A member of the teaching staff in the department, or someone equivalent, serves as the head of this committee. They are chosen based on their excellence in the fields of graduate studies and scientific research. The tasks of this committee are as follows:
4.1 Coordinate the work among all those involved in graduate studies to ensure their optimal execution, focusing on:
- Coordinating the academic schedule for graduate students at both the master's and doctorate levels, while considering the following:
- The department's teaching workload.
- Distributing students across study groups for each course.
- Achieving educational quality requirements.
4.2 Adopt clear and simplified procedures regarding course registration, addition and deletion, and registering master's and doctorate theses.
4.3 Coordinate with the Deanship of Graduate Studies concerning transfer processes, postponements, deprivation, dropout, record annulment, and reinstatement.
4.4 Coordinate with the General Administration of Grants concerning the admission of international students into graduate programs, as per the current regulations and procedures.
4.5 Coordinate the exam schedule in the department in collaboration with the Deanship of Graduate Studies, considering the following:
- Adopting a distribution table for students in halls as per the department's academic plan.
- Publishing exam-specific instructions through all available means.
- Preparing halls with all necessary amenities to ensure the best examination experience for students.
- Ensuring a student doesn’t have two exams at the same time.
- Ensuring a student doesn’t have two exams on the same day.
- Adopting a distribution table for faculty members across halls, ensuring fairness and objectivity.
- Adopting clear and simplified procedures for organizing the examination process, from student entry before the exam time to the collection and submission of answer scripts.
- Implementing regulations and laws, such as cheating incidents, causing chaos, or instigating disturbances during the exam.
- Adopting clear and simplified procedures to form discussion committees for master's and doctorate theses, mechanisms for grading by each member, and submitting the necessary report for granting the degree, as per the deadlines set by the Deanship of Graduate Studies for the respective scientific councils.
4.6 Coordinate the alternate exam schedules for students as per the regulations and laws, and consider everything mentioned in section (4.1.4).
4.7 Work on everything necessary to ensure the optimal examination process and find appropriate solutions in a timely manner.
4.8 Adopt exam progress reports, take necessary measures to address them, and suggest appropriate recommendations for the future.
4.9 Implement mechanisms for student appeals regarding exam results and handle all cases submitted to the committee, as per the regulations and procedures.
4.10 Continuously improve and develop the admission criteria and standards for graduate studies.
4.11 Update existing graduate programs through review, evaluation, and ensuring their continual improvement.
4.12 Introduce new graduate programs based on job market needs and the economic and social development needs in the Kingdom, in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and the university's strategic plan.
4.13 Coordinate the work among all those involved in scientific research to ensure its optimal execution, focusing on:
- Coordinating with the Deanship of Scientific Research, research centers, and studies in the university regarding research procedures, providing the appropriate support as per the current regulations.
- Encouraging faculty members to submit research proposals to supporting entities.
- Reviewing research proposals submitted by faculty members to the Deanship of Scientific Research, ensuring their alignment with the department's research interests.
- Reviewing research proposals of graduate students, ensuring they match research methodologies and serve both the university and community's research interests.
- Developing the department's research labs and utilizing them most appropriately for research processes.
- Offering necessary support for teaching assistants to study at distinguished universities that rank well globally.
- Offering assistance to teaching assistants on scholarships to confront challenges that might impede their objectives.
- Encouraging faculty members to publish at least one scientific research paper in peer-reviewed journals annually.
- Evaluating all processes related to scientific research, publications, proposing appropriate solutions, and continually improving them.
- Reviewing everything referred to the committee by the department head, proposing suitable solutions, or making decisions within the provided or delegated authority in writing.
Performance Indicators:
- Number of graduate programs evaluated internally and externally annually.
- Number of graduate programs developed based on annual evaluation results.
- Number of graduate programs introduced based on job market needs analysis annually.
- Percentage of courses evaluated and compared to similar courses in benchmark universities in terms of content, textbook, teaching methods, expected outcomes, and evaluation mechanisms.
- Percentage of courses developed based on evaluation results annually.
- Percentage of courses using electronic learning systems (e.g., Blackboard) annually.
- Percentage of international students in each program from the total student count annually.
- The annual increase rate of accepted students in graduate programs compared to their numbers in the previous year.
- Number of graduate students who obtained their degrees within the system-defined graduation period, and their percentage compared to the previous year's numbers.
- Number of research proposals the committee reviewed annually that received suitable support internally (from the university) and externally.
- Number of researchers from faculty members and graduate students who benefited from the department's research labs annually.
- Number of researchers from faculty members and graduate students who benefited from the central lab in the university and their percentage from the total beneficiaries within the university.
- Percentage of faculty members who published at least one peer-reviewed research paper in the previous year.
- Percentage of scientific papers presented in scientific conferences to the number of department faculty members in the previous year.
- Number of teaching assistants who benefited from the committee’s services to study at globally recognized and well-ranked universities (top 500).
- Number of scholarship teaching assistants who received assistance from the committee to confront challenges in their studies and research.
- Number of books for graduate study programs in the department available in the university library.
- Beneficiary satisfaction rate from the committee's activities.