Al-Qassim University is the first university in the Arab countries, and it is considered one of the best universities in Saudi Arabia, as it provides many educational services to students through specialized programs. It is a governmental university in the Qassim region of the Kingdom, which was established in 2004 jointly by King Saud University and Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. The university includes about 36 colleges in various majors, including medicine, engineering, information technology, agriculture, management and economics, art, and design. The number of faculty members exceeds 4000, in addition to more than 67,000 students. The university also offers scholarships to many international students.
Qassim University has recently released its new strategic plan 2020-2025 which obviously contributes toward the achievement of the Kingdom vision 2030's objectives through applying the foundations of sustainability in research and development system, as well as in educational and professional programs at the university and adopting initiatives, projects and action plan to provide the university with applied research and high-quality educational programs in the fields of developmental, food, and sustainable natural and financial resources. Qassim University also believes in the importance of technology in the educational and research fields, hence one of its strategic objectives is improving technical, information performance and promoting digital transformation, which includes a number of strategic initiatives and projects such as artificial intelligence, data governance, and others.
Qassim University pursues in its education strategy the application of standards and foundations of quality assurance and accreditation, which resulted in fully accreditation of the university until 2027 by the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment in the Kingdom. Moreover, many academic programs of the university have been accredited and recognized either nationally (23 academic programs) or internationally (15 academic programs) (Deanship of Development and Quality). Also, the university develops and improves its outputs through the use of a number of modern teaching methods, and strategies, inclusion of cooperative training programs and the introduction and development of programs to meet the requirements of the labor market. In addition, there was a noticeable development in the adoption of electronic learning in Qassim University. The number of electronic courses were developed from 3 courses on 2015/2016 to 459 courses in 2020/2021. On the other hand, the university is developing the performance of faculty members and those of similar standing and employees through special training programs provided by the Leadership and Capacity Development Center.
Along with providing a high quality education, Qassim University also gives a high priority to scientific research. Therefore, the Scientific Research Deanship has recently released its Scientific Research Strategy for the upcoming 5 years 2020-2025. The scientific research strategy of Qassim University was based on the university’s capabilities in line with national priorities and regional challenges and opportunities. The activities and outputs of the strategy include pioneering research activities that foster innovation and entrepreneurship, support the process of continuous development and improvement in academic programs, support research skills, develop and improve activities of community service.
Obviously, the research strategy also contributes to the university’s role in achieving objectives of the Kingdome Vision 2030, as scientific research and development is a vital element that helps the nation to accomplish its ambitious long-term goals. The research strategy can be summarized in 10 priorities including:
Sustainable and value chain research in agricultural and veterinary sciences.
Prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
Sustainable Developments in the Energy, Water, and Environmental Engineering Sectors.
Management of common Infectious Diseases.
Increase the internal capability of researchers and research staff to perform excellent research.
Roadmap for Sustainable Development of Qassim Region.
Proposed approaches for Cybersecurity towards KSA Digital transformation.
Innovative Biotechnology and nanotechnology for a healthy life.
Development of Smart Cities.
Application-based Intelligent Analytics for Problem Solving.
Additionally, the university established five research centers under the umbrella of the Scientific Research Deanship, where financial and technical supports are provided for researchers through grants, research projects, and special training programs. The University also shows interest in encouraging and motivating researchers through different support programs such as research awards, rewards and certificates of appreciation to faculty, teaching staff and students to enhance the scientific research output and recognize the distinguished researchers.
Furthermore, a number of specialized centers are established at the university to serve students, faculty staff, leaders, and the society including:
The Leadership and Capacity Development Center Providing special training for the university staff and leaders, and preparing new recruited staff with all the needed skills for academics needs.
The Sustainable Development Center: Applying and enabling all the sustainability measures and performance indicators along with increase of the awareness of sustainability among students, faculty and staff members, and leaders of the university.
The Information and Decision Support Center: Assist decision makers with the appropriate data analytics and statistics regarding students, staff members, and the university proprieties and capacity.
The Center for International Cooperation and Knowledge Exchange.
The university also has a distinguished community partnerships with various programs that performed through the colleges and the Deanship of Community Service.
