JEDDAH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is also chairman of the Higher Education Council, yesterday approved the establishment of Dar Al-Uloom (DAU) Private University in Riyadh. Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari said the DAU won approval after fulfilling the necessary conditions.
“The DAU offers a wide range of programs for Saudi and international students. All of our programs are of the highest quality and provide solid and well-supervised academic training,” said its rector Obaid Al-Abdali. “Our programs have been designed in collaboration with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM),” he added.
The university comprises four colleges on two adjacent campuses, one for men and the other for women. The College of Computer Engineering and Information Technology (CEIT) offers bachelor’s degrees in computer science, software engineering and IT. The College of Business Administration offers degrees in finance and banking, accounting and auditing, marketing and human resource management.
Spelling out the decisions of the Higher Education Council, Al-Anqari said they included the establishment of research centers at some universities and two distance education centers at Qassim and Baha universities. An agency for knowledge excellence will be set up at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah while a number of scientific departments will be established at the College of Shariah and Islamic Studies in Al-Ahsa, including the departments for computer science, systems and English language.
The king also approved Taiba University’s plan to sign an agreement with Kent State University to join the program of the Federation of Universities for Scientific Research and Higher Studies. A delegation from Taiba has already visited the US in this regard.
The council also extended the tenures of 22 faculty members.
New IUM programs
Mohammed Al-Oqla, president of the Islamic University of Madinah (IUM), announced his institution’s plan to open new colleges for medicine, applied sciences, engineering, computer science, management and information.
“The move will enable students of the university to achieve Islamic and modern scientific knowledge at the same time,” Al-Oqla said during an open discussion with students. “Extremists and deviants have no place in this university,” he added.
The rector said his university would admit 1,300 students next year. At present there are about 10,000 students from 156 countries in the university. The university graduated more than 30,000 students from nearly 200 countries since its establishment 50 years ago.
