THE ADVISORY COUNCIL AT THE COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES HOLDS ITS REGULAR MEETING

The Advisory Council at the College of Applied Sciences held its regular meeting, which has been recently formed by a decree from the University Rector, Dr. Khalid Al-Muqrin. Dr. Nasser Ali Al-Jarallah headed the meeting with a number of members including Mr. Abdullah Hamad Zaraa, Dr. Fahad Khalid Al-Thiferi, Dr. Salih Abdullah Bawazeer, Dr. Sami Saleh Al-Abdul Wahab, Dr. Reda Muhammad Saleh, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al-Omar, Dr. Saleh Muhammad Al-Oribi and Dr. Malik Al-Hussienawi. Dr. Muhammad Othman Al-Rukban. Vice-deans and department heads attended the meeting.

Dr. Jarallah opened the meeting with a welcoming speech to the audience and members, and then a documentary showing the college achievements was presented. The aspects that have been discussed at the meeting are:

• Presentation of achievements of the German and national accreditation process.
• Discussion of opening new departments at the college.
• Discussion of the strategic plan of the college.
• Clinical training (Hopes and Challenges)

Then, the council reviewed and praised the efforts made in the national and international accreditation.

Additionally, the council issued several recommendations:

• Showing appreciation to the University Rector for his considerable and unrelenting support to the college, which resulted in the college finalizing its steps towards the accreditation of its medical equipment technology program from the American accrediting agency (ABET) and starting preparation for the accreditation of the remaining programs from the German accrediting agency (AHPGS).
• Preparation for national accreditation.  
• Praising the college efforts in Quality and Accreditation of its programs, either internationally or nationally.
• The available Master’s programs should be linked to international corporations for more support of their activation and distinction.
• The need to contact the Health authorities and Ministry of Civil Service concerning the new programs planned to open in the future.
• The programs of health education need more study and justifications supported by statistics of the labor market demands, taking into account the problem of classification and offering suitable alternatives to the classification of the health authorities, in addition to setting criteria based on the labor market needs.
•  The necessity to study the needs of the labor market concerning the holders of Master’s and Ph.D. programs.
• Hailing the strategic plan of the college, particularly the 100% execution rate of most of its plans.
• The continuation of some basic initiatives in the next strategic plan of the college.
• Holding a special workshop for the college’s actions towards its future strategic plan.

At the end of the meeting, the council members congratulated the University Rector for the College obtaining the American accreditation, ABET. Further, they congratulated Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Aziz Al-Omar, the council member, for his new positon as Deputy-Minister of Health for Laboratories and Blood Banks, wishing him more success in his future.

The council chairman Dr. Nasser Jarallah thanked the council members for their active participation in the council activities. Moreover, he expressed his appreciation to the University Rector for his ongoing support to the college development efforts seeking to attain the University goals and achieve its mission.