V. Strategic Area 2: Governance, Leadership & Management

Objective 1: Revise HRM Organizational Structure

Actions by Initiatives

Restructure HRM Units

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

• Monitor the effectiveness of the department 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 HRM Department 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 Chair, Director, and Manager).

• Set specific authorities, responsibilities, and tasks for each leadership role based on the University and College 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 HRM 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 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 Leadership Performance

• Assess how far HRM 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 HRM Department 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 HRM Responsibilities

Actions by Initiatives

Establish New HRM Strategic Roles & Develop Role Descriptions

• Update the Departmental strategic roles at the level of HRM 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 HRM 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 HRM 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 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 HRM Committee Structures

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Evaluate HRM department 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.

• 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 HRM department Committees

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

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

• Conduct a comprehensive review of current HRM Dep. 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 Institutional and Program National Accreditation

• Establish a schedule for all national 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 concerned programs starting Fall 2022 and over all subsequent semesters.

• Implement an automated system that documents the required excellence level of accredited 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 Institutional and 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 Departments and programs in maintaining/renewing currently achieved international accreditations (AACSB) over the 5-year planning period.

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

• 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 Institutional and 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 institutional and subject ranking achieved annually and set plans for improvement.

• Conduct an interim review of the protocols for institutional and 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 HRM 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 dissemination of circulations and decisions &

Percentage of stakeholders' awareness of disseminated circulations and decisions

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 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 institutional 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 institutional decisions and circulations and introduce improvements as needed.

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

Ensure that HRM Members follow Effat Ethical Conduct

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

• 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

Initiative 2022-2027 KPIs Responsibility 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Review and reassess the current academic portfolio

Develop new academic programs

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

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

Actions by Initiatives

Review and Reassess the Current Academic Portfolio

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

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

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Percentage of operational steps completed LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

Number of existing partnerships per program

Degree of fulfillment of the educational partnership agreements

Number of international DDs and Minors introduced

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

• Continue overseeing working parties at HRM 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. We recommend the following framework to support future planning:

Extrapolating from the leading global universities, an illustration of the framework with dummy values is provided below:

Actions by Initiatives

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

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

• 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

• Program feasibility studies to be conducted for 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

Increase integration of project-based learning

Strengthen Research/Teaching nexus in educational delivery

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

Actions by Initiatives

Increase Integration of Project-based Learning

Proportion of courses involving project-based learning

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

Percentage of operational steps completed

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

• 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 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.

• 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

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)

Align PLOs with market needs

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

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

DEPT. CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Deploy Professional Experts in Teaching

• Conduct workshops regularly within the HRM department 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

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)

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

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 ECoB Committee on Academic Portfolio (CAP).

DEPT. CHAIR

FACULTY

DEPT. CHAIR

FACULTY

DEPT. CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

Monitor academic excellence

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)

• 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.

Attain the Effat Graduate Characteristics

Attain the English Level proficiency

% of students achieving the four Effat Graduate Characteristics annually

% of attainment of requested English level by HRM students

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR

OTHERS: FACULTY

Actions by Initiatives

Monitor Academic Excellence

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

• 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

Initiative

Review and improve learning resources

Actions by Initiatives

2022-2027

2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

KPIs Responsibility

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

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

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

Review and Improve Learning Resources

LEAD: DEPT. CHAIR OTHERS: FACULTY

• 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.

E-learning provision

Financial challenges

Resistance towards e-learning by the internal faculty

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

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

Enhanced Learning Experience and Skill Set Development

Students’ resistance towards new pedagogies

Faculty with lack of knowledge or skills to execute newer pedagogies

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