitative data for 2025 demonstrate that the system was actively used by staff. According to the KTÜ Department of Health, Culture and Sports 2025 Unit Activity Report, a total of 18,221 meals were served to staff during the year, the service was maintained for 247 days, and an average of 74 staff members per day benefited from the meal service. These figures demonstrate that the University’s staff nutrition initiative was not a one-off activity, but rather a direct and practical food-support intervention operated regularly throughout the working year.
Evidence: https://www.ktu.edu.tr/dosyalar/sks_RTqne.pdf
Staff access to the meal service is managed through the institutional Campus Card system. Academic and administrative staff can load their weekly meals onto their cards through the University’s electronic system and regularly access the lunch service. In an announcement dated 10 September 2025, the Department of Health, Culture and Sports publicly informed academic and administrative staff that they could benefit from the lunch service by loading meals onto their Campus Cards.
Evidence: https://www.ktu.edu.tr/sks/duyuru/yemek-rezervasyon-islemleri-hakkinda-duyuru
In 2025, institutional pricing was applied to facilitate staff access to the meal service. According to the KTÜ Department of Health, Culture and Sports 2025 Unit Activity Report, the lunch fee was TRY 70 for administrative staff and TRY 132 for academic staff. This meal service provided to public employees is linked to Türkiye’s public-sector meal assistance system under the Regulation on Food Assistance for Civil Servants. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance established the implementation principles for staff lunch contributions for 2025 through the relevant communiqué published in the Official Gazette dated 9 January 2025 and numbered 32777. This institutional framework supports more regular and affordable access to lunch for public employees on working days.
The University also carries out initiatives to address the different dietary requirements of staff. Needs-assessment activities have been undertaken to facilitate access to gluten-free food for students and staff with coeliac disease, and practices have been initiated to develop gluten-free meal options in University dining facilities. This approach demonstrates that the University considers not only access to food in general, but also access to nutritious food that is appropriate for individual health needs.
In conclusion, our University provides a direct and continuous intervention aimed at reducing the risk of hunger and food insecurity among staff. In 2025, the University maintained a regular, nutritionally balanced, and institutionally accessible lunch service for academic and administrative personnel.
