Effat University, Architecture Department Strategic Plan 2022-2027

I. Department Chair's Message

The Architecture Department at Effat College of Architecture and Design is committed to offering applied education aiming at graduating creative, highly disciplined, and critical thinkers capable of leading the contemporary architectural environments of their communities with a strong understanding of both local and international market needs. The program is now well renowned in the Saudi professional market, and graduates from EU Architecture Program are highly sought after for employment in the local and regional architectural firms.

As we head towards the new strategic plan of (2022-27), we maintain our priorities to inspire creativity, improve the student, faculty, staff, and community experience, provide the opportunity for advancing research and digital transformation, and dedicate resources to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

With Effat core values as our guiding path, we aspire to provide state-of-the-art facilities, equipment, and learning resources to meet international standards of excellence and align with the global transformation in architectural education and thus effectively contribute to achieving Effat University and College of Architecture and Design mission and vision in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.

II. Department Vision, Mission, and Goals

Mission

The Architecture department prepares future leaders of qualified architects, urban designers, professionals, and researchers, with the highest levels of knowledge, skills, and values, who are able to compete locally and globally while corresponding to the nation’s vision of achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability and respecting culture, environment and society.

Vision

The Architecture department aims to provide premium education in architecture and related disciplines, regionally acknowledged, and internationally recognized in design, innovation, and technological advancement, with respect for culture, environment, and societal vision.

The Architecture program houses two programs: The Bachelor of Science in Architecture and the Master of Science in Urban Design.

Goals

Goal 1: Provide a professional learning and research environment that corresponds to the Architecture department mission and vision and track the progress of their achievement to guarantee the attainment of its strategic goals.

Goal 2: Provide a professional, encouraging, and productive atmosphere that runs within the approved governance model to guarantee the efficient performance of the set organizational structure and attain the local and international accreditation of the department.

Goal 3: Provide state of the art facilities, equipment, learning, teaching, and research resources to meet international standards of

excellence, promote creativity and align to the global transformation in architectural and related disciplines.

Goal 4: Create diverse, collaborative, and inclusive learning and social environment to attract and retain innovative and creative students, and highly qualified graduates.

Goal 5: Recruit highly qualified and motivated faculty and researchers, to create a vibrant, innovative, and interactive learning, teaching and research environment that aligns with the Saudi vision.

Goal 6: Update and enhance learning and research resources to match global standards of excellence in terms of new technologies.

Goal 7: Contribute to the advancements of architecture and the related disciplines knowledge and practices through research with environmental and socio-economic impacts in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.

Goal 8: Develop partnerships and collaborations with national/international institutions and organizations to broaden and enrich the pedagogical and research environment and expand the impact of the department in community engagement and professional consultancy.

The Bachelor of Science in Architecture Mission

Achieve excellence in architectural education aimed at preparing tomorrow’s leaders of qualified architects with the highest levels of knowledge, skills, and values, who are able to enrich the architecture field locally and globally with scientific

research, community service and profession development through practice, and to contribute to the nation’s vision based on the principles of environmental, social and economic sustainability.

Vision

To be a premier architecture education provider in the Middle East Region with global recognition in design, innovation, and technological advancement related to the architecture field with respect for culture, environment, and societal vision.

Goals

Goal 1: Provide a professional learning environment that corresponds to the Architecture program mission and vision and track the progress of their achievement to guarantee the attainment of its strategic goals.

Goal 2: Provide a distinguished professional atmosphere that runs within the approved governance model to guarantee the efficient performance of the set organizational structure, and attain the local and international accreditation of the program

Goal 3: Provide state of the art facilities, equipment and learning resources to meet international standards of excellence and align to the global transformation in architectural education.

Goal 4: Create diverse, collaborative, and inclusive learning and social environment to attract and retain highly qualified, innovative and creative students.

Goal 5: Recruit highly qualified and motivated faculty and researchers bridging the program with international academic programs, and create a vibrant, innovative, and interactive research environment that aligns with the Saudi vision.

Goal 6: Update and enhance learning resources to match global standards of excellence in terms of new technologies and resources, in order to improve and develop the teaching and learning experience.

Goal 7: Contribute to the advancements of architecture knowledge and practices through research with socio-economic impact in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.

Goal 8: Develop partnerships and collaborations with national/international institutions and organizations to enrich the pedagogical environment and expand the impact of the program in community engagement and professional consultancy.

The Master of Science in Urban Design Mission

The Master of Science in Urban Design (MSUD) program provides high quality education and training in the urban design field, in order to prepare and qualify graduates to become leading practitioners and researchers in the urban design profession who are able to meet the current and future challenges as intellectual professionals.

Vision

The Master of Science in Urban Design (MSUD) program aims to graduate leading urban design researchers and professionals prepared to respond to the changes in the urban context of the Kingdom and its rapidly evolving community with critical understanding of contemporary challenges, the MSUD graduates will possess the ability to practice urban.

Goals

Goal 1: Achieve national and international highly recognized MSUD program to promote community design and real estate development goals of environmental responsibility, social equity and economic sustainability in correspondence to its vision and mission that help achieve its strategic goals while tracking the progress of their achievement periodically.

Goal 2: Create an encouraging and productive work environment to maintain a high-performance

rate of both faculty and students leading to gain national and international accreditation for the MSUD program.

Goal 3: Provide high quality teaching environment and resources that promote creativity and leadership among MSUD students, to preserve and develop knowledge for the profession through research and practice.

Goal 4: Recruit national and international students with high competence and equip them with necessary skills to become decision makers in the urban design field.

Goal 5: Hire and retain quality faculty and scholars specialized in the Urban Design field as well as sustain, strengthen, and develop positive and interactive relationships with the community by promoting building and community design goals of environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic sustainability that prepare students for professional leadership and lifelong learning in urban real estate development with an emphasis on livable community planning and design.

Goal 6: Managing and updating the necessary learning resources to faculty and students to support conductive learning environment to share knowledge locally and internationally through community service.

Goal 7: Establish an interactive research environment that facilitate the generation of innovative ideas and solutions in the field of urban design to help in achieving the related Saudi Vision goals.

Goal 8: To enrich the educational environment and broaden the program’s influence in community participation and professional consultancy, form partnerships and collaborations with national/ international institutions and organizations. The Strategic Plan of the Architecture Department covers the market study, objectives, initiatives, action plans, risk management and Key performance indicators of the two programs under Architecture Department.

III. Summary of Market Scan Findings

• IPSOS conducted an in-depth market research on the KSA Education market in December 2021 with the following objectives to develop a sound strategic plan for Effat University (EU):

o Macroeconomic and Employment Landscape – Economic profile of KSA and its key industries, current and future demand of programs of KSA

o POV – Employers – Interviewing potential employers within institutions in the target segment to understand the expectations from candidates and programs

o POV – Students & Parents – Understanding the perceptions and attitudes of the current students and potential students and their parents, towards universities and programs

• To achieve the objective, IPSOS conducted a comprehensive desk research, quantitative survey with 875+ stakeholders (employers (50), current students (154), potential students (61) and parents (112) of the potential students), backed up by qualitative research for deeper insights.

• Here are the key findings from the research for the three departments for Effat College of Architecture and Design: Architecture (Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Science in Urban Design), DESN department (Bachelor of Science in Design comprising interior design and product design tracks), and finally School of Cinematic Arts (Bachelor of Science in Cinematic Arts including animation and direction & production tracks).

Macroeconomic and Employment Landscape

• While oil remains the major export product for Saudi Arabia, its dominance of the total export share for the country has declined over the past few years as shown in the graph below:

• 80% of the population is employed by private companies while 20% are in government services.

• 56% of the employed population is at the bachelor’s or equivalent level.

• Human Capital Development Program (HCDP) has set a goal to raise the percentage of higher education graduates in employment within six months of graduation from 4.5% in 2019 to 20% in 2025.

• It is clear from this chart that employers from manufacturing and construction are about 11 % who would be seeking our graduates from Architecture.

o The market study has also indicated that Saudi Arabia will invest over SAR 500 billion in airports, seaports, rail and other infrastructure by 2030 to make the kingdom a global transportation and logistics hub. These will secure many job opportunities for our graduates from Architecture undergraduate program and our postgraduate program: Master of Science in Urban Design.

o It is worth mentioning that travel and tourism are currently accounting for 9% of GDP and is expected to grow at an accelerated rate thanks to $65 Billion earmarked for investment into the sector with remarkable government focus on that sector This would again push for more jobs related to architecture and design (including product and interior design); as there would be more need for building related constructions and infrastructure.

o On the overall, and according to the following chart, it is evident that architecture, design and planning and architecture have 100% positive outlook reflecting the confidence of having come out the pandemic and on the path to recovery. This clearly indicates the needs for all programs covered Architecture Department.

Employers’ Point of View

This module captures the willingness and likelihood of employers in KSA to hire graduates of Effat University. The findings were as follows:

• Driven by Saudization, employers across sectors noted that entry level hiring is likely to grow more than 5% in the next 3 to 5 years. 6 -10% of the employees are at entry level/fresh graduates. Saudization is expected to bring about 7.6%-12.5% growth in recruiting entry level/fresh graduate candidates.

• Despite a decline in overall population share, female share of total workforce has increased from 11% in 1990 to 16% in 2020.

• The chart below indicates the number of employees by sector, 2021:

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles 17%

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security 16% Manufacturing 11% Construction 11%

10% Human health and social work activities 7%

• 70% of the employers surveyed also stated when it comes to recruiting candidates for entry level jobs, the University the candidate graduated from is the most important parameter.

• The key parameters used by employers to evaluate a university are the ‘Reputation’ of the university, its ‘Partnership with International Universities’, ‘Regional Ranking’ & ‘Past Experience’ with the students from the same university. Below is the snapshot of the universities considered as most reputed among employers:

% of the employers indicated the university name as most reputed (Unaided resoponses) King Abdul Aziz University (PU)

• It is worth noting that students’ enrollment in the Ambassador Program and their participation in campus-wide activities and clubs, in addition to volunteering in events give them the practical exposure 70% of employers are looking for and the extracurricular activities 56% of employers are looking for.

• It is worth mentioning that Architecture program, having the NAAB certification represents an internationally accredited program; a certification that 80% of employers are looking for.

• Other programs/subjects suggested by employers that are likely to be in demand in the coming years are as follows:

• As for the employers’ propensity to hire candidates by different programs offered by Effat University, as indicated in the chart below, there is high demand for Bachelor of Science in Architecture and Master of Science in Urban Design; mainly driven by the construction sector growth.

Existing Offerings of Effat University

Program

BSc Architecture

BSc Design

•• Effat University’s reputation stands tall amongst the private universities, with 56% of the employers considering EU as one of the most reputed universities.

• Majority of the employers state that they consider the candidates are technically sound, with very good communication skills, in addition to holding a recognized internationally accredited degree.

• 100% of the employers in Jeddah and Makkah are aware of Effat University, followed by 60% in Riyadh, while the awareness is lower in other regions of KSA.

• 70% of the employers that are aware of EU are inclined to recruit candidates from EU in the coming years.

• EU is currently ranked as 61 – 70 in QS Arab Regional Ranking 2022, moved up from 101 – 110 ranking in 2019, tracing an upward trajectory.

• EU has established strong partnerships with 15 global universities. In Effat College of Architecture and Design, Architecture and Master of Science in Urban design have partnership with Miami University, together with ongoing exchange activities with Kent State University, IU Hamburg, TU Berlin, and Kingstone University.

• The table below depicts the key skills preferred by the employers in order to hire candidates:

BSc Cinematics Arts

MSc Urban Design

Demand likely to be in the following sectors

Specializations

Interior design

Product design

Animation

Film production and direction

• While the employers (~10) that are likely to recruit from Effat in the coming years are content with the positive reputation of the university, technical skills of the students, positive relationship with EU, etc., they have suggested that the candidates from EU would have a scope to work on their confidence level and interpersonal/presentation skills.

• 75% of the employers would like to receive direct communication from EU about their updated curriculum to the industry needs and newsletters about their students’ achievements which will increase their likelihood of hiring from the university.

• Graduates from Architecture department show great technical knowledge, communication skills, interpersonal skills, problemsolving skills and practical exposure, which are amongst the most important characteristics employers are looking for.

• The ARCH program requires a completion of 120 hrs. of internship, 62% of employers consider this an important skill in new employees.

Product Design in Engineering & Manufacturing

Arch / Interior Design Construction

Media Houses NEOM Publishing / Research (Animation)

Existing Offerings of Effat University

Program / Specialization

English Language Training & Test Preparation

Professional certificates and Diplomas (e.g.Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Risk Management, etc.)

Short Courses (e.g. PMP, Six Sigma, Soft Skills, etc.)

Specialized Programs (e.g. Robot Design, Computer Applications, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Automotive Design, Photograpyh, etc.)

Verbatimsy

“These programs are designed for working professionals for working professionals for further career development and these programs are affordable”

“With Saudization being implemented, these programs would be critical to enhance the knowledge of the existing and new employees across sectors”

“Not aware that Effat is offering these programs”

“Why aren’t these programs offered online?”

“Online programs would help the corporates to suggest and encourage their employees to do these programs”

Employers didn’t have opinion on a few programs like General Education Program (GEP)

It is worth to refer to the high demand for the short course in photography offered by SCA.

Students’ & Parents’ Point of View

• A student’s journey to choosing a university is described as follows:

Current Student

• Location, preferred subjects, and reputation are the key parameters for evaluating among the universities.

• Even though the EU placement test (English & Math) are considered as moderately difficult, overall admission process at EU was seen as smooth.

• Architecture is the highest undergraduate program studied in all Effat University, as shown in the chart below. It is worth to mention that the graph is lacking the reference to the Design and Cinematic arts programs, together with the Master of Science in Urban Design which have witnessed a remarkable growth in enrolment in the past two years.

Undergraduate Programs

Postgraduate Programs

Effat College of Architecture & Design - BSc Arcchitecture 14% Effat College of Business - BSc Finance - Finance 4%

Effat College of Business - BSc Marketing 11% Effat College of Humanities - BSc Translation and Interpreting 2%

Effat College of Engineering - BSc Computer Science 11%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc PsychologyClinicalPsychology 9%

Effat College of Business - BSc Finance 6%

Effat College of Engineering - BSc Elecctrical & Computer 6%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc English & Translation 5%

Effat College of Business - BSc Supply Chain Management 5%

Effat College of Humanities - BSc English & Translation

- Literature 3%

• Before deciding on EU, current students planned on visiting the university’s official website, seek advice from their families and visiting the university’s campus as shown in the table below:

• According to current students, offering scholarships, the availability of preferred programs and the quality of education are the reasons behind choosing EU as shown in the table below:

• 2 in 10 students are highly likely to continue their higher education with EU. According to current students, the industrial Engineering, and Fashion Design should launch. Those two specializations could be integrated in the Design program offered by Effat College of Architecture and Design. Increasing the number of teaching staff is the top improvement area according to current students as depicted by the chart below:

Likability to continue higher education at Effat university

Programs Effat university should lunch Law 10%

Doctors providing a sufficient number of Doctors / More doctors to teach in all majors 10% More courses / Variety of courses / Advanced courses 5% Building / Improve building / Development of building 5%

Provide more teachers / Recruitment / Restaffing the ICT department 5%

Scholarship offer / Pay attention to the issue of scholarships 5% More majors 3%

Reduce fees / Fees 3%

Potential UG Students

• According to current students, design including architecture and both design tracks (interior and product design tracks) along with Cinematic Arts represent streams of choice for higher or further education, as shown below.

• Quality of education, reputation of the university and the career opportunities are the top reasons high school students consider Effat University. When comparing results with the overall universities, availability of dorms, international affiliations and ties with foreign universities are significantly higher for Effat University as shown in the chart below:

• Internet and social media are the types of media most viewed by high school student. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are the social media platforms accessed regularly as shown in the charts below:

• According to current students, design including architecture and both design tracks (interior and product design tracks) along with Cinematic Arts represent streams of choice for higher or further education, as shown below.

31%

33%

Potential PG Students

• Top reasons behind considering Effat University by postgraduate students are having affordable fees, quality of education and the alumni network. When comparing the results with the overall universities, affordable fee, alumni network, international affiliations, and the faculty’s profile are reasons that are significantly higher as shown in the table below:

Actions by Initiatives

Implement Annual Operational Plan

• Formulate and set the 5-year strategic plan.

• Develop and implement the annual operational plan.

• Assess and report on the achievement of the annual operational plan for all units every Fall and Spring semester.

• Provide recommendation and improve the operational plan of the following year.

Objective 2: Appraise ECoAD Mission Objective and Success

Evaluate the Achievement of the ARCH and Program Mission Statements

Actions by Initiatives

Overall achievement of Mission Matrix consisting of selected indicators that best represent mission components

• Internet and social media as well as the television are the types of media most viewed by potential postgraduates. Instagram and Twitter are the social media platforms accessed regularly as depicted in the charts below:

IV. Strategic Plan Strategic Area 1: Mission, Vision, and Strategic Planning

Objective 1: Implement ARCH Strategic Plan

Percentage of achieved indicators of the programs operational plan objectives (KPI-P-01; KPI-PG-1)

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Evaluate the Achievement of ECoAD Mission Statement

• Identify the relevant KPIs that best represent the Mission components

• Evaluate and report on the related KPIs and assess the overall achievement of the Mission

• Provide recommendation and improvement plans where necessary.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

V. Strategic Area 2: Governance, Leadership & Management

Objective 1: Revise Organizational Structure

Initiative

Restructure ARCH Department units

Update leadership roles

Review and revise reporting lines

Evaluate ARCH leadership performance

Actions by Initiatives

Restructure ARCH Departments Units

2022-2027

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of alignment between the tasks assigned to the updated leadership role description

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage operational steps completed LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIR

Percentage of performance achieved by leaderships LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Review and Revise Reporting Lines

• Revise ARCH Department reporting system and reporting lines to ensure a clear and smooth flow of information from bottom-up and top-down among academic and administrative units in order to achieve cooperative teamwork environment.

• Update efficient reporting templates used for producing semester reports for all academic and administrative units for Falls and Springs.

• Agree on the reporting lines and templates with all units.

• Pilot the reporting system in Fall and Spring 2022-2023 to make adjustments as needed for use in subsequent semesters.

• Conduct an interim review of the reporting system by the third year of the strategic plan and adjust the reporting system and reporting lines as necessary.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the reporting system and reporting templates in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Evaluate ARCH Leadership Performance

• Assess how far ARCH Department leaders have managed to achieve their units’ annual objectives and help them set their new objectives for the subsequent year for their units as part of oversight and accountability of ARCH Department governance system.

• Conduct an interim review by revising the tools for leadership assessment to make adjustments for subsequent semesters.

• Conduct a final comprehensive review of leadership assessment tools in preparation for the following 5-year strategic plan.

Objective 2: Restructure ARCH Responsibilities Responsibilities

Initiative 2022-2027 KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

• Review the current department ARCH Department organizational structure and units by benchmarking with other universities of similar size and age to recommend updates at all levels.

• Monitor the effectiveness of the departmental structure based on a set of criteria and make updates if needed.

• Conduct an interim comprehensive review of organizational changes and make updates as necessary.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the ARCH Department structure by the end of the planning period in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Update Leadership Roles

• Evaluate leadership and committees’ roles and responsibilities.

• Set specific authorities, responsibilities, and tasks for each leadership role and committee based on the ECoAD Charter and the Ministry bylaws.

• Review the leadership succession plan regularly.

• Ensure the effective and efficient distribution of the responsibilities of academic and administrative leaders in order to achieve harmony among the different units and committees.

• Monitor and evaluate the adherence of leaders to the description of their leadership roles and tasks annually and be ready to adjust the description based on work needs.

• Review the leadership roles and their tasks by the end of the third year of the strategic plan and make changes as needed.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of leadership roles and committees by the end of 2026-2027 in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Establish new ARCH strategic roles

Develop role descriptions

Evaluate the performance of individuals carrying the new strategic roles

Actions by Initiatives

Establish New ARCH Strategic Roles & Develop Role Descriptions

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of role descriptions developed LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of performance achieved by the individuals. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

• Update the institutional strategic roles at the level of ARCH Department and specify their authorities, responsibilities, and tasks taking into consideration that they have both academic and technical skills to achieve effective governance.

• Update the Governance Manual to include the updated strategic roles at the levels of ARCH Department and their job descriptions/authorities, responsibilities, and tasks.

• Evaluate the Governance Manual that includes the administrative and organizational flowcharts and job authorities, responsibilities and tasks by the end of the third year of the strategic plan to make changes as necessary.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of strategic roles at ARCH Department levels and their descriptions to make organizational changes by the end of the planning period in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Evaluate the performance of individuals carrying the new strategic roles:

• Evaluate individuals carrying out new strategic roles based on agreed criteria (e.g. competence and skills) for evaluation every Spring.

• Give recommendations for improvement to the concerned individuals to improve their performance for implementation in the following year.

Objective 3: Streamline ARCH Committees StructuresStructures

Actions by Initiatives

Obtain and Maintain National Program Accreditation & Obtain and Maintain International Program Accreditation

• Review, and revise, as necessary, the current approach to national and international accreditations.

• Set a schedule for the ARCH Department support for the university in achieving international accreditation from NECHE over the 5-year planning period.

• Set a schedule for monitoring and supporting the ARCH programs in acquiring international accreditations over the 5-year planning period.

• Set a plan for applying for other professional accreditations for all applicable programs across ARCH Department

Actions

Review and Evaluate ARCH Standing Committees

• Evaluate the efficiency of current standing committees based on set criteria and recommend improvements and updates of their mandate, structure and/or function as necessary.

• Monitor the initiatives and projects carried out by all ARCH Department committees and give a final report on their performance in the Spring semester of each year.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of the standing committees to give final assessment of their work and recommend changes for the subsequent 5-year strategic plan accordingly..

Review and Evaluate ARCH Committees

• Evaluate the efficiency of current department ARCH Department committees based on set criteria and recommend improvements and updates of their mandate, structure and/or function as necessary.

• Monitor the initiatives and projects carried out by all ARCH Department committees and give a final report on their performance in the Spring semester of each year.

• Conduct a comprehensive review of current ARCH Department committees to give final assessment of their work and recommend changes for the subsequent 5-year strategic plan accordingly.

Objective 4: Attain and Maintain Program Recognition

• Conduct an interim review of the effectiveness of QA oversight processes in steering national and international accreditations and recommend improvements and changes as necessary.

• Conduct a final review of the effectiveness of QA oversight of national and international accreditations by the end of the planning period and recommend improvements for the next 5-year strategic plan. .

Attain and Maintain Subject Ranking

• Establish protocols for improving subject ranking based on monitoring and analyzing benchmarking data of the top ranked ARCH programs, nationally and internationally to develop a plan to acquire the targeted subject rankings over the 5-year planning period.

• Monitor subject ranking achieved annually and set plans for improvement.

• Conduct an interim review of the protocols for subject ranking and revise as necessary.

• Conduct a final assessment of the achievements of subject rankings by the end of the planning period and provide recommendations for improvement for the next 5-year strategic plan accordingly.

Conduct Benchmarking Data Analysis Annually

• Review, and revise, as necessary, policies and procedures for benchmarking.

• Supervise data collection and analysis of benchmarking data annually.

• Make use of the benchmarking data to reinforce and streamline the KPI management process by introducing a sound KPI framework.

• Automate the KPI management process by continually raising the benchmarks every subsequent year.

• Review the action plan for benchmarking to introduce improvements as required annually.

Objective 5: Monitor the Effectiveness of the Governance System

Initiative 2022-2027

Ensure the compliance of ARCH governing bodies, bylaws, and policies and procedures with relevant authorities (e.g. MoE, MoI)

Ensure the dissemination of circulations and decisions made by all governing bodies.

Ensure that ARCH Department members follow Effat ethical Conduct

Actions by Initiatives

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs

Percentage of adherence of the governing system with relevant authorities (e.g., MoE, MoI).

Percentage of circulations and decisions disseminated.

Percentage of violations of the code of ethical conduct (Tarbawyyat).

Risk Management

Responsibility

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Ensure the Compliance of ARCH Governing Bodies, Bylaws, and Policies and Procedures with Relevant Authorities (e.g., MoE))

• Review, and revise, as necessary, ARCH governance system, bylaws and policies and procedures for ensuring their compliance with higher relevant authorities.

• Monitor compliance activities with regulatory authorities based on the agreed criteria and set action for improvement as necessary every semester.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of ARCH governing bodies

• Conduct an interim review of the effectiveness of ARCH governing body, bylaw, policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with higher regulatory authorities by the third year of the planning period and revise as necessary.

• Conduct a final review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with regulatory authorities over the whole planning period and revise as necessary for the next 5-year strategic planning cycle.

Ensure the Dissemination of Circulations and Decisions made by all Governing Bodies

• Review, and revise, as necessary, policies and procedures for internal and external dissemination of ARCH decisions.

• Monitor dissemination of relevant information to stakeholders and set and implement actions for improvement as necessary every semester.

• Evaluate the levels of awareness by stakeholders of disseminated circulations and decisions and set improvements accordingly.

• Conduct an interim review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures for dissemination of ARCH decisions and circulations and introduce improvements as needed.

• Conduct a final review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures for dissemination of ARCH circulations and decisions and circulations by Spring 2027 in preparation for the next 5-year plan..

Ensure that ARCH Members follow Effat Ethical Conduct

• Review, and revise, as necessary, protocols for monitoring ethical conduct across the institution ARCH Department

• Monitor and report on the violations of ethical conduct in line with the approved protocols and take actions for improvement as necessary every semester.

• Conduct an interim review of the effectiveness of ethical protocols followed over the previous planning period and revise as necessary.

• Conduct a final review of the effectiveness of ethical protocols over the planning period and revise as necessary.

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Enhanced Governance and Improvised Organizational Structure

Develop and Maintain Professional Accreditations

Communication gap between levels in the hierarchy Regular committee meetings to align all organization personnel on the updated policies. Proposing additional responsibilities and defining objectives Adherence to NCAAA standards while using best and innovative and best practices.

Stringent requirements to obtain the accreditations

Task force to be established to oversee the execution of all operational steps.

VI. Strategic Area 3: Teaching & Learning

Objective 1: Redevelop the Academic Portfolio

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Review and reassess the current academic portfolio

Develop new academic programs.

Monitor and respond to national policy on international HE regarding academic offering

Percentage of Completion of the review process of all programs nominated for review.

Percentage of nominated programs revised.

Number of new programs developed - (BSC, MS, PhD, Minors, DM, DD, Ass Degree, Diploma, Certificate).

Percentage of operational steps completed.

• Proportion of existing partnerships (At least 1/ program).

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Review existing, and identify new, international educational partnership opportunities (DDs, Minors)

• Degree of fulfillment of the educational partnership agreements.

• Number of international DDs and Minors introduced.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Reassess the Current Academic Portfolio

• Continue overseeing working parties at the ARCH Department level to follow up on the Program Review schedule

• Ensure ARCH and MSUD academic programs conduct regular assessment processes to continually improve the curriculum, through a feedback system for all teaching faculty.

• Deploy an assessment committee that reviews the reports periodically and provides feedback to the respective departments to re-assess the existing academic programs.

• Benchmark the academic programs with the leading national and international ARCH and Urban Design programs to review and assess the programs..

Develop New Academic Programs

• Assess the current portfolio strengths and weaknesses, to strengthen the existing portfolio and incorporate new programs to expand the current portfolio.

• Apply a framework incorporating competitors’ strength, current students’ ratings and sector outlook to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of suggested new courses and programs.

• Apply a decision-making academic program portfolio matrix, based on the market gaps and the ARCH Department capabilities.

• Conduct program feasibility studies per academic year.

• Assess the current portfolio strengths and weaknesses, to strengthen the existing portfolio and incorporate new programs to expand the current portfolio. We recommend a framework that incorporates competitors’ strength, current students’ ratings, and sector outlook to determine if the potential course is an opportunity or not.

• Assess the current portfolio strengths and weaknesses, to strengthen the existing portfolio and incorporate new programs to expand the current portfolio.

• Based on the graph below, enrollment in Arts and Humanities make up to 23% of enrollment in Higher Education, which is supported by all departments and in specific Cinematic Arts department and up to 22% in manufacturing and construction which is covered by architecture and design departments.

Higher Education Enrollments by Specialization

Others include general programs, and qualifications education, social sciences, journalism and media agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary

The table below shows the competition between the programs offered by ARCH department and other institutions at the undergraduate level:

Undergraduate programs offered by universities: Effat University vs. other universities

College Program Specialization

Effat College of Architecture and Design

King Fahad university for petroleum and minerals

Prince Sultan university

The American university in Cairo

American University of Beirut Wesleyan university Georgetown university

BSc Architecture x x

BSc Design Interior design x x x x Product design x x x x x

BSc Cinematic arts

Animation x x x x x x

Film production and Direction x x x x x

Both graduate programs offered by universities: Effat University vs. other universities

College Program Specialization

Effat College of Architecture and Design

King Fahad university for petroleum and minerals

Prince Sultan university

The American university in Cairo

American University of Beirut Wesleyan university Georgetown university

MSc Urban Design x x x x

• As per the tables above, it is clear that there is strong competition with Architecture and average competition with Master of Science in urban Design. Additionally, as per the market study, it is clear that architecture needs to integrate more courses related to construction as the growing sector in the future of Saudi Arabia. Similarly, Master of Science in Urban Design needs to be more inclusive for other specializations related to construction and not focus only on urban design. Regarding the sector outlook, it evident from the first part of this study that employers demand all undergraduate and post graduate program delivered by ARCH and MSUD programs.

• Accordingly, we recommend the following framework to support future planning:

Current Student Rating Sector Outlook SWOT outcome ARCH Strong Strong Strong Opportunity MSUD Average Moderate Strong Opportunity

Program Competitor Strength

• Based on the market analysis and the institutional capabilities, we recommend the following decision-making academic program portfolio matrix with actionable outcomes to each scenario:

Attractiveness of the program market Program and institutional capabilities

Program Weak Moderate Strong

Architecture Highly attractive

MSc. Urban Design Moderately attractive

Invest to grow academic program. Maintain program strengths.

MSUD

Area of Analysis Recommendations based on Analysis Keep/Modify/Revamp Timeline

Employers

Employers from manufacturing and construction are about 11 % who would be seeking our graduates from fields related to Architecture and Urban Design.

Employers’ propensity: high demand mainly driven by the construction sector growth.

Saudi Arabia will invest over SAR 500 billion in infrastructure These will secure many job opportunities for ARCH and MSUD graduates.

Build selectively on program strengths.

• There exists an opportunity for more enrolments at the post-graduate level as there is currently one program offered. Therefore, it is recommended to further develop the Master of Science in Urban Design to widen the different domains under this program. Additionally, establishing a Ph.D. in Architecture could be seen as a future opportunity. Moreover, the ARCH department must monitor any updates in HE bylaws which can help its program become more attractive like creating exit points or including minors or double majors. The ARCH department must invest in offering continuous education diplomas and training workshops for the community in all specializations related to the undergraduate programs.

• Program feasibility studies to be conducted for four to five programs per academic year.

ARCH

Area of Analysis Recommendations based on Analysis Keep/Modify/Revamp Timeline

Employers

Employers from manufacturing and construction are about 11 % who would be seeking our graduates from fields related to Architecture.

Employers’ propensity: high demand mainly driven by the construction sector growth.

Saudi vision 2030

Saudi Arabia will invest over SAR 500 billion in infrastructure These will secure many job opportunities for ARCH graduates.

$65 Billion is earmarked for investment in tourism, pushing for more jobs related to architecture. Students Architecture program has the highest demand among all EU programs.

Enrollment in Arts and Humanities make up to 23% of enrollment in Higher Education.

Modify to include more focus on construction courses Review in 2022/23

Saudi vision 2030

$65 Billion is earmarked for investment in tourism, pushing for more jobs related to architecture and related other fields including urban design,

Modify to widen the scope Review in 2022/23

Students

MSUD was not referred to among students’ demand in one graph but in the graph shown it was referred to as high demand.

Enrollment in Arts and Humanities make up to 23% of enrollment in Higher Education.

Evaluation Framework Competitor Strength: Average

Current Student Rating: Moderate Sector Outlook: Strong SWOT Outcome: Opportunity

Monitor and Respond to National Policy on International HE Regarding Academic Offering

• Monitor developments of national policies on internationalization in higher education.

• Monitor internationalization activities in other Saudi higher education institutions, especially in ARCH and Master of Urban Design Programs.

• Monitor international higher education institutions’ activities in the Kingdom, especially in ARCH and Master of Urban Design Programs.

• Develop response policies and activities in light of changing environment.

Review Existing, and Identify New, International Educational Partnership Opportunities (DDs, Minors)

• Review current partners against set criteria developed and shared by different parties (students, faculty, administration, etc.)

• Evaluate effectiveness of existing, potential, and suggested partnerships, through a framework involving different parties (students, faculty, administration, etc.)

• Recommend renewing contract of partnerships that proved success and effectiveness.

• Build connections through outreach to identify new partners.

Current Student Rating: Strong

Evaluation Framework Competitor Strength: Strong

Sector Outlook: Strong

SWOT Outcome: Opportunity

• Develop and offer joint programs with international partners.

Objective 2: Establish E-Learning Provision

Initiative

Review and revise e-learning facilities and resources

Develop and operate e-learning strategy

Actions by Initiatives

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Percentage of operational steps completed. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of operational steps completed. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Actions by Initiatives

Increase Integration of Project-based Learning

• Emphasize and capitalize project and problem-based learning.

• Introduce real-life problems, to help students learn by constructing solutions.

• Make sure that assigned projects tackle the three main characteristics that are central to the twenty-first century pedagogy, which are:

a. Problem statements are tied to curriculum and learning goals of the department.

b. Focus is given to central concepts and principles of topics.

c. Projects are based on real-world problems and are presented in the form of case studies.

Review and Revise e-learning Facilities and Resources

• Assess the existing condition of e-learning facilities and resources as hardware and software, through satisfaction rate of involved parties (faculty, students, administration, IT, etc.)

• Invest in an adequate e-learning platform, based on proposals submitted to Teaching and Learning Committee for approval.

Develop and Operate e-learning Strategy

• Develop e-learning programs for ARCH and MSUD, that take into consideration and comply with the special nature of such programs in application, studios, and tutorials.

• Offer the programs as per the approved schedule.

• Assess the successful implementation of the offered e-learning programs by assessing:

a. Number of students registered compared to the projection,

b. Satisfaction rates of Faculty

c. Satisfaction rate of students

Objective 3: Develop and Extend Novel Pedagogies

Initiative

Increase integration of project-based learning project-based learning

Strengthen Research/Teaching nexus in educational delivery

Review, revise and extend cocurricular education and the Effat Ambassador Program

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Proportion of courses involving project-based learning. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Proportion of courses embedding the research/teaching nexus (With Research Publication).

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of operational steps completed. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Strengthen Research/Teaching Nexus in Educational Delivery

• Foster the concept of learning beyond classrooms through the use of technology to gain a deeper understanding of complex ideas and ability to work in global teams to generate new ideas and theories.

• Encourage and lead the students to publish their work in journal, conferences, and competitions.

Review, Revise and Extend Co-curricular Education and the Effat Ambassador Program

• Deploy teaching metacognitive skills, that will help the students to plan, monitor and evaluate one’s own understanding and performance, thereby allowing them to reflect on their own critical awareness about how they think and learn, enhancing their personality.

• Conduct Focus groups to revise the co- and extra-curricular activities.

• Update the co- extra-curricular activities.

• Implement the programs.

• Assess the successful implementation of the program through EGC achievement and students’ satisfaction of the EAP.

Objective 4: Embed Employability in Teaching and Learning

Initiative 2022-2027

Integrate service learning within all programs/courses

Actions by Initiatives

Integrate Service Learning within all Programs/Courses

Align PLOs with market needs

Deploy professional experts in teaching

Provide on-campus and off- campus field experiences

Integrate state-of-the art technology within all programs

Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs

Percentage of courses that integrate service learning LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Number of programs aligned (NQF, KSA Job Classification)

Percentage of students acquiring Professional and training Certificates Students' performance in professional and/or national examinations *** (SR 1.1.1) (KPI-P-06)

Graduate employability and enrolment in post graduate programs ** (KPI-I-05) (KPI_P-07) (KPI-PG-07) - (Annually)

National - International and

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

• Identify the courses that can be conducted with Service-Learning component.

• Discuss at the beginning of the semester the projects and companies to collaborate with.

• Plan for the workshop with the company to launch the project.

• Present the outcomes of the project/initiative/workshop.

• Assess the successful implementation through companies and students’ satisfactions.

Align PLOs with Market Needs

• Establish and activate ARCH Department Committee on Academic Portfolio (CAP)

• Continue Overseeing working parties at departmental levels to follow up on the Program Review schedule

• Finalize new proposals to Curriculum Committee for approval if any.

Deploy Professional Experts in Teaching

• Invite professionals, experts, and practitioners to conduct workshops, seminars and webinars regularly within the ARCH Department, to offer professional, language and soft skills, etc. to prepare the students for their career ahead.

Proportion of courses deploying professional experts for teaching LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Proportion of courses with on-campus and off-campus field experience

LEAD: DEPT CHAIRS OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of courses that utilize state-of-the-art technology LEAD: DEPT CHAIRS OTHERS: FACULTY

Provide on-campus and off- campus Field Experiences

• Integrate employability skills into courses to foster skills such as team effort, time management, project management, ethics and moral dilemmas, code of conducts, communication skills, etc. to prepare the students to face real-world corporate and entrepreneur challenges.

Integrate State-of-the art Technology within all Programs

• Design learning activities based on relevant and real-world incidents and problems, using appropriate and contemporary technologies.

Objective 5: Ensure Academic Excellence

Initiative 2022-2027 KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

• Average number of students in the class (KPI-P-08)

• Students’ evaluation of quality of learning experience in the programs (PES) ** (KPI-I-03; KPI-P-02; KPI-PG-02)

• Evaluation of Faculty members to the learning Environment (FSS) *** SR 1.2.3

Monitor academic excellence

• Grade distribution (% [A+, A] and % [D+, D, F] is less than 20%).

• GPA distribution (>= 2) of the graduates and continuing students

• Percentage of students progressed out of the risk status at all levels (UG & G).

• First-year students retention rate (Undergraduate) ** (KPI-I-04; KPI-P-05)

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Attain the Effat Graduate Characteristics

Attain the English Level proficiency

Actions by Initiatives

Monitor Academic Excellence

• Average time for students’ graduation (in semesters) (KPI-PG-05) (postgraduate)

• Completion of Graduation rate for Undergraduate/graduate Students in the specified period ** (KPI-I-06 & KPI-P-04; KPI-PG-06)

• Students’ evaluation of the quality of the courses on five-point scale. (+Participation rate). ** (KPI-P-03 & KPI-PG-03).

• Achievement of Program learning outcomes

• Students Evaluation of Quality of Scientific Supervision (KPI-PG-4)

• Rate of Students Dropping out of Program (KPI-PG-6).

Percentage of students achieving the four Effat Graduate Characteristics annually

Percentage of attainment of requested English level by ARCH student

Objective 6: Revise Learning Resources

Initiative

Review and improve learning resources

Actions by Initiatives

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Review and Improve Learning Resources

KPIs Responsibility

Satisfaction of beneficiaries with learning resources ** (KPI-I-07 & KPI-P-17 & KPI-PG-13)

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

• Review and asses learning resources (textbooks, videos, relevant reading material, etc.) every academic year by reviewing courses’ evaluation and feedback of both the students and the faculty.

• Expand the learning repository constantly, using provided resources, as the Effat library to broaden the learning gamut.

Risk Management

• The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Market data are challenging to acquire

Conduct a thorough research project to procure data for the analysis.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Reinforcing the academic portfolio

Competitiveness of Master programs with the newly launched program (MSUD) in the region

Shortage of faculty

Additional time effort and increased workload for the faculty

Technical glitches

• Monitor closely each student’s scores obtained in respective programs and enrolled courses.

• Decide on actions that should be taken each semester to ensure performance improvement every subsequent semester.

• Apply a recommended post monitoring framework to improve the academic performance of every student, and that entails: Defining student success as: timely degree completion, uninterrupted retentions, minimum cumulative GPA requirements, etc.

Building a predictive model to arrive at a predicted success score for each student using: pre-enrollment data (income, demography, high-school score, etc.) and post-enrollment data (class scores, attendance, etc.)

Segmenting the student, based on the success score, into predicted success groups: Above-average, average and below average.

Devising strategic nudges to intervene and provide the necessary resources needed for each segment.

Attain the Effat Graduate Characteristics

• Review and monitor the progress of students and provide aid to assist achieve and maintain the attainment goals.

Attain the English Level proficiency:

• Conduct regular workshops to empower students’ English proficiency and encourage obtaining professional language certifications.

• Encourage faculty to assign and discuss readings throughout the semester to help students practice the English language.

E-learning provision

Effective marketing to convey the prospects (employer demand) of the newly launched program.

Hire additional staff, along with newly graduated talents, as assistants

Select specific material and type of classes that can be conducted using e-learning and set realistic timeline expectations for the faculty

Provide tutorials and set contingency plans for the faculty

Lack of necessary hardware or skill exhibited by the students

Financial challenges

Resistance towards e-learning by some faculty members

Students’ resistance towards new pedagogies

Enhanced Learning Experience and Skill Set Development

Faculty with lack of knowledge or skills to execute newer pedagogies

Design and choose user friendly simple e-learning platform considering the students’ limitations to provide equal opportunities

Offer and use grants and endowments to facilitate the e-learning environment

Align with and announce to the Department faculty the benefits of e-learning and hire staff that is skilled in e-learning.

Communicate the benefits of the new pedagogies to the students and make the whole process likable to the students by executing them in the form of a game or in a fun way encouraging more participation.

Conduct workshops by professionals to help the faculty be more open to such pedagogies.

VII. Strategic Area 4: Students

Objective 1: Improve Student Involvement

Initiative

Revise student clubs and activities

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

• Number of clubs and students associations per year fulfilling IQRA value.

• Number of sport activities fulfilling IQRA value in which ARCH students participated.

• Number of Community service hours completed per student (volunteering) fulfilling IQRA value.

• Number of students participating in activities fulfilling IQRA value out of the total of ARCH students’ body.

Objective 2: Improve Student Experience

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Automate ARCH students’ related processes

Improve quality of student’s experience

Percentage of students satisfied with automated processes.

Percentage of utilization of the automated processes.

Percentage of ARCH Department students satisfied with the quality of co-curricular and extracurricular programs and activities.

LEAD: DEAN SA/ DEAN DAR

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN QA/ DEAN SA/ STUDENT COUNCIL

Enhance student role in governance

Actions by Initiatives

Revise Student Clubs and Activities

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN SA/ STUDENTS COUNCIL

Percentage of identified ARCH Department governing bodies with student involvement. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN SA/ STUDENTS COUNCIL Satisfaction rate of students’ activities.

• Broaden the range of clubs and students’ organizations to help students build unique set of skills.

• Support sports activities by ensuring the participation of ARCH Department students in sporting events.

• Contribute to the community with activities geared towards civic engagement (volunteering in charity organization, environmental projects, socio-cultural activities, etc.)

Enhance Student Role in Governance

• Enhance the ARCH Department culture by supporting students’ participation in ARCH Department governance (councils, committees).

• Improve students’ representation in students’ governance (students shura, student government) by aligning it with students’ interests and needs.

Improve student services

Encourage students to become future entrepreneurs

Actions by Initiatives

Automate University Students’ Related Processes

Students’ satisfaction with the offered services

KPI-I-10.

Number of student activities geared towards entrepreneurship.

Number of partnerships established.

Number of start-ups.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN QA/ DEAN SA/ STUDENT COUNCIL

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT CHAIR

• Identify processes that need to be automated in collaboration with DSA/DAR or initiated by ARCH Department.

• Devise a plan with a timeline to automate the identified processes.

• Implement the automation plan.

• Measure the satisfaction of students.

• Ensure the utilization of the automated processes.

Improve Quality of Student’s Experience

• Review and recommend updating co-curricular and extra-curricular programs and activities serving ARCH Department (Student Success Programs).

• Revise the academic incentives for co-curricular and extra-curricular programs and activities.

Improve Student Services

• Promote and support learning activities beyond the classroom (such as field trips, site visits, hosting guest speakers, workshops, students’ seminars, ...)

• Enhance academic services (admission, registration, advising, orientation, grievances and appeals, graduate audit, scholarship, graduation ceremony)

• Improve campus wide services (food services, technology, printing services, housekeeping services, …)

• Plan, design, and implement Campus Life student counseling and wellbeing services.

Encourage Students to Become Future Entrepreneurs

• Cultivate entrepreneurship culture within the ARCH Department by focusing on the activities geared towards entrepreneurship.

• Create opportunities for students to participate in social entrepreneurship contests.

• Develop partnerships with community entities that could support or finance ARCH Department students’ start-ups.

Objective 3: Develop International Student Mobility

Initiative

Establish opportunities for outgoing student mobility

Establish opportunities for incoming student mobility

Establish virtual mobility experiences within programs

International Student Ratio

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Percentage of graduate and undergraduate ARCH students enrolled at educational institution abroad for at least six weeks in the academic year.

Percentage of international incoming students to ARCH Department.

Percentage of virtual mobility opportunities and programs established.

Proportion of international undergraduate and postgraduate ARCH students who spent at least three months in the institution during the academic year.

Actions by Initiatives

Establish Opportunities for Outgoing Student Mobility

• Promote student mobility program.

• Select and send the best eligible undergraduate and graduate students to the partner.

Establish Opportunities for Incoming Student Mobility

• Plan and implement recruitment campaign for attracting international and visiting students.

• Update and maintain a well-informed website devoted to international students.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/DEAN SA

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/DEAN SA

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/ DEAN T&L/DEAN DAR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN SA/ DEAN

Objective 4: Increase Student Population

Initiative 2022-2027

Achieve sustainability through recruitment and retention of diverse body of students

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Actions by Initiatives

KPIs

Percentage of ARCH Department students

population out of the projected number in the strategic plan

Achieve Sustainability through Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Body of Students

Responsibility

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN DAR

• Launch and closely monitor a student journey management initiative, where strong recruitment and retention plans cover the entire students’, journeys based on the following different levels:

a. Enrolments – Conduct effective marketing activities on relevant students target groups, attractive online and offline recruitment processes, and on-campus school recruitments from leading schools with great pass-out, to ensure enrolling good quality students. Special attention should be given to male recruitment

b. Onboarding – Simplify the onboarding processes through efficient digital tools, bringing services directly to the students.

c. Student Life – Employ a Customer Relationship Management to track and monitor a student’s touchpoints throughout the journey.

d Alumni Engagement – Engage alumni in building marketing capabilities and contributing to the ARCH department, college and university through donations or other non-revenue generating activities.

Objective 5: Improve Alumni Relations

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

• Build and maintain strong connections to international entities (cultural attaché, Islamic centers, international schools, international universities, ...).

Establish Virtual Mobility Experiences within Programs

• Form successful virtual academic and nonacademic opportunities and programs for undergraduate and graduate students with ARCH Department network of partners.

• Encourage motivated students to join the established virtual opportunities and programs with the partner universities.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the virtual opportunities and programs and students’ satisfaction for continuous improvement.

International Student Ratio

• Plan and implement recruitment campaign for attracting international and visiting students.

• Provide attractive scholarship/sponsorship programs and support services.

• Update and maintain a well-informed website devoted to international students.

• Build and maintain strong connections to international entities (cultural attaché, Islamic centers, international schools, international universities, ...).

Graduates with entrepreneurial businesses

Improve alumni communications and data management

Develop focused portfolio of alumni activities

Establish alumni mentorship program

Improve alumni performance

KPIs

Percentage of entrepreneurial businesses of undergraduate alumni within (12/24) months of graduation

Percentage of completion of ARCH Department alumni database

Number of alumni activities developed

Percentage of alumni participation in mentorship programs

Percentage of alumni participation in offered training programs

Responsibility

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN SA

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT CHAIR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN SA

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN SA

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN SA

Actions by Initiatives

Graduates with Entrepreneurial Businesses

• Cultivate entrepreneurship culture within the ARCH department by focusing on the following:

a.Case studies of real-world corporate stories and operational hiccups faced by them.

b.Create opportunities for students to participate in social entrepreneurship contests.

c.Invite business executives to deliver lectures.

d.Provide consulting services to non-profit organizations (for final year students).

• Follow closely with clubs and activities that encourage entrepreneurial activities.

• Follow graduates with entrepreneurial business and invite them as motivational speakers and for workshops, etc.

Improve Alumni Communications and Data Management

• Obtain the information while they are still students at the college.

• Build unbreakable alumni relations, promote their brand, and earn goodwill for the institution.

• Update the alumni database in collaboration with DSA to have a clear standpoint of all possible alumni information every semester.

Develop Focused Portfolio of Alumni Activities

• Organize focused portfolio of alumni activities and events in collaboration with the alumni association representative through::

a. Engaged and rich discussions with alumni from different ages, locations, and professional backgrounds.

b.Social media activities.

c.Personalized messages to establish a strong personal communication.

d.Alumni annual gathering.

e.Other focused activities.

Establish Alumni Mentorship Program

• Provide mentorship opportunities for alumni by current ARCH Department faculty.

• Invite alumni to mentor current students through individual or group activities.

• Invite alumni regularly to the university campus to meet with the current students through seminars, speeches, etc.

Improve Alumni Performance

• Assess the needs of the alumni for professional development opportunities.

• Offer training programs, workshops, seminars, to improve the performance of the alumni.

Risk Management

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Improve Students’ Involvement in Activities & Governance & Experience

Financial restraints

Organizational constraints (lack of time and resources)

Lack of internal capabilities

Smart allocation of funds and collecting reasonable fees from the students participating to reduce the burden of additional funds required

Hire additional resources to balance the workload and focus on student clubs and activities

Hire external agencies and organizations that are proficient, to deploy a few of these initiatives

Improve Student Population and Experience

Long term commitment Deploying systems such as CRM to capture sufficient data can be applied as a long-term goal

Financial consideration for the student

Student Mobility

Form strong relationships with the partner departments and programs, that would help in securing tuition waiver and free accommodation to visiting students from the host side and provide the same in return to the visiting students

Alumni Engagements

Cultural differences between the host and home institution

The international office should provide psychological counselling for students facing difficulties in coping with cultural changes

Language-barrier Emphasis on English learning courses

Pleasantries exchanged are usually one-way

Alumni relations solely based on financial contribution

Communication to be designed in an interactive way

Alumni contribution can be implemented through offering internships for ARCH department students in the alumni architectural firms, mentoring students through planned events, seminars and lectures when needed, etc.

Communication might be impersonal

Customized and more personalized communication to build an emotional connection.

VIII. Strategic Area 5: Faculty & Staff

Objective 1: Maintain the Staffing Profile that Complies with Governing Body Requirements

Initiative

Enhance the staffing profile to meet and maintain the requirements of governing bodies

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Percentage of achieve institutional Saudization body

Percentage of females vs males (KPI-P-12)

Proportion of faculty members with doctoral qualifications (KPI-I-12)

Percentage of Part-timers vs. Full-timers

Percentage of achieved ranks (Full ProfessorAssociate Professor – Assistant Professor) (KPI-P-12, KPI-PG-11)

Percentage of achieved recruiting needs

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/ MHR

Actions by Initiatives

Enhance the Staffing Profile to Meet and Maintain the Requirements of Governing Bodies

• Attract and recruit a qualified Saudis faculty and staff to fulfill the Saudization requirement by governing bodies.

• Promote talented Saudis within the department and its programs by offering incentives to pursue their path.

• Send Saudi students abroad for higher studies to prestigious ARCH programs around the world under the scholarship program.

• Achieve the appropriate desired staffing profile complying with MoE regulations.

• Identify the needed teaching staff profile.

Objective 2: Improve Faculty Experience

Initiative 2022-2027

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Actions by Initiatives

Provide Professional Development Support for Novel Pedagogies

• Collect the annual needs for faculty professional development.

• Prepare an annual plan for professional development, which is implemented in three phases.

a.Educational Development.

b.Personal Development.

c.Organizational Development.

• Implement the PD plan.

• Assess the plan through the faculty satisfaction rate.

• Encourage faculty to have memberships of professional societies aligned to ARCH and MSUD programs.

• Recognize outstanding teaching.

Rebalance faculty workload

Ratio of students to teaching staff (KPI-I-11, KPI-P-11, KPI-PG-10)

Proportion of faculty with reduced teaching load

•Faculty satisfaction with work environment.

• Encourage faculty to have memberships of professional societies aligned to their respective programs

Foster equity diversity and inclusion strategy

Actions by Initiatives

Rebalance Faculty Workload

•Proportion of teaching staff leaving the institution (KPI-I-13, KPI-P-13, KPI-PG-12).

•International teaching staff Ratio.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/ MHR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/ MHR

Provide Professional Development Support for Research

• Develop and implement an annual plan for professional development to support research activity.

• Conduct training and workshops to enhance the faculty research skills.

• Increase the involvement of Professors in research to increase the research and innovation output.

Objective 4: Maintain Appropriate Mechanism to Recruit and Retain Competent Support Staff in all Occupational Category

Initiative 2022-2027

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

• Maintain the balanced workload to help the faculty participate in different research and professional activities by retrieving research support (reduction of teaching load, incentives, facilities, leaves)

• Balance faculty workload between teaching and research for research-intensive faculty..

Foster Equity Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

• Make the University and college bylaws, and the faculty and staff handbooks available for all employees.

• Maintain a healthy work environment.

• Give employees multiple ways to provide feedback.

• Apply fair and transparent promotion procedures for all employees

Objective 3: Extend Faculty Development Program

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Develop and implement desired support staff profile plan

Actions by Initiatives

Develop and Implement Desired Support Staff Profile Plan

• Attract and recruit the finest staff.

Ratio of students to support staff in all occupational category

Proportion of support staff in all occupational category leaving the department.

Proportion of staff receiving professional development opportunities per year

Staff satisfaction with professional development opportunities provided.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ MHR

Provide professional development support for novel pedagogies

Proportion of professional development opportunities provided to support for novel pedagogies out of the total

Faculty satisfaction with professional development opportunities provided to support novel pedagogies

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/ MHR/DQA

• Apply retention strategies, aimed at retaining qualified employees.

• Ensure at least 12% of ARCH staff are being professionally developed.

Provide professional development support for research

Proportion of professional development opportunities provided to support research out of the total

Faculty satisfaction with professional development opportunities provided to support research

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DGSR/ MHR

Stakeholders’ Management

• The development of a robust Stakeholder Management Plan (SMP) is critical to achieving project’s objectives in more streamlined and effective way. According to the industry best practices, the SMP can be bifurcated into four phases:

• Phase 1: Stakeholder Identification - Identify the stakeholders and bifurcate them into:

• Phase 3: Execution of the Plan - Assign a committee headed directly by and under the supreme control of the university president responsible for the execution of the SMP.

• Phase 4: Monitoring and Improvisation -SMP cannot be static; it must be dynamic and amended and updated as and when required throughout a project (continuously improved). Disaffected people within stakeholder groups must be identified throughout the process and managed accordingly..

To achieve the best results through the implementation of above-mentioned framework, we recommend the following to ECoAD:

• Assign a team of 3-4 members to a committee that is responsible for the development, monitoring and implementation of the SMP.

• One member will be responsible for the mode of meetings to be conducted with the stakeholders (face-to-face, telephonic, etc.). This member will segregate the stakeholders according to their seniority and position with the university to further decide on the mode of engagement.

Note: There might be an overlap for some people

• Phase 2: Stakeholder Analysis - Each stakeholder must be analyzed based on their influence, motivation/interest, success, etc. to develop a tailored plan to keep the stakeholders happy and committed to university’s vision. We recommend the following framework for the analysis:

• Build impersonal relationship with the stakeholders at various levels through constant interaction and engagement.

• Seek their opinion and views of the stakeholders regarding various issues and activities.

• Create a feedback system where the stakeholders are empowered to share their thoughts on sensitive matters without any apprehension.

• One member within the team will be responsible for the communication channel strategy, to choose the best mode of communication depending on the type (internal or external) of stakeholder and their importance to the university.

• One IT and process related member will be responsible for all the data to be stored and analyzed later. This process must be streamlined and eventually the same member will develop reports on a monthly basis to continually leverage stakeholders’ position with the university.

• Based on the category of the stakeholder, develop a tailor-made communication strategy plan using one or more of the following communication channels:

−Push – Where information is pushed to the stakeholder either manually in the form of emails, memos, written agreement or automatically, through a work management software, where email notifications are sent every time a project action has been performed.

−Pull – Consists of information and resources like project management plan, resource load charts, and other reports stored in a central repository for stakeholders’ perusal.

−Interactive – These include face-to-face meeting, training sessions, telephonic meetings, video calls and any other mode of communication involving direct human touch.

• Devise a communication plan based on the identification and segmentation of stakeholders to establish clear goals and action points. A sample table to illustrate the recommended framework is mentioned below:

Risk Management

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Recruitment Criteria

Lack of talent or stringent recruitment criteria in the national market Nurture talent from within as a part of a fast-track initiative

Training workshops should be conducted, and lecturers should be utilized as a resource under the professors.

Management Initiatives Increasing research output with limited resource

Lecturers will gain more exposure to research while contributing to more research output. Assistant professors can contribute more to the research while passing on some of the administrative responsibilities to lecturers and admin staff.

Incumbents should be promoted from within the ARCH

Vision Saudization Finding and recruiting local talent

Incentives in the form of scholarships, fast track-growth, exposure in the form of faculty exchange programs, etc.

Faculty Development Program (FDP)

Building an internal development center

Knowledge Development

Workload amongst the internal faculty needs to be redistributed in order to make time for the inception of an FDC.

Introduction of professional courses or workshops to define and align the goals in professional development.

IX. Strategic Area 6: Institutional Resources

Objective 1: Maintain Financial Stability

Implement Financial plan reflecting ARCH strategy

Actions by Initiatives

Enhance/Upgrade the Technological Solutions to Support Academic and Administrative Operations

• Improve the quality and equipment of the lecture rooms and computer labs to ensure high quality of teaching and facilitate the interaction with students..

Optimize the Use of Facilities and Equipment to Achieve Safe, Healthy, and Sustainable Campus

• Revise and update Master Campus Plan to ensure its alliance with ARCH Department needs (including vacant land parcels) and to maintain compliance with Ministry of Education Bylaws.

Diversify income streams

Actions by Initiatives

Implement Financial Plan Reflecting ARCH Strategy

Deviation percentage (positive or negative) of expenditure and income from the budget (measured monthly, quarterly, per semester and annually),

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/MF

Percentage of self- income of the department to total income (KPI-I-14), LEAD: MF OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT CHAIR

• Maintain the financial planning and management control system, with capabilities to perform budgetary and forecasting processes, financial delegations and risk management.

Diversify Income Stream

• Develop, implement, and evaluate Revenue diversification strategy

Objective 2: Improve ARCH Department Services (IT & Facilities and Equipment)

Initiative 2022-2027 KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Enhance/upgrade the technological solutions to support academic and administrative operations

Optimize the use of facilities and equipment to achieve safe, healthy, and sustainable campus

• Annually review campus buildings and facilities to meet the emerging needs of academic and administrative units.

Risk Management

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Percentage of achievement for each source of income to budget. Initiative

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Improve Institutional Infrastructure

Average of beneficiaries’ satisfaction rate with technical services...) on a five-point scale in an annual survey in terms of:

a. Suitability.

b. Safety and confidentiality.

c. Availability and ease of access.

d. Maintenance and support services.

(KPI-I-15)

Percentage of fulfillment of facilities and equipment of the needs for the department

Average of beneficiaries’ satisfaction rate with facilities and equipment services on a five-point scale in an annual survey in terms of:

a. cleaning services

b. Safety and healthy campus

c. access for disabled

d. Maintenance and support services

e. security

f. restaurant, CDC, residence

g. transportation

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DQA/ MIETS

LEAD: FACILITIES

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIR

LEAD: DEAN QA – SES & PES

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT CHAIRS

Untenable financial demands for new technology commitments

Prioritization and smart allocation of funds based on more lucrative opportunities Strong faculty and staff resistance to new solutions related to buildings and grounds on philosophical or other grounds

Long-term benefits to the ARCH department’s faculty and staff should be clearly communicated before taking capital decisions

X. Strategic Area 7: Research & Innovation

Objective 1: Develop Diversified Research Impact in Areas of National and International Priority

2026

Number of national, and international research partners per year

Percentage of national and international partnered research/total research output

Identify and establish focused research relationships with national and international partners

Proportion of external funding for research to the total ARCH Department research budget (KPI-I-21)

The degree of international diversity in terms of partnered international research network*

Percentage of partnered research to the total research output (Including internal collaborations amongst ARCH Department and its departments)

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Monitor and respond to national policy on international HE regarding research

Percentage of operational steps completed

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Actions by Initiatives

Identify and Establish Focused Research Relationships with National and International Partners

• Review policies and procedures related to research for faculty participation in national and international research venues.

• Promote research collaboration by enhancing ARCH Department visibility through national media communication.

• Scan, identify and collaborate with possible opportunities for national, regional and international research partners.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the research partnership and set the new goals for next cycle.

• Prioritize fund-raising efforts through collaborative research proposals targeting national and international funding organizations and businesses.

• Develop capabilities to raise funds (“5% from the total research budget of the department” “not less than 125 K SAR through external sources by targeting national and international funding organizations.

• Support faculty in identifying external sources of funding to supplement funding from the department, thus ensuring their financial autonomy.

• Assist faculty with the process of writing proposals for funding by, among other things, organizing proposal writing workshops, marketing the capabilities of ARCH Department Researchers among the funding agencies, and incentivize ARCH Department Researchers for networking.

• Delegate responsibilities to the most credible names within the research faculty to write proposals for funding.

• Identify department ARCH Department research clusters and link them to the activated research partnerships nationally, and internationally.

Monitor and Respond to National Policy on International HE Regarding Research

• Scan, on a yearly basis, the possible updates of research by checking the governmental research related institutions (i.e. KACST, RDO, SAIP).

• Design a timeline to review research related policies, and update if needed.

Objective 2: Consolidate Research Achievements

Increase proportion of active researchers

Extend integration of graduate students and programs in published research

Actions by Initiatives

Increase Proportion of Active Researchers

• Foster the recruitment of leading national and international scholars, leading in their respective fields of research (postdoctorates, scholars on sabbatical, retired scholars as they can contribute through their experience).

• Offer adequate compensation or incentives for the active researcher, based on the research projection.

• Conduct regular workshops and meetings to promote collaborations amongst department faculty with active researchers.

Extend Integration of Graduate Students and Programs in Published Research

• Promote the process of involving PG students in research publication by co-authoring with their faculty

Increase Researcher Productivity

• Focus further in the process of faculty recruitment on candidates with a proven track record in research.

• Aid new researchers and those seeking research careers in the process of publications and grant proposal writing.

• Provide adequate internal seed funding (Internal Financial Support) to increase the research productivity of active scholars.

• Allow teaching release time for very active researcher whenever possible to spend the needed time on research production.

Improve Research Impact

• Improve the quality of the research production published in national and international journals and books and impact through:

• Raise awareness for internal cross citations.

• Facilitate the ARCH Department support for open access publications to increase the opportunity of citations.

• Index ARCH Department journals to help in increasing the number of indexing citations.

• Empower faculty to publish with top 2% (highly cited) scholars.

• Spread the research advancements made by ARCH Department researchers through effective PR communication, both internally and externally.

• Establish a regular newsletter to highlight and celebrate the achievements of department ARCH Department researchers.

Increase researcher productivity

Percentage of publications of faculty members (KPI-P-14; KPI-PG-15)

Proportion of graduate students with at least one refereed publication (Journal Article or Proceeding) during their study to the total number of students in the PG program during the year. (KPIPG-18)

Rate of published research per faculty member (KPI-P-15; KPI-PG-16)

Citations rate in refereed journals per faculty member (KPI-P-16; KPI-PG-17)

Number of Scopus/ISI publications over the 5 years.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

• Publicize and raise awareness about ARCH Department research activities on EU website and blogs as a gesture of promoting research culture both within and outside the ARCH Department.

• Instill and grow a strong research culture amongst all departments to bolster research output through support and motivation to the researchers.

• Encourage department Faculty & Students to produce quality research by providing variety of venues (Indexing Effat Journals/Proceedings, incentive systems, Editing Office Services).

• Maximize the opportunities for faculty to collaborate with highly cited researchers.

Improve research impact

Number of patents, innovations, and awards of excellence (KPI-PG-19)

KPI-I-19 Number of patents, innovations, and awards of excellence per year

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

• Develop capabilities to increase the production of IPs, patents, and innovations through the establishment of an intellectual property office within the ARCH Department.

• Support ARCH Department faculty, students & researchers to obtain external research awards across various fields and category.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

Objective 3: Promote the Research Environment

Initiative 2022-2027

Establish endowed/named research chairs

Utilize existing research labs/units / centers

Actions by Initiatives

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Number of chairs established. LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

Degree of utilization of existing facilities & resources.

Satisfaction of beneficiaries with research facilities, and equipment (KPI-PG-14).

XI. Strategic Area 8: Community Engagement

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DEAN/DGSR

Objective 1: Institutionalize Community Engagement Governance

Initiative 2022-2027

Establish coordinated approach to community engagement (Partnership and Agreement)

Increase memberships with wellknown organizations

Establish Endowed/Named Research Chairs

• Identify research strengths and opportunities of the ARCH Department and develop plans for scientific chairs.

• Scan, identify and collaborate with governmental and/or institutional bodies for the selected research areas.

• Address potential donors/ sponsors for research chairs.

• Manage the chairs and evaluate their effectiveness

Utilize Existing Research Labs /Units /Centers

• Enhance the research environment and infrastructure to increase the research productivity through effective use of state-ofthe-art research laboratories, research centers, online databases and resources such as Scopus, Thompson Reuters Web of Science, and software for both qualitative and quantitative research.

• Evaluate the satisfaction of the users of research facilities and equipment.

Risk Management

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Research collaborations

Research Output & Alignment to National Objectives

Competitive space to get grants and funding from external sources

Financial constraint, lack of resource and skill

Increase credibility of ARCH research. Enhanced communication and marketing to get ARCH out there in the public space thereby enhancing visibility.

Focus on high ROI through spends to hire more resource. Conduct training workshops to develop skill. Focus on winning grants and getting funded.

Promote consultancy services

Actions by Initiatives

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Number of partnerships and agreements per year (diverse and aligned with community service areas PACCE).

Number of memberships per year.

Number of consultancy opportunities offered per year.

Identify and Establish Focused Research Relationships with National and International Partners

• Develop, review and implement policies for community engagement relations.

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DGSR/ FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DGSR/ FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT CHAIR

OTHERS: DGSR/ FACULTY

• Nurture and continue community engagement activities both locally and internationally through constant communication with organizations in the community, showcasing the mutual benefits that can be achieved by partnering.

• Develop relationships with the community leaders by inviting them to the ARCH Department for their expertise and problemsolving abilities.

• Focus on developing agreements and partnerships with key government, economic and service sectors, to support the sustainability of environmental resources.

• Increase the awareness hereabout the important of community engagement.

Increase Memberships with Well-known Organizations

• Evaluate the current memberships of the ARCH Department and recommend the renewal of efficient ones.

• Scan, identify and activate new membership opportunities with prestigious national/international organizations and ARCH programs.

Promote Consultancy Services

• Assess consultancy needs of the market, develop the marketing plan to promote consultancies, and implement & analyze the effectiveness based on the market study

Actions by Initiatives

Enhance ARCH contribution to MCPR/Media Center:

• Specify the function, tasks and responsibilities of ARCH Department contribution to the media center.

• Develop and implement the annual plan of ARCH Department contribution to the media center.

• Assess the impact of the implementation of the plan on the ARCH Department visibility.

Market ARCH with all Key External Stakeholders:

• Maintain and update ARCH Department content and insights on the university website as per international standards to attract the best talent and connect with all external stakeholders.

• Expand ARCH Department stakeholder network, categorize them and tailor - made communication strategy plan

• Interact with the prospect students or their families through the chatbot to help resolving any query.

• Participate in major exhibitions to promote ARCH Department.

• Scan, and identify, the solicitation opportunities in the market.

• Design a marketing plan to attract the attention of potential companies and evaluate its success.

Develop Revised Social Media Presence

• Intensify the presence of social media platforms such as Instagram, twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

• Enhance targeted ad-strategy to market the content on these social media platforms to increase the number of followers (Audience Growth) and post reach (impressions).

Promote the Participation in External Awards Opportunities for Effat University Faculty and Students

• Encourage the internal participation with awards and certificates to foster more participation.

MarCom (Marketing & Communication) Planning Framework

The following is an integrated marketing and communication (IMC) framework followed widely around the globe because of its strong fundamentals:

Review of the marketing plan of ARCH Department

Analysis of the communication process between ARCH Department and all related programs

Budget determination for a concrete recruitment plan

Develop integrated marketing communication program for all ARCH Department programs

Advertising Digital Marketing

Events and Fairs PR & ARCH Activities

Integrate and implement marketing communications strategy for ARCH programs

Integrate and implement marketing communications strategy for ARCH programs

• According to the research conducted by IPSOS, digital marketing is the most accessed channel by both the UG and PG potential students, with Instagram and Twitter being the most popular social media venues explored by the potential students.

• The visual representation of the same is depicted below:

Risk Management

The following table indicates the key risks associated with each strategic recommended area and a corresponding mitigation plan for every risk:

Topic Risk Mitigation Plan

Institutionalize and Enhance Community Governance and Engagement

Assistance needed by the students engaging in community services

Lack of motivation for students and alumni to continue with community engagements

Financial constraints.

Provide support to the students in the form of transportation, food, and guidance.

Reward the service providers in the form of awards and certificates.

Events can be done in collaboration with the local community bodies to reduce the financial burden on the department and university.

Enhance ARCH Visibility

Marketing team hiring constraints.

Avail the services of an external marketing agency while slowing ramping up internal marketing capabilities.