Jazan University (JU) is currently undergoing a SR3 billion expansion project, in which a number of new colleges are to be constructed, according to Ibrahim Abu Hadi, public relations and information supervisor.
The expansion will witness the establishment of four medical colleges, a college for business administration, a number of support projects and an electrical conversion station, according to Abu Hadi.
The expansion work is the second phase of the project, which Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah laid the foundation stones for.
The expansion is also in line with the government’s push for quality education and training as key components of the Kingdom’s nonoil related budget, with 25 percent of total spending, according to a Saudi Press Agency report.
The university has drawn up a new strategy for the future by designing and implementing a strategic plan with the help of the SRI International (formerly the Stanford Research Institute).
The strategy maps out the future development scenarios for JU, such as its establishment as a modern university and aligning its operations, processes and resources to achieve such a vision.
This project is intended to transform JU into an outstanding university characterized by continuous investment in knowledge creation, research excellence and community service. The university is expecting the strategic plan to contribute specific direction and guidance to many activities.
“Our community must be patient and cooperative with the strategic planning team, as the design and implementation of activities will require time, resources, new processes, and operational changes,” said JU Rector Muhammad A. Hiazea.
He said the process will be broad reaching, and it will only be successful “if you are invested in it, actively participate, and incorporate it into your strategy. I strongly encourage you to be forthcoming and open to the strategic planning activities.”
He added that he was thankful that the university has the opportunity to chart a new course to meet the future, building on its strengths and tradition. “I look forward to Jazan University playing a leading role in higher education within the Kingdom in the coming years,” he said.
Jazan University undergoes SR3bn expansion
Jazan University undergoes SR3bn expansion
Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim ‘stabbed by stranger on drink, drugs,’ UK court hears
- 20-year-old ‘posed no threat to anybody’ when he was attacked in Cambridge last year
- Jurors watch CCTV video of attack by man in high-vis jacket, BBC reports
LONDON: Saudi student Mohammed Al-Qasim died after being stabbed in Cambridge by a stranger who had been drinking and using drugs, prosecutors told a court in the UK city on Tuesday.
According to a BBC News website report of the trial at Cambridge Crown Court, prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said that the 20-year-old was sitting outside student accommodation on Aug. 1 last year when he was stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife by Chas Corrigan.
CCTV cameras had recorded the attack along with Corrigan’s actions before and after the incident, he said.
Al-Qasim, a University of Jeddah student who had traveled to the UK to study at a language school during the summer, died just after midnight on Aug. 2.
Jurors watched CCTV video footage of the attack, which showed Al-Qasim running away after a confrontation with a man in a yellow high-vis jacket, the BBC report said.
The footage showed Corrigan, who was wearing the jacket, stabbing Al-Qasim, Hearn said.
“The reality is that, in this case, the footage speaks for itself,” he told the jurors.
Hearn said that Corrigan, 22, from Cambridge, had admitted being in possession of a knife at the time but denied murdering Al-Qasim.
Hearn said there was evidence that Corrigan had been drinking and taking drugs before the stabbing and had been “behaving crazily” in a pub.
“Mr Al-Qasim posed no threat to anybody. He was a student who had come to Cambridge to study from Saudi Arabia,” the lawyer said.
Hearn added that “the defendant was the aggressor here,” and that Al-Qasim had never met Corrigan.
Jane Osborne KC, Corrigan’s defense lawyer, said that her client had admitted he was the man in the CCTV video and that he had been carrying the knife, but had “no intention of using that knife,” the BBC report said.
Corrigan had aimed to wave the knife between himself and Al-Qasim, she said.
Corrigan denies murdering Al-Qasim and his trial is expected to last about two weeks.
