Under the patronage of MU Rector, Dr. Khalid Al-Muqren, the World Ranking Committee at MU held the first workshop in the presence of vice-rectors, deans and managers of administrations.
The workshop was launched by a welcoming speech delivered by the head of the committee, Dr. Mohammed Al-Rukban who extended his thanks to MU Rector and the university administration for attending this workshop. Dr. Al-Rukban said the aim of this workshop is to reflect the real situation of the university, pointing out that based on the indicators in hand, the university is expected to make a big leap in 2020.
Addressing the audience, MU Rector commended the efforts exerted by the working team of the committee over the last period which resulted in the university competing other world universities.
According to MU Rector, the world university rankings is important but should not be seen as a goal in itself since the ultimate vision of the university is to demonstrate the real status of the university as it is. Concluding his remarks, Dr. Al-Muqren encouraged everyone to cooperate with the committee in achieving its objectives.
To give a background about the world rankings, Dr. Abdullah Bajahzar provided a detailed explanation about the importance, impact and standards of world rankings as well as the best practices to meet such standards.
On the role played by scientific research with respect to world rankings, the Dean of Scientific Research, Dr. Thamer Al-Harbi, reviewed the research grant programs offered by the Vice-Rector’s Office for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research. He added that since there is a close relationship between scientific research and world rankings, the university strives to provide faculty members with all kinds of support, including proofreading.
The Dean of IT Deanship, Dr. Mohammed Al-Wenein highlighted that rich files play a significant role in improving the university world ranking, pointing out that the Deanship of IT has attempted to design and enhance the content of the university website to be more accessible.
Based on a working paper presented by the Dean of Quality and Skills Development, Dr. Mohammed Al-Aboudi, said the university has achieved the sixth position in media presence among Saudi universities, an achievement considered as outstanding however further efforts should be exerted to win advanced rankings.
Dr. Al-Aboudi also said more attention should be paid to analysis for better improvement, stating that blackboard was the most searched keyword which indicates that e-learning needs to be consolidated in the university education.
Dr. Al-Aboudi finally pointed out that more focus should be placed on scientific research, particularly publishing in journals indexed in ISI.
The workshop was wrapped up by the audience feedback on the role of colleges and deanship in improving the university in world rankings.