The Scientific Council's Final Report  
   

  

In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate the Merciful

  

 

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

King Saud University

The Scientific Council

 

 

Final Report on the Activities of the Scientific Council during Five Years from the Academic Year 2002 - 2003 to the Academic Year 2007- 2008

 

 

 

2007-2008

 
 

    

Final Report on the Activities of the Scientific Council during Five Years from the Academic Year 2002/2003 to the Academic Year

2007-2008 

 

This report deals with the activities of the Scientific Council at King Saud University over a period of five years from the Academic Year 2002/2003 to the Academic Year 2007/2008. During that period, the Council held an average 20 meetings for each academic year. The Council took the decisions on the basis of the issues referred to it after they were examined by the its standing committees, which include:

 

1-    Standing Committee for Appointment

2-    Standing Committee for Promotion

3-    Standing Committee for Scientific Research

4-    Standing Committee for Scientific Publication

 

The average of the meetings held by each committee was not less that 30 during the past academic year 2007/2008.

 

The activities of the Scientific Council vary depending on the functions and tasks assigned to it and in accordance with the standard regulations of the Saudi universities, which include:

 

1-    The Code of Higher Education and Universities Council

2-    The Regulations governing the Affairs of the Saudi University    Faculty Members

3-    The Standard Regulation for Scientific Research at the Saudi Universities

4-    The Regulations governing the Scientific Societies at the Saudi Universities

 

This reports comes after the last report that was issued about the Council's activities two years ago, at the end of the academic year 2005/2006. The report summarizes in a statistical and comparative manner all the decisions and recommendations of the Council during the past five years. These decisions and recommendations can be classified according to the following topics:

 

 
 

    

1-                            Appointment

2-                            Promotion

3-                            Scientific Publication

4-                            Using the Services of Part-time Professors

5-                            Nomination for Scientific Prizes

6-                            Training and Scientific Communication

7-                            Resignation and Early Retirement

8-                            Sabbatical Leaves

9-                            Scientific Societies

10-                       Other Miscellaneous Academic Issues

 

First: Appointments

It is clear from table (1) that the Scientific Council recommended the appointment of (70) faculty members during the academic year 2006/2007 after a continuous decrease in the number appointed over the last four years.  The total number of faculty members who were appointed during the past five years was (328).

          As far as the transfer of services is concerned, the Scientific Council recommended the transfer of services and appointment of (20) faculty members after a similar decrease over the past four years. Thus the total number of faculty members whose services were transferred to King Saud University was (93).

 

The College of Medicine got the largest number of appointments during the past two years followed by the College of Education and the College of Dentistry.

 

Second: Promotions

The Scientific Council issued its decisions regarding the promotion of faculty members after having reviewed the reports of the referees who examined the scientific production of such faculty members besides the performance reports referred to the Council by their respective colleges. Table (2) shows that the Scientific Council promoted a total of (59) faculty members to the rank of associate professor each year for the past two years; and the number of faculty members who were promoted during the past five years was approximately (299). As far as promotion to the rank of professor is concerned, the number of promotions was (35) and (30) during

 

 
 

 

the past two years; and the total number of promotions during the past five years was (201).

 

It is worth mentioning that four colleges have got the lion's share of promotions during the years of the reports. These were the colleges of Education, Arts, Science and Medicine with the number of promotions ranging from (84) for the College of Education and (51) for the College of Medicine.

As for the decisions regarding the refusal to promote faculty members, they still remained within the limit of (3) cases for the years 2005 and 2006 and the cases jumped to (6) for the past year 2007 (table 3). It is noticed that (5) cases out of (6) for the past two years were related to refusal of promotion to the rank of associate professor as opposed to only one (1) case of refusal of promotion to the rank of professor.

 

1-    Committees of Examining Scientific Production:

The Scientific Council approved the formation of (351) scientific committees to examine the scientific production of the faculty members who applied for promotion to the rank of associate professor during the years of the reports as opposed to (221) scientific committees to examine the scientific production of the faculty members who applied for promotion to the rank of professor (table 4). The number of committees ranged between (41) and (86); and it is noticed that the number of committees jumped to (128) during the past year compared to (93) committees in the previous year.

 

Third: Scientific Publication

 

The Scientific Council receives applications for publishing academic books to be used as text books or references. Moreover, it receives applications for counting the books published outside King Saud University within the minimum level required for promotion to the rank of associate professor or the rank of professor.

 

1-   The books that the Scientific Council approved to be published as text books or references:

 

Table (5) shows the number of books that the Scientific Council approved their publication during the years of the report. The number of such books went up from (47) in 2003/2004 to (73) in 2006/2007; and they range from authored books, recent translations and books

 

 
 
 

 

previously approved by the Council but they were out of stock at the Deanship of Libraries Affairs.

 

2- The books that the Scientific Council approved to be counted within the minimum level for promotion

    

Table (6) shows that the number of books approved by the Scientific Council to be counted within the minimum level required for promotion reached (81) book during the years of the report.

 

3- The books that the Scientific Council did not approve to be counted within the minimum level for promotion

 

The number of books that the Scientific Council did not approve to be published or counted within the minimum level for promotion, ranged from (6) books in the year 2002/2003 to (13) books in the year 2005/2006. The share of the colleges outside King Saud University was about (3) decisions of disapproval (table 7).

 

4- Forming committees to examine the books presented to the Scientific Council

The Council approved the formation of scientific committees to referee books for the purpose of publication or for being counted within the minimum level for promotion. The number of such books ranged from (29) in 2005/2006 and (53) books in 2004/2005 whereas the number reached (43) books in the final year of the report (table 8).

 

1-    King Saud University Journal

The Council recommended the formation or reformation of the editorial committees for all the branches of King Saud Journal. It also looked into annual reports that come from the colleges about the activities of the editorial committees and approved the financial payment for their members.

 

 
 

 

Fourth: Using the Services of Part-time Professors

 

The Scientific Council recommended that the services of a number of retired King Saud University faculty members can be used as part-time professors fro two academic years in accordance with recommendations referred to the Council by various colleges.

Table (9) shows the Council's recommendation regarding the use or services or renewing the services of different numbers of faculty members with a maximum level of (55) in 2006/2007, rising from (46) in the previous year.

It is noticed that number of those whose services were renewed increased to (43) in the final year of the report compared to (33) in the previous year.

 

Fifth: Nomination for Scientific Prizes

Table (10) shows the Scientific Council nomination of (13) faculty members in the final year of the report for local and international scientific prizes, with an increase from the average of the previous years.

 

Sixth: Training and Scientific Communication

The Scientific Council approved the dispatch of increasing numbers of faculty members to attend academic training courses or for the purpose of establishing scientific communication during the years of the report. Such numbers ranged from (63) in the first year to (70) in the final year of the report (see table 11). It is noticed that the approval cases had increased in the final year of the report to reach (70) after a continuous decrease over the four previous years, especially the year before the final year 2005/2006 when they reached only (36) cases. The College of Medicine got the largest number of dispatch decisions in the final year of the report (17 decisions) compared to the rest of the colleges. The number of the applications that were disapproved by the Council ranged from (7) to (25) applications for different reasons which includes, among others, the selection of the best candidates, the length of the training period and the level of the academic course.

 

 
 
 

  

Seventh: Resignation or Referral to Early Retirement

The resignation applications approved by the Council remained at an annual average of (9) applications as table (12) shows. However, what attracts attention is that the applications of referral to early retirement had increased during the last three years of the report to (33) applications annually compared to the two previous years when there were only (12) and (13) applications.

 

Eighth: Sabbatical Leaves

The Scientific Council looked into the applications by the faculty members from all the colleges of the university to be granted sabbatical leaves. It looked into the applications that meet the requirements according to articles (61-62) of the regulation governing the affairs of the Saudi faculty members besides the application of the preference standards that judge between the applications that come from the same department.

The Council recommended granting sabbatical leaves to an increasing number of faculty members that reached its peak of (116) cases in the year 2003/2004 with a rise of (86) cases from the previous year 2002/2003. The number continued to rise in the following years to (87, 97 and 108) cases respectively (table 13-17).

As for the applications that the Council did not recommend granting them sabbatical leaves, their number ranged from (6) cases in 2005/2006 to (2) cases in the final year of the report either because they do not meet the standard requirements or because they exceeded the percentage allowed inside the relevant department.

 

1-   Amendment of the Sabbatical Leaves Program

The Council approved the amendment of some elements of the research plan for the sabbatical leave program such as the addition or abrogation of one of the research works that have to be accomplished or making a change in some titles of the works that have to be accomplished during the sabbatical leave. Moreover, the Council recommended the amendment of the plan approved by the University Council; and also recommended the postponement, cancellation or suspension of the sabbatical leaves granted to some faculty members.

 

 
 

 

It is clear from table (18) that the aspects of amendments reached their peak during the academic year 2006/2007 with (39) decisions compared to various decisions that ranged from a minimum of (9) decisions to a maximum of (27) decisions.

The amendments of the sabbatical leave program, especially those related to the postponement, cancellation or suspension of the sabbatical leaves which reached (26) applications in the final year 2006/2007 can be explained in the light of an increase in the assignment of administrative tasks to faculty members both inside and outside the university besides the suspension of the computer allowance in some academic years and the special circumstances of some faculty members.

 

1-   Reports regarding what was accomplished during the sabbatical leave

Table (19) shows a fluctuation in the number of the reports raised to the Scientific Council with regard to what was accomplished by the faculty members during their sabbatical leave. The reports ranged from (44) in 2005/2006 to (64) reports in 2002/2003. Despite the improvement that took place in the final year of the report compared to the last three years, however, the average of the reports raised to the Council is still less than the average of the number of decisions of granting sabbatical leaves to the faculty members as illustrated by table (13-17).

 

Ninth: Scientific Societies

During the years of the report, the Council looked into a number of applications that came from various colleges of the university seeking the approval of establishing scientific societies according to the regulations of scientific societies at the Saudi universities.

In 2002/2003 the Council approved the formation of a founding committee for a scientific society and the creation of (4) scientific societies as table (20) shows. During 2003/2004, the Council recommended the approval of creating (2) scientific societies and disapproved the creation of (1) scientific society because it was previously established at another Saudi university (table 21). However, in 2004/2005 the Council recommended the establishment of (1) scientific society and approved the formation of two founding committees for two other societies (table 22).

 

 
 

 

Finally, in 2005/2006 the Council approved the formation of two founding committees for two societies and amended the name of another society (table 23) besides the creation of two scientific societies and the creation of a branch for an existing society in 2006/2007 (table24).

 

Tenth: Miscellaneous Academic Issues

In addition to the issues mentioned in the previous sections, the Scientific Council looked into a number of miscellaneous issues that come under its competence; however, they do not continuously occur on a periodic or annual basis. These issues can be summed up according to the following:

 

A- The Academic Year 2002/2003

1-    Recommending the approval of dispatching some faculty members to benefit from the British Council scholarships during the summer time.

2-    Formation or re-formation of the Scientific Council Standing Committees.

3-    Recommending the adoption of executive and procedural rules for article (67 and 68) of the regulations governing the affairs of Saudi faculty members.

4-    Recommending the approval of the participation of a faculty member in the cultural exchange program organized by the Fulbright Foundation for American Studies during the summer of 2004.

5-    Recommending the approval of the qualification of Fellowships and Boards in dentistry as one of the disciplines followed in the appointment in the rank of an assistant professor in dentistry.

 

B- The Academic Year 2003/2004

1-    Recommending the approval of dispatching some faculty members to benefit from the British Council scholarships during the summer time.

2-    Formation or re-formation of the Scientific Council Standing Committees.

3-    Looking into the development of King Saud University Journal to be issued in all its branches.

4-    Looking into the marketing of King Saud University publications by local Saudi Publishing Houses.

 

 
 
 

 

1-    Recommending the approval of a Jordanian University faculty member and a faculty member of Hadramut University for Science and Technology passing their sabbatical leaves at King Saud University.

 

C- The Academic Year 2004/2005

1- Recommending the approval of dispatching some faculty members to benefit from the British Council scholarships during the summer time.

1-    Formation or re-formation of the Scientific Council Standing Committees.

 

D- The Academic Year 2005/2006

1-    Approval of some faculty members from Yemen, Algeria and Jordan passing their sabbatical leaves at King Saud University.

2-    Re-formation or the translation Center Board of Directors

3-    Formation of committees to look into academic complaints lodged by two female students at the Master and PhD programs.

4-    Formation or re-formation of the Scientific Council Standing Committees.

5-    Proposing a financial payment for the members of the committees formed by the Scientific Council to review the book projects presented for publication.

6-    Discussion of the classification published by one of the Chinese universities about the most renowned international universities.

7-    Nomination of some faculty members for the Fulbright scholarship for the year 2006/2007.

8-     Discussing the issue of marketing of King Saud University publications by local Saudi Publishing Houses.

9-    Recommending the approval of dispatching some faculty members to benefit from the British Council scholarships during the summer time.

      

D- The Academic Year 2006/2007

1-    Recommending the transfer of (3) faculty members from one department to another inside the College of Tourism and Archeology.

 

 
 

  

2-    Approval of the standards and requirements of electronic publications within the justifications of applying for promotion.

3-    Recommending the approval of (3) scientific trips by the Department of Medications at the College of Pharmacology to different regions in the Kingdom.

4-    Nomination of some faculty members for the Fulbright scholarship for the year 2007/2008.

5-    Recommending the transfer of one faculty member from one department to another inside the College of Nursing.

6-    Recommending the disapproval of transferring (3) female demonstrators from one department to another inside the College Languages and Translation.

7-    Formation or re-formation of the Scientific Council Standing Committees.

 

  

Epilogue

       Finally, I hope that the information mentioned above would shed light on the overall activities of the Scientific Council during the past two years. It is quite clear that there was a large increase in the issues of permanent nature during the final year of the report. In this regard, I hope that this report would contribute to raising the level of performance during the coming academic year, especially after the operation of the information system specially designed for the activities of the Scientific Council. This system was accomplished by the College of Computer Sciences and Information with financial support from the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University.

 

       In this regard, I would like to commend the efforts exerted by the members and the Chairman of the Scientific Council in looking into the agenda of the Council's sessions and examining them during the convening of the Council for long hours that might extend to early hours of the morning besides attending the meetings of the Standing Committees on a continuous basis. Moreover, I would like to extend my thanks to the bothers who are working at the Scientific Council's Secretariat, to mention in particular Mr. Faisal Al-Khartash and Mr. Abdul-Wahid Abdu-Ddaim for their sincere efforts in accomplishing this report.

  

                 I pray to Almighty Allah to make our works sincere for his sake. He is capable of doing all things.

   

Dr. Tariq Bin Mohammed Bin Aqeel Al-Suleiman

Secretary of the Scientific Council

 

 
 
 
  

Table (1) illustrates the decisions of appointing facluty members at the various colleges of the university from the academic year 2002/2003 up to the academic year 2006/2007

     

Tables (1)

 

    

Tables- Final