Workshop for Chairmen and Graduate Coordinators

1. Workshop for Chairmen and Graduate Coordinators Salam A. Zummo Dean of Graduate Studies March 2011

2. Outline: • Appreciation massage • Statistics • MoHE scholarship students • Graduate Seminar Day – A Reminder • New system for admission tracking (quick demo) • Evaluation of admission applications • Progress of PhD students • Degree plans, course planning and other issues • Q&A

3. New Admits for Semester 102

4. Active Students

5. FT/PT MASTER STUDENTS – BY MAJOR

6. FT/PT PhD STUDENTS – BY MAJOR Data Legend /

7. Active Research Assistants in 102

8. Active Lecturer-B’s in 102

9. Full-time Master and PhD students

10. MoHE Scholarship Students - Update • A new system to bring international students on student Visa • Need approval of MoHE as in Yemeni students • Stipend is 900SR as full-time Saudi students  only MS students • No duties are required in Dept’s • Same admission criteria as RAs • We have sent 116 names to MoHE for approval for coming Fall (for Dept’s exceeding RA quota) • Let us hope the process be simple and we get them before Fall 2011

11. Graduate Seminar Day – A Reminder • Deadline is today - Received only 27 contributions from students • Very small number given the enrolled FT students (500 students) • Contributions received from: • PETE: 1, EE:  5, CHE: 2, ME:  3, CE: 2 MATH:  5, ES: 2 CHEM: 1SE: 1, ICS:  5, • Missing departments include: • AE, PHYS, COE, Colleges of Business and Environmental Design • Relatively under-represented departments: • PETE, CHE, ME, CE, SE, CHEM and ES • Deadline was extended until Sat. March 26 • Regardless of winning awards, it is an opportunity for Graduate Students: • Present their research work • Interact with faculty and colleagues in a scientific gathering • The only activity for graduate students – need to support and grow

12. New system for admission tracking (quick demo)http://acad.kfupm.edu.sa/adminlogin.aspx

13. Evaluation of admission applications

14. Sending and Receiving Files • Sending and receiving files in batches via Workflow • Files of one batch get sent over couple of days (error alerts to be cleared before releasing files) • First batch will be sent early next week • Deadline is April 16 (for submission of documents) • Last batch to be sent by end of April hopefully • Dept’s’ will have 2-week duration to return files • Final decisions must be out by end of May • Hence, Dept’s need to send all files by mid of May

15. Why do we send files in batches? • To finalize decisions on clear cases to be rejected ASAP • To force admission office to work faster and under pressure to push files in batches with deadlines • To allow more time to Dept’s to evaluate files • Please do not wait to evaluate files until the last batch • You can make a recommendation for a file, and save it until you have all files to be approved. Then, • Select the top X files to be definitely approved – mark as 1st priority • The next Y files that are very good – mark as 2nd priority • The next Z files as backup – mark as 3rd priority • Reject the rest

16. Evaluation Method • Recommendation is made by the graduate committee with the approval/delegation of the Chairman • Files are to be discussed in a committee meeting rather than circulating among the members – A committee recommendation • I hope the following can be taken into account: • Performance of previous students from similar schools • Distribution over specialization areas (if too many applicants) • Return clear cases (to be rejected) within the 2-week deadline • Border and to-be-approved cases can wait until all files are returned with the last batch but before mid May • In your recommendations, please provide more comments on: • Applicant’s previous school and GPA • Our experience with such applicants and information about such schools • The applicant’s priority level (High, Medium or Low)

17. Number of approved applicants • Currently, Dept’s recommend approving ALL applicants satisfying the admission criteria • For some Dept’s, these are too many!!! • Last semester, priority in admission was given to those recommended with 1st priority, then 2nd, then 3rd • A special care to assign priorities to applicants • This will help us make final decision as per available slots and visas • Again, • Please do not wait to evaluate files until the last batch • All files are needed by mid of May to finalize decisions

18. Pre-Graduate Admission • Replaced Non-Degree admission since 071 • Students satisfying the following conditions: • GPA < 2.5 (at least 2-year experience) or equivalent • At least 2-year experience after graduation • A highly motivated student as appears from recomm letters and SOP • One year to finish the Pre-Grad Program • Pass 3 grad courses, 2 of which are core with > B in each • Monitored periodically to dismiss low-performing students • Please put your recommendation to approve such applicants as Admit – “as Pre-Graduate” in the comments

19. Progress of PhD Students

20. PhD Progress Monitoring • FT PhD - Typical degree progress: • Finish all coursework within 3-4 semesters at maximum, • Declare a thesis advisor in the 3rd semester at maximum, • Pass the comprehensive examination within 4 semesters at maximum, • Submit the thesis proposal within 6 semesters at maximum and • Complete the PhD program within 4 years at maximum • Have a comprehensive exam every semester if any student deadline is approaching • Offer more courses for PhD students to allow smooth progress • We will send you the list of PhD students that need update by 102 • FT MS and PhD students need to complete 9 credit hours every semester: • MS students with 3-6 credits remaining need to register the thesis

21. Degree plans, course planning and other issues

22. Degree Plans • Many students do not have degree plans approved in their files • Each student needs to get his degree plan approved during the first semester, and at maximum by the second semester of admission. • This will help both: • Departments plan for offering graduate courses as per the students’ plans • Students plan their degrees and courses to be taken better • Prevent student from taking courses that may not be approved for graduation, which could waste his time • To avoid delaying students in progressing in their degrees, departments need to offer: • Core courses on regular basis with a minimum frequency of once a year • Enough electives needed to serve as many students requests as possible

23. Issues on Registration Week • Too many petitions to waive pre-requisites of some courses • This puts a lot of pressure on our office and Registrar’s office to process these petitions • Most of these petitions could have been processed/approved/avoided if early registration was better utilized • Conflicts in the final examination slots of graduate courses • Stopps many students from registering for courses due to final exam conflicts • Given the small number of offered graduate courses, we highly count on your care to check ask the Registrar Office to avoid such exam conflicts during the formation of the schedule

24. Issues on Research-based Courses • Main goals of these courses: • Allow students to dive in new research/course without the need of a well-structured course • Provide opportunity to start research during coursework • It is NOT a trick to reduce credit hours in MS or PhD programs • Currently, policy is simple and entrusts the instructor and graduate committee in the Dept. • Quality assurance policies needed by Graduate Council – Little response until now • Some observations: • Allowing students with border GPAs to register such courses • Allowing fresh students in MS or PhD degrees • Having one instructor giving several of these courses in one semester • No presentation is made as course description states clearly

25. THANK YOUQ & A