General rules for committees’ operations

1-      The following information is intended to help you understand the responsibilities of the committees. A committee is simply a group of motivated people who meet regularly (at least once a month), at least one of whom acts as a convener. All committees have tasks with strict deadlines and monthly goals to meet to measure progress and efficiency. Based on the committee responsibilities, the committee convener will distribute the responsibilities among the committee members. It is expected that all committee members are effectively engaged to fulfill the required tasks of the committee.  

2-      The Committee convener will evaluate the performance of each member based on well-defined criteria in an evaluation form.

3-      The committee convener will provide a detailed report that includes all committee achievements and minutes of meetings at the end of each semester.

4-      The steering committee will evaluate the performance of all committees and assess the progress, evaluation forms, and achievement reports at the end of each semester.

In addition:

5-      Each committee should prepare a work plan/timeline that outlines the organization of the work, the specific activities, responsibilities of committee members, strict deadlines, the necessary resources, and deliverables. The work plan should be finalized within two weeks from the approval of the committees in the department council meeting. The prepared work plan will be presented and discussed in the following department council meeting.

6-      Starting from the next semester, each committee should provide its achievements (based on its responsibilities) by the 2^nd week, to be submitted to the steering committee.

Updated and revised Responsibilities of Department committees

Responsibilities of the Committee Convener:

Each committee convener is responsible for:

1-      Managing and distributing the required tasks and responsibilities among the committee members according to a well-defined time plan.

2-      Ensuring that all required tasks are made according to the needed quality and are submitted on time according to the time plan.

3-      Reviewing the work submitted by each committee member and make any necessary and needed updates to ensure its completeness.

4-      Collecting and arranging the submitted tasks by all committee members, to be submitted to the related committee.

5-      Evaluating the performance of each committee member based on a well-defined criterion, and submitting the evaluation forms to the steering committee.

6-      Raising any problems or difficulties faced by the committee members during conducting their assigned responsibilities to the steering committee to take any further actions.

7-      Submitting an annual report at the end of each academic year to the steering committee to include all its minutes of meetings, committee achievements, and future plans. 

Responsibilities of the Committee Members:

Each member of the committee is responsible for:

1-      Utilizing his efforts to accomplish and following-up the assigned tasks to the best standards and to be submitted on time as specified by the committee convener.

2-      Making any further developments to the assigned tasks as required by the committee convener.

3-      Communicating with other committees, or entities either at college or University levels, as needed, to obtain the needed data, information, or statistics.

4-      Raising any difficulty or problem faced during accomplishing the assigned tasks to the committee convener to take any further action.

1-       Accreditation Committee for Undergraduate Studies

·      Implementing and following up the assessment and academic accreditation activities at both the course and program levels. 

·      Reviewing the course specifications to ensure its full compliance and completeness to the latest version of NCAAA.

·      Reviewing the course reports as submitted at the end of each semester to ensure their full compliance and completeness to the latest version of NCAAA, and includes the assessment results, recommendations, and improvement action plans.

·      Preparing the needed surveys to obtain the feedback and satisfaction of different stakeholders towards the performance of the program, courses, graduates, facilities, curriculum, and services, and forwarding it to the Statistics, information, and Graduates Committee to conduct and collect the survey results.

·      Preparing the self-study report with its related documents and evidence.

·      Reviewing the Annual program report as submitted by the Statistics, information, and Graduates Committee, and finalize it with any missing information to ensure its completeness.   

·      Implementing and following up academic evaluation and accreditation activities including the academic accreditation reviewers’ visit and follow-up their evaluation and prepare action plans for improvements.

·      Preparing the Programs for internal auditing review by the KSU Board of Assessors, continuous assessment, and improvement plan developments

2-       Quality and Development Committee

·      Spreading a culture of quality assurance among faculty members, students, and department workers.

·      Reviewing the course reports as well as the program annual reports to identify its strengths and opportunities for improvements in different activities at both the course and program levels.

·      Prepare periodic reports on the performance levels and satisfaction of beneficiaries in each activity, as well as document information and data on quality activities and performance indicators of the department and prepare periodic quality reports.

·      Developing the necessary improvement plans/projects/operational plan based on the program performance and achieving its objectives, as well as the College strategic plan through well-defined action plans that include measurable performance indicators.   

·      Following up the implementation of the action plans/projects/operational plans carried out by the concerned committees/faculty to ensure their implementation in terms of their time plan and report its results.

·      Preparing the progress report for each project and its performance indicators.

·      Ensuring closing the loop of quality assurance in different program activities, and reporting the improvement results based on the implementation of action plans.

·      Applying university Quality Performance Management System (QPMS).

·      Implement the requirements of ISO 9001, and conduct the necessary continuous auditing. 

3-       Student Guidance and Counseling Committee (for both undergraduate and graduate students)

·      Conducting introductory sessions to inform students about the University regulations, department facilities, as well as program requirements and regulations about academic issues.

·      Identifying the underachieved students with scores less than 40% in the first midterm exam, and students with low academic achievement that have a cumulative GPA average of less than 3 or a high absence rate, and providing the list to their academic advisors.

·      Developing an effective mechanism to identify the causes of inferior performance of underachieved students or those who have academic problems or high absence and suggesting remedies and encouraging them, as well as following up their performance.

·      Preparing the necessary forms to document and evaluating the regular meetings of academic advisors with students who might have social/financial/psychological problems that may affect their performance and help them to overcome these problems.

·      Monitoring the academic performance of students and assessing their progress on their Master Thesis or Ph.D. dissertation and resolving any problem affecting their graduation time, by reviewing the thesis status for each student and reporting the grade for each semester whether "Complete" or "Continue in Thesis".

·      Arranging special sessions for students with needed career counseling, professional development skills, and academic advice in selecting their specialties.

·         Coordinating with the student club and the college committees of cultural and social activities for students.

• Assisting students on how to write their      CVs by encouraging them to attend the short courses offered by the      Deanship of Skills Development.

·         Assisting new graduates with technical and professional advice at the beginning of their working life.

• Informing and guiding students about      practical training and job opportunities.

·         Rewarding and encouraging outstanding students who have academic Excellency and putting their names in the department and college list of distinct students.

4-       Statistic, Information, and Graduates Committee

·      Developing effective mechanisms to collect and document all necessary data and information related to faculty and department activities including scientific research production, patents, innovations, research projects, conferences, community service, public, lectures, training courses, etc.

·      Preparing the needed statistics that are related to student enrollments, number of graduates, passing rates, student-faculty ratios in different programs, as well as number of faculty in different ranks at the end of each semester.

·      Preparing the department annual report, to include all department and faculty activities and achievements based on the required template considering the accuracy of the related information.

·      Reviewing the department annual report to be approved by the department council before submission to the quality unit -college of Engineering.

·      Developing effective mechanisms to regularly collect all necessary data needed to compute the Programs’ KPIs (as specified by NCAAA) at the end of each academic year.

·      Preparing all necessary surveys for different stakeholders (students, faculty, employers, alumni, advisory board) to obtain their satisfaction and feedback towards the undergraduate and graduate programs as requested by the Academic Accreditation Committee. 

·      Conducting and following up on all surveys as well as collecting and analyze its data and providing its results to the needed and related committees. 

·      Preparing the Program annual reports for undergraduate and graduate programs based on NCAAA templates to include all program information, student statistics, course assessments, survey results, and KPIs to be reviewed, finalized, and approved by the academic accreditation committee.

·      Developing, reviewing, and continuously updating the database of department graduates from both undergraduate and graduate programs (numbers, jobs, means of communications) by the end of each semester.

·      Developing effective mechanisms to involve alumni in developing the programs and providing their satisfaction as well as their feedback through social events, general meetings, and surveys.

·      Collecting all news and announcements related to the department activities from the chairman as well as from faculty, and making all necessary arrangements to publish and announce the department news in the University magazine or on the department website or by sending emails as well as through the department display screens.

·      Developing and regularly updating the database of faculty member’s publications (i.e., journal articles, conferences, patents etc.), and theses of graduate students to include its main information and to be posted on the Department Website.

·      Regularly updating the Department website with its main achievements, performance, announcements, events, statistics, as well as any other information as requested by other committees with a high level of quality in terms of accuracy of information and ease of obtaining the required information.

5-       Practical Training Committee

·      Preparing a list and database of students who are subject to the requirements of training (completing 110 credit hours) in a semester and their means of communication.

·      Preparing the list of training parties (private & public sectors) and available slots based on their communication with the college vice dean for Academic affairs.

·      Evaluating the training opportunities provided by the students and making approval decisions according training field.

·      Announcing available training opportunities to students and distributing the eligible department students among available summer training places.

·      Guiding students to companies, following up on the training, and resolving any unexpected problems.

·      Determine the required skills for training students based on the program learning outcomes.

·      Reviewing and auditing report forms (weekly and final reports) after completion of the training period of 10 weeks.

·      Assessing students’ performance during and after practical training, and making an oral discussion for a sample of them.

·      Sending the names of students who have completed their training requirements to the Chairman.

6-       Admissions, Registration, and Examination Committee (for both undergraduate and graduate programs)

·      Preparing the schedules of the courses of the Civil Engineering Department in terms of the number of sections in each course, the number of groups for each level, and the names of faculty members and assistants.

·      Preparing the timetable for the semester and allocating classes for all sections.

·      Preparing the teaching load for the teaching staff

·      Registration of courses for students of the department at the beginning of each semester (deletion and addition) by checking the electronic applications in the system (SMR) and processing through the registration system (e-register).

·      Preparing the schedule of midterm exams

·      Resolving any problems raised by any conflicts in Final exam schedules.

·      Receiving all the graduate student applications and studying their contents and then carrying out the graduate studies admission process according to university regulations.

·      Proposing the graduate courses and the schedule for graduate programs for each semester.

·         Developing, updating, and revising the criteria for new applicants and maintaining the department’s regulations for the selection process.

·         Developing and maintaining procedures to estimate graduation, including monitoring the thesis status for each student and reporting the grade for each semester whether "Complete" or "Continue in Thesis".

·         Approving applications to graduate M.S. and Ph.D. students

7-       Recruitment Committee

·      Preparing and reviewing the recruitment plan for recruitment of Faculty members and teaching assistants based on future ‎extrapolation needs, including the retirement of old faculty members.

·      Studying the received applications related to the recruitment of new faculty members.

·      Communicating with applicants and interviewing candidates.

·      Completing all nomination requirements and preparing special forms to be sent to the college

·      Recruiting outstanding students who are about to graduate and convincing them to apply for ‎teaching assistance positions according to the needs of the department. ‎

·      Studying the received applications related to the recruitment of new demonstrators as teaching assistant applicants, interviewing them, and distributing them to the various ‎disciplines according to their needs.‎

·      Preparing exams, Communicating, and interviewing candidate’s demonstrator positions.

·      Completing all nomination requirements and preparing special forms to be sent to the college.

·      Following up with demonstrators and helping them in gaining admission to prestigious ‎universities.‎

·      Following up on the Scholarship holder’s performance and examining their Mission's requests for remission and extension.

8-       Promotion Committee

·         Reviewing the faculty promotion file sent by the Chairman to ensure that all requirements are satisfied as per the university promotion regulations.

·         Reviewing all scientific works submitted for promotion to ensure that they satisfy the university regulations.

·         Verifying all submitted information for promotion.

·         Providing the Chairman with a written report on the results of reviewing the faculty promotion file.

9-       Academic Programs Committee

·      Conducting the necessary studies to identify the skills and knowledge required in the graduates for both undergraduate and graduate programs.

·      Reviewing the program’s annual reports and determining the requirements to improve the teaching strategies and course content.

·      Reviewing, developing, and modifying the curricula, programs, and study plans in the department for both undergraduate and graduate programs based on the market needs and stakeholders’ feedback.

·      Reviewing and investigating different proposals for admission policies to the department’s programs

·      Discussing, investigating, and approving the required modifications raised by the faculty members.

10-   Community Service and Partnership Committee

·      Developing general public awareness of the Civil Engineering Profession and its contribution to the infrastructure development and improvement of physical life through organizing seminars, workshops, social activities, and public lectures for the community.

·      Strengthening the Department's relationship with the community by encouraging faculty members to deliver lectures, short courses, seminars, and workshops for educating people as well as employees of large companies in the areas of their expertise.

·      Exposing the department's activities, and capabilities to the community by organizing school visits, and arraigning open days for visits of employees of companies, institutions, and parents of students to introduce the department.

·      Developing effective mechanisms to market and introducing the capabilities of the department’s faculty expertise and available research facilities to the public and the private sectors, by developing the necessary facilities database, and advertising brochures.

·      Developing partnership agreements to enhance students' training and to establish cooperation in the graduation projects by funded companies.

11-   Laboratory Procurement Committee

·      Following up on the readiness of labs, classrooms, and department facilities for any requirements of maintenance and safety.

·      Planning and preparing purchasing orders of the requirements and needs of the labs for the necessary equipment and materials.

·      Following up the purchasing orders, studying of tenders and finalize receiving procedures.

·      Ensuring that the specifications of the equipment to be supplied to the laboratories are met before the completion of the purchase.

·      Preparing and revising the lab inventory as well as the operating and experimental manuals.

·      Ensuring that there are periodic calibrations and maintenance of devices and equipment, as well as replacing the damaged devices, especially by the end of each semester.

·      Equipping the laboratories with the necessary furniture, safety measures as well as the appropriate educational means.

·      Preparing the requirements of manpower (lab technicians and engineers) and recommending rehabilitative training programs.

·      Following up and reviewing the rules of occupational safety for students and workers in laboratories.

·      Studying the research needs of faculty staff and postgraduate students in the various engineering fields.

12-   Graduation Projects Committee  

·      Preparing lists and databases of students who meet the registration requirements (completing 129 credit hours) in a semester

·      Supervising the registration process for students in the project by forming student groups and distributing them among faculty members.

·      Preparing seminars and lectures for CE 496 students to guide them to project requirements including the needed writing and communication skills, guidelines for Capstone Design (Graduation) Project proposals, reports, and presentations.

·      Organizing, supervising, and conducting the project examination and discussion process for midterm and final exams for each semester, including performing similarity tests on samples of projects.

·      Addressing any problems facing Capstone Design (Graduation) Project students.

·      Collecting projects’ grades after the end of the examination and preparing Capstone Design (Graduation) Project course files required by ABET and NCAAA.

·       Identifying projects for the quarterly College Competition

·      Developing the database of capstone projects, as well as organizing and maintain its files for further usage.  

·      Continuously evaluating and developing matters related to Capstone Design (Graduation) Project.

13-   Accreditation Committee for Graduate Studies

·      Develop, maintain, and monitor policy and procedures for the operation of the Department's graduate program, consistent with Graduate Studies Deanship rules.

·      Prepare, publish, and distribute documents describing the policies, rules, and procedures for Department programs, including maintaining and issuing M.S. and Ph.D. brochures.

·      Handle administrative tasks necessary to keep the graduate program operating by Departmental and University rules and regulations.

·      Implementing and following up the assessment and academic accreditation activities at both the course and program levels. 

·      Reviewing the course specifications to ensure its full compliance and completeness to the latest version of NCAAA.

·      Reviewing the course reports as submitted at the end of each semester to ensure their full compliance and completeness to the latest version of NCAAA, and includes the assessment results, recommendations, and improvement action plans.

·      Prepare the needed surveys to obtain the feedback and satisfaction of different stakeholders towards the performance of the program, courses, graduates, facilities, curriculum, and services, and forward it to the Statistics, information, and Graduates Committee to conduct and collect the survey results.

·      Preparing the self-study report with its related documents and evidence.

·      Reviewing the Annual program report as submitted by the Statistics, information, and Graduates Committee, and finalize it with any missing information to ensure its completeness.   

·      Implementing and following up academic evaluation and accreditation activities including the academic accreditation reviewers’ visit and follow-up their evaluation and prepare action plans for improvements.

·      Preparing the Programs for internal auditing review by the KSU Board of Assessors, continuous assessment, and improvement plan developments

14-   Scientific Research and Innovation Committee  

·         Developing a research plan based on the University and College research priorities, available research facilities as well as faculty expertise and interests.

·         Evaluating the scientific research production of faculty including their citation rates, and ISI rating publications.

·         Developing effective mechanisms and opportunities to encourage faculty to be involved in scientific research especially those with low scientific research productions.

·         Developing effective mechanisms and procedures to identify, foster, and support talent and gifted undergraduate and graduate students.

·         Developing effective mechanisms, procedures, and opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty to encourage them to be involved in innovation projects and support their innovative ideas.  

·         Reviewing and evaluating the publications and patents of the individual faculty members, specialties, and Department. 

·         Reviewing the research areas of the Department and identifying specializations of strength or weakness.

15-   Steering Committee

·         Evaluating the performance of all committees and assess the progress, evaluation forms, and achievement reports at the end of each semester.