Effat University, Effat College of Engineering Strategic Plan 2022-2027

Effat College of Engineering

Theme: Innovative Digital Technologies

Effat University - September 2022

I.Dean's Message

Effat College of Engineering (ECoE) at Effat University is committed to its mission to prepare professionally competent and quality-conscious graduates within an innovative interdisciplinary and research-driven environment, who will effectively contribute to national and international development and technological advancement.

We continue to prepare the leaders and innovators of tomorrow by offering a world-class education based on academic excellence, experiential learning, inclusiveness, and respect. We work closely with industry and government to review and update our curricula to remain relevant and in tandem with the rapidly evolving demands of the economy and the world. Our programs are designed to provide an unparalleled experiential learning experience towards comprehensive education and vast opportunities for our students to explore their interests and unlock their potential.

We are privileged to have students who are immensely talented and committed towards their academic and professional careers. Our students and alumni have scaled great heights, achieved fame, and have won laurels both nationally and internationally. Our faculty members are world-class, diverse, and renowned in their fields. They have utmost dedication towards their teaching, research, and community service.

This strategic plan will bring all of us together towards advancing education and technology to become the subject leaders in the country. Hence, our strategic theme for the next 5 years is “Innovative Digital Technologies”.

Together, we will strive to journey beyond mere knowledge creation and discoveries towards actualizing knowledge into attaining applied research outcomes that will benefit mankind through entrepreneurial, commercial, and socio-economic success.

II. College Vision, Mission, and Goals

Mission

Effat College of Engineering vision is to be a world-class engineering college recognized for excellence in innovation, scientific discovery, research, and community engagement.

Vision

Effat College of Engineering offers an innovative interdisciplinary and research driven environment. It prepares professionally competent and quality conscious graduates who effectively contribute to national and international development and technological advancement.

Goals

Goal 1: Enhance Effat College of Engineering’s national and international presence through excellence in engineering and science education, innovative research and technology transfer, and partnerships with both community and industry in alignment with the Saudi vision 2030.

Goal 2: Provide a positive and productive work environment in the Effat College of Engineering through good governance, transparency, and strong work ethics. In addition, maintaining and expanding national and international program accreditations and benchmarking while adhering to the highest standards of quality in processes and procedures.

Goal 3: Provide students with an exceptional engineering educational experience characterized by innovative program delivery, interactive learning, project-based learning, development of critical and analytical skills, and progressive research opportunities. Moreover, expand and optimize the use of cutting-edge educational resources and effectively integrating technology in the engineering curricula.

Goal 4: Attract and retain diverse student body by ensuring a holistic learning and lifetime experience, extensive skill and talent development, and ongoing individual support.

Goal 5: Recruit and retain diverse, highly qualified, and motivated engineering and science faculty, researchers, technicians, and staff, supporting their professional development.

Goal 6: Manage and sustain the Effat College of Engineering state-of-the-art facilities, promoting a safe and healthy environment, and complying with national and international accreditation and regulatory bodies. Moreover, enhance overall financial strength of the college through effective budgeting, external research funding, training, and consultancies.

Goal 7: Cultivate research environment for the engineering faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students to produce quality research. Sustain strategic research partnerships, collaborations, and relations with national and international research institutions.

Goal 8: Enhance Effat College of Engineering partnership with the community and industry through mutual exchanges of expertise, novel contributions to the 2030 vision, and effectively engaging students, faculty, and alumnae in the service of society.

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):

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:

and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

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

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

3. 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

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:

• As shown in the chart above, several sectors can be tackled by the college of engineering graduates. Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering graduates can be recruited in more than one sector using their skills respectively in software development, ICT, cyber security, artificial intelligence, computer engineering, electronics, communication, power, and control and robotics. Such sectors include education, construction, manufacturing, public administration, and heath sector. Master of Energy Engineering graduates can as well be recruited in the manufacturing and construction industries.

• According to the market study done by IPSOS, the scientific research and development grew by 14.6% in 2017 -2021 frame comparatively to the 2015-2016. Also, the programming and broadcasting activities grew by 16.7%. This is very good indicator to the recruitment of our college of engineering graduates where they can continue their scientific research, or work in ICT and communication fields.

• Also, based on the market study, in the technology sector, the IT spending in Saudi Arabia is expected to rise by 4.2% in 2021 and reach 41.6 billion: “Saudi Arabia aims to create 20,000 AI and data specialists and experts by 2030”. This area fits very well our new CS program and gives the chance to our graduates to seek such jobs. On the other hand, in the industry sector, under the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program (NIDLP), 1,600,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2030, giving a very good opportunity to our graduates from all programs to secure a job. Also, our ECE graduates can be seeking jobs in the health sector especially in the “Medical Appliances” which is a booming a needed sector in Saudi Arabia.

• Overall, and according to the following chart, it is evident that engineering, electrical and electronics, oil and gas, and IT and ICT 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 by Effat College of Engineering.

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

• 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.

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

PEmployer Point of View (POV)

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.

• 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)

• It is worth noting that students’ enrollment in the Ambassador Program and 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 extra-curricular activities 56% of employers are looking for.

• Besides, CS and ECE programs are ABET accredited, representing an international exposure for both programs, a certification 80% of employers are looking for.

• Also, the market study showed that 70% of the employers who claimed they are likely to hire from Effat stated that it was due to several reasons: the Technical Knowledge, especially the Science programs which relate to the college of engineering graduates.

• As for the employers’ willingness to hire candidates by different programs offered by Effat University, as indicated in the chart below, there is high demand for all degrees offered by the Effat College of Engineering. The recruitment is mainly driven by AI/ VR, cloud technology, IT/ICT, especially programming and coding, Data Management, Energy, Automation in Manufacturing, and New Technologies.

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

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

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

• In Effat College of Engineering, the Departments have international and national partners. For example, the Computer Science department partnered with Syracuse University and Tokai University. The Electrical and Computer Engineering department partnered with Duke University. The Departments established many agreements throughout the years, including agreements with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Sandford University, King Abdulaziz University, etc.

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

% of the employers indicated the university name as most reputed (Unaided resoponses)

Program

BSc Electrical and Computer Engineering

BSc Computer Science

MSc Energy Engineering

Specializations

Computer Engineering

Communication and signal processing

Microelectronics

Power and control system

Artificial intelligence

Cyber security

Petroleum engineering

Renewable energy

Demand likely to be in the following sectors These programs, drive the innovation and start ups in the kingdom

• 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 Effat College of Engineering show excellent technical knowledge, communication, interpersonal, problemsolving, and practical exposure, among the most important characteristics employers are looking for.

• The CS program requires 180 hours of internship completion, while Electrical and Computer Engineering requires 360 hours of internships. 62% of employers consider this an essential skill in new employees.

Students

Point of View (POV)

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

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

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

• As shown in the figure below, the Computer Science program with its two tracks (Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity) is leading the ECoE program by reaching 11% of the interests of the total EU student body. The Electrical and Computer Engineering program reached 6% of the students.

• 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:

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

• According to current students, Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity tracks) is the graduation stream of preferred choice for higher or further education, as shown in the figure below. It represents 14% of the most preferred option among all others and 12% of other preferred:

• After considering the overall experience as a student at EU, 6 in 10 students are satisfied with the institution. This is depicted by the figure below:

Potential UG Students

• 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:

• When looking at programs offered by Effat College of Engineering, computer engineering was the top-rated field by the prospective students, with 25% of them. In comparison, Artificial Intelligence is the second choice with 21%. Other areas also reached the interest of the prospective students (Cyber Security, Communication and signal processing, Micro-electronics, Power and control systems) as shown below:

• The chart below from the market study shows that among the PG prospective students, 25% of the Jeddah respondents are interested in Petroleum Engineering, while 27% are from Dammam. While for Renewable Energy, 27% of the respondents are from Dammam, and 21% are from Riyadh (48%). This is a good indicator of offering the MSEE program in a flexible manner to attract more students to the program.

IV. Strategic Plan Strategic Area 1: Mission,

Vision, and Strategic Planning

Objective 1: Implement ECoE Strategic Plan

Implement ECoE Annual Operational Plan

Actions by Initiatives

Implement Annual Operational Plan

• Formulate and set the 5-year strategic plan.

• Develop and implement the annual operational plan.

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

DEPT. CHAIRS

• 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 ECoE Mission Objective and Success

• 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:

Actions by Initiatives

Evaluate the Achievement of ECoE 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.

V. Strategic Area 2: Governance, Leadership & Management

Objective 1: Revise Organizational Structure

Evaluate

Actions by Initiatives

Restructure ECoE Units

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

• Monitor the effectiveness of the organizational 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 ECoE structure by the end of the planning period in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Update Leadership Roles

• Evaluate leadership roles and responsibilities by revising and updating the specific descriptions of these roles of leaders at different levels (Department Chairs, Directors, and Managers).

• Set specific authorities, responsibilities, and tasks for each leadership role based on the ECoE 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 to achieve harmony among the different units.

• 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 by the end of 2026-2027 in preparation for the next 5-year strategic plan.

Review and Revise Reporting Lines

• Revise ECoE 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 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 adjust 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 ECoE Leadership Performance

• Assess how far ECoE 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 college governance system.

• Conduct an interim review by revising the tools for leadership assessment and make changes as needed.

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

Objective 2: Restructure ECoE Responsibilities

Evaluate the performance of individuals carrying the new strategic roles

Actions by Initiatives

Establish New ECoE

Strategic Roles & Develop Role Descriptions

• Update the institutional strategic roles at the level of ECoE and its departments 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 ECoE and its departments 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 the ECoE and its departments 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 an 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 Committee Structures

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Evaluate ECoE Committees

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

• Update and implement the standing committees based on the evaluation conducted in Fall 2022-2023.

• Monitor the initiatives and projects carried out by all committees and give a final report on their performance in Spring 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 ECoE Committees

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

• Update and implement ECoE committees based on the evaluation conducted in Fall 2022-2023.

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

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

• Conduct a comprehensive review of current ECoB/departments 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

Actions by Initiatives

Obtain

and Maintain Program National Accreditation

• Establish a schedule for all national institutional and program accreditations for the programs that have not received them and renew accreditations for the programs that have been accredited over the 5 years.

• Monitor, manage, and coordinate all national accreditations in preparation or in progress with the ECoE and concerned programs starting Fall 2022 and over all subsequent semesters.

• Implement an automated system that documents the required excellence level of accredited ECoE programs.

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

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

Obtain and Maintain Program

International Accreditation

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

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

• Set a schedule for monitoring and supporting colleges and programs in maintaining/renewing currently achieved international accreditations (ABET, and others) over the 5-year planning period.

• Set a plan for applying for other professional accreditations for all applicable programs across all colleges.

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

• Conduct a final review of the effectiveness of QA oversight of 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 institutional and subject ranking based on monitoring and analyzing benchmarking data of the top ranked universities nationally and internationally to develop a plan to acquire the targeted institutional and subject rankings over the remaining 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 institutional and 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 the governing bodies, bylaws, and policies and procedures with relevant authorities (e.g., MoE)

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

Ensure that ECoE members follow Effat Ethical Conduct

Actions by Initiatives

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs

Percentage of adherence of the governing bodies, bylaws and policies and procedures to relevant authorities (e.g., MoE)

Percentage of circulations and decisions disseminated.

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

Risk Management

Responsibility

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS/FACULTY

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS/FACULTY

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS/FACULTY

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

• Review, and revise, as necessary, the governance system, bylaws and policies and procedures for ensuring their compliance with regulatory 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 the governing bodies 4-Conduct an interim review of the effectiveness of the governing body, bylaw, policies and procedures for ensuring compliance with 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 ECoE 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 ECoE decisions and circulations and introduce improvements as needed.

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

Ensure that ECoE Members follow Effat Ethical Conduct

• Review, and revise, as necessary, protocols for monitoring ethical conduct across ECoE.

• 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

Stringent requirements to obtain the accreditations

Adherence to NCAAA standards while using best and innovative industry practices

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

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 all programs reviewed

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: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

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

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Reassess the Current Academic Portfolio

Degree of fulfillment of the educational partnership agreements

Number of international DDs and Minors introduced

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS.

• Continue overseeing working parties at ECoE levels to follow up on the Program Review schedule.

• Ensure all 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 universities 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. 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 chart below, the total percentage enrolment in higher education in engineering, Communication and IT related subjects is 31% which is covered the ECoE programs.

• Accordingly, we recommend the following framework to support future planning, including the current ECoE programs appraisal:

Computer

MSc. Energy Engineering Average Strong Strong Opportunity

New Planned Program A Strong Average Strong Weakness

New Planned Program B Average Strong Strong Opportunity

• Based on the market gaps and ECoE capabilities, the following decision-making academic program portfolio matrix with actionable outcomes to each scenario is recommended:

Attractiveness of the program market Program and institutional capabilities Program Weak Moderate Strong

Computer Science Highly attractive Invest in growing academic program Maintain program strengths

Electrical and Computer Engineering Highly attractive

• The table below shows the average competition for Computer Engineering and the Communications and Signal processing concentrations for the ECE program. While for the Computer Science tracks (Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity) there is weak competition. The Master of Energy Engineering has high competition with KFPUM (Dammam). However low competition in the Makkah region. Regarding the sector outlook, it is evident from the first part of this study that employers demand all undergraduate and postgraduate programs delivered by Effat College of Engineering.

MSc. Energy Engineering Moderately attractive Protect program Invest in select programs and select market segments

New Planned Program A Highly attractive

Withdraw from academic area Invest to address program weaknesses

Build selectively on program strengths Invest to build on strengths

Invest in growing academic program Maintain program strengths

Invest to grow academic program Maintain program strengths

• There is an opportunity for more enrolments at the post-graduate level as one program is offered. Therefore, we recommend further developing the Master of Science in Energy Engineering to review the program delivery and the different domains under this program. Additionally, other PG courses in demand should be found using the given framework and incorporated into the academic portfolio.

• The College must monitor any updates in the Higher Education bylaws which can help its programs become more attractive like creating exit points or including minors. The College should also invest in offering continuous education diplomas and training workshops for the community, especially in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, communications and networking, robotics, power systems and control.

• Program feasibility studies are to be conducted for at least one program per academic year.

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.

• Monitor international higher education institutions’ activities in the Kingdom.

• Develop response policies and activities considering changing environment.

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

• Review current partners

• Evaluate effectiveness

• Recommend renewing contract or identifying new partners

• Develop and offer joint programs with international partner

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

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Actions by Initiatives

Increase Integration of Project-based Learning

• Emphasize project and problem-based learning, helping students learn by constructing solutions to real-life problems through three main characteristics that are central to the twenty-first century pedagogy:

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

b.Focus on the central concepts or principles of topics.

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

Strengthen Research/Teaching Nexus in Educational Delivery

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

• Lead the students to publish their work in journal/conferences.

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 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 group to revise the co- and extracurricular activities.

Review and Revise e-learning Facilities and Resources

• Continue activities, finalize proposals and submit to Teaching and Learning Committee for approval.

• Invest in an adequate e-learning platform.

• Review the adequacy of the e-learning facilities and resources through satisfaction rate of the stakeholders (Faculty, students).

Develop and Operate e-learning Strategy

• Develop e-learning programs per college

• 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 2022-2027

Increase integration of project-based learning

Strengthen Research/Teaching nexus in educational delivery

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

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Proportion of courses involving project-based learning LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Proportion of courses embedding the research/teaching nexus leading to publication (With Research Publication)

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

• 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

Integrate service learning within all programs

Percentage of programs that integrate service learning

1- Number of programs aligned (NQF, KSA Job Classification)

2- Percentage of students acquiring Professional and training Certificates

3- Students’ performance in professional and/or national examinations *** (SR 1.1.1) (KPI-P-06)

Objective 5: Ensure Academic Excellence

LEAD: DEAN

DEPT CHAIRS

Align PLOs with market needs

4- Graduate employability and enrolment in post graduate programs ** (KPI-I-05)(KPI_P-07) (KPI-PG-07) - (Annually) National - International and within 6 months)”

5- Employer evaluation of the institution graduate proficiency ** (KPI-I-08)(KPI-P-09)(KPI-PG-08)

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Deploy professional experts in teaching

Provide on-campus and off- campus field experiences

Integrate state-of-the art technology within all programs

Actions by Initiatives

Integrate Service Learning within all Programs

Proportion of courses professional experts deployed for teaching

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

Percentage of programs that utilize state-of-the-art technology

• 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.

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

Align PLOs with Market Needs

• Establish and activate ECoE Committee on Academic Portfolio (CAP).

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

Attain the Effat Graduate Characteristics

Attain the English Level proficiency

Actions by Initiatives

Monitor Academic Excellence

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

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

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

% 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)

Average time for students’ graduation (in semesters) (KPIPG-05) (post graduate)

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)

% of students achieving the four Effat Graduate Characteristics annually

% of attainment of requested

English level by Effat University students

• Closely monitor every student’s scores obtained in their respective programs.

LEAD: DEAN

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

• Continue Overseeing working parties at college and 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

• Conduct workshops regularly within the ECoE by inviting professional experts such as language experts, soft skill experts, etc. to prepare the students for their career ahead.

Provide on-campus and off- campus Field Experiences

• Integrate employability skills into the course 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

• Learning activities must be designed on relevant and real-world incidents using appropriate technologies

LEAD: DEAN

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN

OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

• Actions must be taken after every trimester to ensure performance improvement every subsequent trimester.

• Post monitoring, we recommend the following framework to improve the academic performance of every student:

• Define student success as: timely degree completion, uninterrupted retentions, minimum cumulative GPA requirements, etc.

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

• Based on the success score, segment the students into predicted success groups: Above-average, average and below average.

• Devise strategic nudges to intervene and provide the necessary resources needed each segment.

Attain the Effat Graduate Characteristics

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

Attain the English Level proficiency:

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

Objective 6: Revise Learning Resources

Review and improve learning resources

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Improve Learning Resources

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

VII. Strategic Area 4: Students

Objective 1: Improve Student Involvement

Responsibility

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT CHAIRS

• Improvisation to the learning resources (textbooks, videos, relevant reading material, etc.) should be done every academic year by taking the collective feedback of both the students and the faculty.

• Constantly expand the learning resources used in 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

Reputation of the newly launched program in the region

Conduct a thorough research project to procure data for the analysis

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

Revise student clubs and activities

• # of clubs and students associations per year fulfilling IQRA value

• # of sport activities fulfilling IQRA value in which ECoE students participated

• # Community service hours completed per student (volunteering) fulfilling IQRA value

• % of students participating in activities fulfilling IQRA value out of the total of ECoE students’ body

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: STUDENTS COUNCIL

Enhance student role in governance

Actions by Initiatives

Revise Student Clubs and Activities

• % of identified ECoE governing bodies with student involvement

• 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 ECoE students in sporting events.

Reinforcing the academic portfolio

Shortage of faculty with expertise in the newly launched program

Legal and political risk

Additional time effort and increased workload for the faculty

Technical glitches

Lack of necessary hardware or skill exhibited by the students

Hire additional staff with prior experience in the newly launched program, along with newly graduated talent, as an assistant

Legal formalities to be navigated by a firm specializing in education and the mission and vision of the program to be launched should be aligned well with the college faculty

Set realistic timeline expectations for the faculty with appropriate boundaries

Setting contingency plans for the faculty

E-learning provision

The e-learning platform should be designed after carefully considering the students’ limitations to provide equal opportunities to all students

Enhanced Learning Experience and Skill Set Development

Financial challenges

Resistance towards e-learning by the internal faculty

Students’ resistance towards new pedagogies

Faculty with lack of knowledge or skills to execute newer pedagogies

Usage of grants and endowments to facilitate the e-learning environment

Align the college faculty with the benefits of e-learning and hire staff that is skilled in e-learning if the existing faculty chooses to opt out of it

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

Workshops by professionals to educate and align the color faculty to carry out the functions smoothly and appropriately

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN/ STUDENTS COUNCIL

• 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 ECoE culture by supporting students’ participation in university governance (councils, committees).

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

Objective 2: Improve Student Experience

Initiative 2022-2027 KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Automate ECoE students' related processes

Improve quality of student’s experience

Improve student services

Encourage students to become future entrepreneurs

• % of processes that are automated out of all target processes

• % of students satisfied with the quality of co-curricular and extracurricular programs and activities

• KPI-I-10 Students’ satisfaction with the offered services

• # of student activities geared towards entrepreneurship

• # of partnerships established

• # of start-ups

LEAD: DEAN SA

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/HOD/ DEAN QA

LEAD: DEAN SA & PROVOST

OTHERS: DEAN QA

LEAD: DEAN SA & PROVOST

Actions by Initiatives

Automate University Students’ Related Processes

• Identify processes that need to be automated in collaboration with DSA/DAR or imitated by ECoE

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

• Implement the automation plan.

• Measure the satisfaction of students.

• Improve the automated processes as needed.

Improve Quality of Student’s Experience

• Review and recommend updating co-curricular and extracurricular programs and activities serving ECoE (Student Success Programs)

• Revise the Academic incentives for co-curricular and extracurricular 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, etc.).

• 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, etc.).

• Planning, designing, and implementing Campus Life student counseling and wellbeing services.

Encourage Students to Become Future Entrepreneurs

• Cultivate entrepreneurship culture within the ECoE 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 ECoE 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

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.

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

Establish Virtual Mobility Experiences within Programs

• Form successful virtual academic and non-academic opportunities and programs for undergraduate and graduate students with EU 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.

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

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

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

Objective 4: Increase Student Population

KPIs Responsibility

• % of graduate and undergraduate students enrolled at educational institution abroad for at least six weeks in the academic year

• % of international incoming students to ECoE

• # of virtual mobility opportunities and programs established

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

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEANS/HODS

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/HOD/ DEAN QA

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEANS/HODS

LEAD: DEAN T&L

OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIRS

Achieve sustainability through recruitment and retention of diverse body of students

Actions by Initiatives

• % of ECoE students’ population out of the projected number in the strategic plan

Achieve Sustainability through Recruitment and Retention of Diverse Body of Students

LEAD: DEAN SA & PROVOST OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIRS

• 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 giving 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 university through donations or other non-revenue generating activities.

Objective 5: Improve Alumni Relations

Initiative

Graduates with entrepreneurial businesses

Improve alumni communications and data management

Develop focused portfolio of alumni activities

Establish alumni mentorship program

Improve alumni performance

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

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

% of completion of ECoB alumni database

Number of alumni activities developed

% of alumni participation in mentorship programs

% of alumni participation in offered training programs

Actions by Initiatives

Graduates with Entrepreneurial Businesses

• Cultivate entrepreneurship culture within the ECoE 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.

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/ DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/ DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/ DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DEAN SA

OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIRS

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

Financial restraints

Improve Students’ Involvement in Activities & Governance & Experience

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

Improve Student Population and Experience

Organizational constraints (lack of time and resource)

Lack of internal capabilities

Long term commitment

Financial consideration for the student

Hiring 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

Deploying systems such as CRM and capturing sufficient data should be considered a long-term goal

Form strong relationships with the partner universities, such that the host college provides a tuition waiver and free accommodation to visiting students and provide the same to the visiting students

Student Mobility

• 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 in ECoE.

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

• Update the alumni database with 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 ECoE 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.

Alumni Engagements

Cultural differences between the host and home institution

The international office should provide psychological counselling for those students who are in culture shock or in some kind of difficulty

Language-barrier Emphasis on English learning courses

Pleasantries exchanged are usually one-way Communication to be designed in an interactive way

Alumni relations solely based on financial contribution

Alumni contribution can be in other forms too such as helping in bringing in employers, mentoring students, etc. Efforts should be focused on these if financial contribution is not likely

Communication might be impersonal Customized and more personalized communication to build an emotional connect.

VIII. Strategic Area 5: Faculty & Staff

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

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Actions by Initiatives

Rebalance Faculty Workload

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

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

Actions by Initiatives

KPIs Responsibility

% of achievement of ECoE Saudization body

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

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

% of Part-timers vs. Full-timers

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

% of achieved recruiting needs

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

LEAD: PRESIDENT

OTHERS: PROVOST/ DEAN

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

Foster Equity Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

• Provide an effective orientation program.

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

• Maintain a healthy work environment.

• Enhance the climate of ECoE by engaging faculty & staff.

• 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

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

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

• Promote talent Saudis within the ECoE by offering incentives to pursue their path

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

• Identify the needed teaching staff profile.

• Implement the recruitment process.

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

Objective 2: Improve Faculty Experience

Initiative

Rebalance faculty workload

Foster equity diversity and inclusion strategy

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

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

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

International teaching staff Ratio

LEAD: PROVOST OTHERS: DGSR/DEAN

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: PROVOST

OTHERS: DEAN/DEAN QA

Provide professional development support for research

Actions by Initiatives

LEAD: PROVOST OTHERS: DGSR/DEAN

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

Faculty satisfaction with professional development opportunities provided to support research

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 their respective programs.

• Recognize outstanding teaching.

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.

LEAD: PROVOST

OTHERS: DGSR/DEANS

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

Initiative 2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

Ratio of students to support staff in all occupational category

• 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.

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.

Proportion of support staff in all occupational category leaving the institution

Proportion of staff receiving professional development opportunities per year

Staff satisfaction with professional development opportunities provided

LEAD: PRESIDENT

OTHERS: HRPC/DEAN

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:

• Apply retention strategies, aimed at retaining qualified employees.

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

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 ECoE:

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:

• 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.

• 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 monthly to continually leverage stakeholders’ position with the university.

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

Actions by Initiatives

Implement Financial Plan Reflecting ECoE Strategy

• 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.

Vision Saudization Finding and recruiting local talent

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 ECoE

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

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

Initiative

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

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

KPI-I-15 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.

LEAD: DEAN QA

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS /MIETS

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

Initiative 2022-2027

KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

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

Actions by Initiatives

Implement Financial plan reflecting ECoE strategy

Diversify income streams

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

Percentage of self- income of the institution to total income (KPI-I-14)

% of achievement for each source of income to budget

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: VPPD

OTHERS: MF

d. Maintenance and support services.

% 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

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

• Develop and implement digital transformation to accelerate administrative operations performance.

• Maintain data and system security to ensure high performance.

• Improve the website presence by implementing search engine optimization best practices.

LEAD: DEAN QA – SES & PES

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS

• 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 ECoE needs (including vacant land parcels) and to maintain compliance with Ministry of Education Bylaws.

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

• Establish a smart campus deployment plan to maintain best practices in a sustainable and healthy campus infrastructure.

• Upgrade current campus facilities with the emerging needs of students.

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

Untenable financial demands for new technology commitments

Prioritization and smart allocation of funds based on more lucrative opportunities

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

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

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

• Identify ECoE research clusters and link them to the activated research partnerships nationally, and internationally.

Improve ECoE Infrastructure

Strong faculty and staff resistance to new solutions related to buildings and grounds on philosophical or other grounds

Long-term benefits to the ECoE 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

Number of national, and international research partners per year

Percentage of national and international partnered research/total research output

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 KPI-I-16 / KPI-PG-15 Percentage of publications of faculty members

Extend integration of graduate students and programs in published research

Proportion of graduate students with a) at least one refereed publication during their study) presented paper in a conference to the total number of students in the PG program during the year. (KPI-PG-18)

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS

Identify and establish focused research relationships with national and international partners

Proportion of external funding for research to the total ECoE research budget (KPI-I-21) The degree of international diversity in terms of partnered international research network is as: Formula = (Number of partners -1)/ln (number of collaborated research output)

Percentage of collaborative research to the total research output (Including internal collaborations amongst ECoE and its departments)

Increase researcher productivity

LEAD: DEAN OTHERS: DEPT. CHAIRS

Improve research impact

KPI-I-15 / KPI-PG-16 –

Rate of published research per faculty member

Citations rate in refereed journals per faculty member (KPI-P-16 KPI-PG-17) Number of patents, innovations, and awards of excellence (KPI-PG-19

Number of Scopus publications per year

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEAN/DEPT. CHAIRS

Monitor and respond to national policy on international HE regarding research

Actions by Initiatives

Percentage of operational steps completed

Identify and Establish Focused Research Relationships with National and International Partners

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEPT. CHAIRS

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

• Promote research collaboration by enhancing ECoE 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 not less than 125 K SAR) through external sources by targeting national and international funding organizations.

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 between ECoE 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 faculty recruitment on candidates with a proven track record in research.

• Aid new researchers and early 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 university support for open access publications to increase the opportunity of citations.

• Indexing Effat 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 ECoE researchers through effective PR communication, both internally and externally.

• Establish a regular newsletter to highlight and celebrate the achievements of ECoE researchers.

• Create awareness of research activities on ECoE website and blogs as a gesture of promoting research culture both within and outside the university.

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

• Encourage ECoE 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.

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

• Support ECoE faculty, students & researchers to obtain external research awards across various fields and categories.

Objective 3: Promote the Research Environment

Establish

Actions by Initiatives

Establish Endowed/Named Research Chairs

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

• Scan, identify and collaborate with governmental and/or ECoE 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 Competitive space to get grants and funding from external sources

Research Output & Alignment to National Objectives

Financial constraint, lack of resource and skill

Increase credibility of ECoE research Enhanced communication and marketing to get ECoE 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

Utilize existing research labs/units / centers

KPIs

Number of chairs established

Degree of utilization of existing facilities & resources

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

XI. Strategic Area 8: Community Engagement

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIR

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: DEANS/DEPT. CHAIR

Objective 1: Institutionalize Community Engagement Governance

Establish coordinated approach to community engagement (Partnership and Agreement)

LEAD: DGSR

LEAD: DGSR

OTHERS: RCI/ MCPR/ DGSR/DEPT. CHAIRS

Actions by Initiatives

Identify and Establish Focused Research Relationships with National and International Partners

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

• 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 ECoE for their expertise and problem-solving abilities.

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

• Increasing the awareness hereabout the important of community engagement.

Increase Memberships with Well-known Organizations

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

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

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.

Objective 2: Engage with the Community (Activities, Events, and Exhibitions)

Improve quantity of community engagement activities: volunteering activities, Conferences, events, workshops, sports, webinars industropedia, etc.

Actions by Initiatives

Improve Quality of Community Engagement Activities

KPI-I-22 Satisfaction of beneficiaries with the community services

Number of volunteering hours/Effat employees and students per year

Number of Conferences, events, workshops, and webinars per year

Objective 3: Provide Training with Community Partners

Establish a PACE-HIT training center and programs Percentage of executed program

Offered professional and certified training Percentage of registered students from the projections

Actions by Initiatives

Establish a PACE-HIT Training Center and Programs

• Finalize all the required process to authorize PACE-HIT.

DEAN ER OTHERS: HEAD PR / DGSR / DEANS / DEPT. CHAIRS

• Align the ECoE’s training programs to the economic development, job creation to support Saudi Vision 2030.

• Develop, and license the identified training programs by the TVTC.

Offered Professional and Certified Training.

• Design, and approve an offering plan for the training programs,

• Implement a recruitment plan for the training programs to achieve the projected number of trainees, and

• Evaluate the results of the plan to modify and enhance the offering plan.

Objective 4: Enhance ECoE Visibility

Number of new external stakeholders per year

Market ECoE with all key external stakeholders

DEPT. CHAIRS

• Review, update and enhance the quality of the community engagement activities.

• Increase the engagement level of students, faculty, staff and alumni in quality community engagement activities to nurture the culture within the university.

Improve Quantity of Community Engagement Activities: Volunteering Activities, Conferences, Events, Workshops, Sports, Webinars Industropedia, etc.

• Review the needs of the community to offer community engagement activities.

• Plan, and implement the annual community engagement activities (volunteering activities,

• Conferences, events, workshops, sports, and webinars).

• Evaluate the impact of the offered community engagement activities and plan for future improvement.

Develop revised social media presence

Promote the participation in external Awards opportunities for Effat University Faculty and Students

Number of new followers for each platform (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) per year Number of reaches per post

Number of external awards obtained

Actions by Initiatives

ECoE contribution to MCPR/Media Center:

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

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

• Assess the impact of the implementation of the plan on the ECOB visibility.

Market ECoE with all Key External Stakeholders:

• Maintain and update ECoE content and insights as per international standards to attract the best talent and connect with all external stakeholders.

• Expand ECoE 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 ECoE.

• 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

Analysis of the communication process

Develop integrated marketing communication program

Integrate and implement marketing communications strategy

Integrate and implement marketing communications strategy

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:

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

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 university

Enhance ECoE Visibility

Marketing team hiring constraints

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