Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities

198 Pages·2013·1.33 MB·English

by  Larry Smith

Higher Education Dynamics 40
Larry Smith
Abdulrahman Abouammoh E ditors
Higher
Education in
Saudi Arabia
Achievements, Challenges and
Opportunities
Higher Education in Saudi Arabia
HIGHEREDUCATION DYNAMICS
VOLUME40
SeriesEditor
PeterMaassen,UniversityofOslo,Norway,andUniversityofTwente,Enschede,
TheNetherlands
JohanMu¨ller,GraduateSchoolofHumanities,UniversityofCapeTown,
Rondebosch,SouthAfrica
EditorialBoard
AlbertoAmaral,CIPESandUniversidadedoPorto,Portugal
AkiraArimoto,HiroshimaUniversity,Japan
NicoCloete,CHET,Pretoria,SouthAfrica
DavidDill,UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill,USA
Ju¨rgenEnders,UniversityofTwente,Enschede,TheNetherlands
PatriciaGumport,StanfordUniversity,USA
MaryHenkel,BrunelUniversity,Uxbridge,UnitedKingdom
GlenJones,UniversityofToronto,Canada
SCOPEOFTHESERIES
HigherEducationDynamicsisabookseriesintendingtostudyadaptationprocesses
and their outcomes in higher education at all relevant levels. In addition it wants
to examine the way interactions between these levels affect adaptation processes.
It aims at applying generalsocial science concepts and theories as well as testing
theories in the fi eld of higher education research. It wants to do so in a manner
thatisofrelevancetoallthoseprofessionallyinvolvedinhighereducation,beitas
ministers,policy-makers,politicians,institutionalleadersoradministrators,higher
educationresearchers,membersofthe academicstaff ofuniversitiesandcolleges,
orstudents.Itwillincludebothmatureanddevelopingsystemsofhighereducation,
coveringpublicaswellasprivateinstitutions.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/6037
Larry Smith (cid:129) Abdulrahman Abouammoh
Editors
Higher Education
in Saudi Arabia
Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities
123
Editors
LarrySmith AbdulrahmanAbouammoh
UniversityofNewEngland CentreforHigherEducation
Armidale,NewSouthWales ResearchandStudies(CHERS)
Australia Riyadh
SaudiArabia
ISSN1571-0378
ISBN978-94-007-6320-3 ISBN978-94-007-6321-0(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-6321-0
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergNewYorkLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013934030
©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2013
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Foreword
It is my great pleasure to write the foreword for this book on behalf of the
Higher Education community in Saudi Arabia. Higher Education in Saudi Arabia
is undergoing unprecedented change and development, and I am very optimistic
aboutthecapacityofouruniversitiestoachieveandmaintaininternationalquality
standardsandtocontributesignificantlytothefutureofourcountry.
Thisbookdetailsmanyofthemajorinitiativesandexcitingdevelopmentstaking
place in Higher Educationin the Kingdomof SaudiArabia. Inevitably,of course,
rapidandinmanywaysfundamentalchangewillalsobeaccompaniedbyarangeof
issuestobeaddressed,challengestobeovercomeandfailuresfromwhichtolearn.
SuchisthecasewithSaudiArabia,andthisbookanalysesnotonlytheachievements
butalsotheproblemsandconcernsinarigorousyetconstructivemanner.
Saudi Arabia has adopted a long-term strategic plan for its Higher Education
systemwhichwecall‘Afaaq’.AmajorgoalofthisplanistoensurethattheHigher
Educationsectornotonlysupportsbutalsoisamajordriverofthetransformationof
theSaudieconomyfromoneprimarilydependentonoilrevenuestoonethatreflects
amuchbroaderresourceandmanufacturingbase.
ItisforthisreasonthattheHigherEducationbudgetinSaudiArabiahastripled
inthelast5yearsandcurrentlycomprises$US160billionor12%ofthenational
budget. Similarly, funding provided for research, most of which directly includes
universities or university staff, now comprises 1.1 % of the national domestic
product(NDP).Individualuniversitieshavealsobecomemuchmoreentrepreneurial
in chasing funds from nongovernment sources, and these ‘endowments’ now
constitutemorethan$US1.4billionincomeforthesector.
Saudi Arabia is a Kingdom of more than two million square kilometres and a
currentpopulationofabout27million,60%ofwhichareyouthlessthan25years
of age. To meet the increased participation goals contained in Afaaq, many new
universitieshavebeenestablishedoverthelastdecadesuchthatmorethan70cities
and townsin SaudiArabia now have a universityor universitycampus.There are
now 1.2 million students in HigherEducationin the Kingdom,accommodatedby
24governmentand8privateuniversities.
v
vi Foreword
A major achievement for Saudi Arabia has been the very significant advances
made in the provision of university education for women. In 1970, there were
just seven females in university courses in the Kingdom. By 2011, that number
hadreached700,000,whichrepresentsmorethan60%ofallenrolmentsinSaudi
universities.Further,25%ofenrolmentsinmaster’sanddoctoraldegreesatSaudi
universitiesarenowwomen,sothatwecanbeveryoptimisticaboutthecapacityof
womentodirectlyandpositivelycontributetothefuturedevelopmentandprosperity
oftheKingdom.
Quality is now central to the operation of Saudi universities, and many have
achieved or are working towards the accreditation of their academic programmes
withinternationalprofessionalbodiessuchasAACSPandABET.Further,theSaudi
government has established the National Commission for Academic Assessment
and Accreditation (NCAAA) to ensure that all universities reach national quality
benchmarksinallaspectsoftheiroperation,andtheNationalCentreforAssessment
in Higher Education (NCAHE) which – among other things – oversees the entry
testsandselectionprocessesforsecondarystudentsmovingtouniversitystudy.Iam
verygratefulforthesignificantcontributionmadebymanyoftheinternationaland
Saudi authors of this book to the establishment and developmentof these quality
assurancemechanismsforouruniversitysector.
The chapters in this book provide a rigorous analysis of all aspects of the
HigherEducationsysteminSaudiArabia.Theyprovidevaluableinsightsintowhat
initiatives are working well and why, and what areas still need careful attention.
Iamparticularlygratefulfortherangeofinnovativesuggestionsmadethroughout
the book as to how the universitysector in Saudi Arabia can furtherimprove and
achieveastronginternationalreputation.Inthisrespect,Idoneedtostressthatthis
book represents the independent perspectives of the individual authors and in no
waynecessarilyreflectstheviewsoftheMinistry.Ihavethegreatestrespectforall
theauthorsinthebook–theyarerenownedexpertsandscholarsintheirparticular
fields–andthusgivehighvaluetotheopinionstheyexpress,whethertheyconcur
withmyownviewsornot.
Thisbookisunique.ItistheonlyEnglishlanguagebookthatcomprehensively
andindependentlydetailsandanalysestheHigherEducationsystemintheKingdom
ofSaudiArabia.I commendallofthe authorsfortheir veryvaluablecontribution
and strongly recommend it to all readers who have an interest in the future
developmentoftheKingdomofSaudiArabia.
MinisterofHigherEducation KhalidbinMohammedAlAnkari
KingdomofSaudiArabia
Contents
1 HigherEducationinSaudiArabia:Reforms,Challenges
andPriorities................................................................ 1
LarrySmithandAbdulrahmanAbouammoh
2 DreamsandRealities:TheWorld-ClassIdeaandSaudi
ArabianHigherEducation ................................................ 13
AbdulhalemMaziandPhilipG.Altbach
3 GovernanceinSaudiHigherEducation ................................. 27
EinasS.Al-EisaandLarrySmith
4 The Learning Experiences of SaudiArabianHigher
EducationLeadership:CharacteristicsforGlobalSuccess............ 37
OmarAl-SwailemandGeoffreyElliott
5 Delivering High-Quality Teaching and Learning
forUniversityStudentsinSaudiArabia................................. 49
SalehA.AlnassarandKwongLeeDow
6 AssessmentofStudentLearning.......................................... 61
EqbalDarandariandAnneMurphy
7 The Role of InformationTechnology in Supporting
QualityTeachingandLearning........................................... 73
StephenColbranandNadiaAl-Ghreimil
8 SelectingandDevelopingHigh-QualityAcademicStaff............... 83
SalehAl-GhamdiandMalcolmTight
9 Knowledge-BasedInnovationandResearchProductivity
inSaudiArabia............................................................. 95
MohammadAl-OhaliandJungCheolShin
10 AccreditationandQualityAssurance.................................... 103
EqbalDarandariandPhilCardew
vii
viii Contents
11 HigherEducationforWomenintheKingdomofSaudiArabia ...... 117
FatimaB.JamjoomandPhilippaKelly
12 Private Higher Education in the Kingdomof Saudi
Arabia:Reality,ChallengesandAspirations............................ 127
WaleedAl-Dali,MohammedFnais,andIanNewbould
13 DevelopmentofMedicalEducationinSaudiArabia................... 137
MohammadYahyaAl-Shehri, SteveCampbell,
MohdZahediDaud,EssamHussainMattar,M.GarySayed,
andSaeedAliAbu-Eshy
14 Student Scholarships in Saudi Arabia: Implications
andOpportunitiesforOverseasEngagement........................... 151
FawzyBukhariandBrianDenman
15 InternationalCollaboration............................................... 159
MohammadAl-OhaliandSteveBurdon
16 Challengesand OpportunitiesforHigher Education
inSaudiArabia:AnExploratoryFocusGroup......................... 167
LarrySmithandAbdulrahmanAbouammoh
17 HigherEducationinSaudiArabia:Conclusions ....................... 181
LarrySmithandAbdulrahmanAbouammoh
Index............................................................................... 191
Contributors
Professor Abdulrahman Abouammoh is a Senior Consultant to the Centre for
HigherEducationResearchandStudies(CHERS)intheSaudiMinistryofHigher
EducationandaProfessorofStatisticsatKingSaudUniversityinRiyadh.
ProfessorSaeedAliAbu-EshyholdsaChairinSurgeryatNajranUniversitynear
theborderwithYemeninsouth-westSaudiArabia.
ProfessorWaleedAl-DaliholdsthepositionofSupervisor,DirectorateofPrivate
HigherEducation,MinistryofHigherEducation,Riyadh.
Dr.EinasS.Al-EisaisanAssistantViceChancellorforAcademicandEducational
Affairs, and she is also an Assistant Professor in the College of Applied Medical
SciencesatKingSaudUniversity,Riyadh.
ProfessorSalehAl-GhamdiholdsaChairinSocialSciencesatImamMuhammad
ibnSaudIslamicUniversityinRiyadhandisaConsultanttotheNationalCommis-
sionforAcademicAssessmentandAccreditation(NCAAA).
Dr.NadiaAl-GhreimilisViceDeanforFemaleStudentsAffairsintheCollegeof
ComputerandInformationSciencesatKingSaudUniversityinRiyadh.Sheisalso
AssistantDirectoroftheExternalJointSupervisionProgram(EJSP)atKSU.
ProfessorSaleh A. Alnassar holdsa Chair in Curriculumand Arabic Instruction
intheCollegeofEducationatKingSaudUniversity.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Ohali is Deputy Minister for Educational Affairs in the
MinistryofHigherEducation,Riyadh.
ProfessorMohammadYahyaAl-ShehriisVicePresidentforHealthCollegesand
ProfessorofSurgeryatKingSaudUniversityinRiyadh.
Dr. Omar Al-Swailem is Dean of Admissions and Registration at King Fahd
UniversityofPetroleum&MineralsinDhahran.
Professor Philip G. Altbach is Director of the Center for International Higher
Education and the J. Donald Monan SJ Professor of Higher Education, at Boston
CollegeintheUSA.
ix