The Deanship of Quality and Academic Accreditation’s General Supervisor Dr. Ahmad Al Kuwaiti held a meeting regarding a Memorandum of Understanding with the Managing Director of QS World University Rankings, Mr. Nunzio Quacquarelli in order to improve the rankings of the University of Dammam on the local, regional and international levels. Dr. Al Kuwaiti began the meeting by introducing his staff and expressing the Deanship’s commitment to significantly improving UoD’s position locally, regionally and internationally for the University itself and its numerous academic programs.
Mr. Quacquarelli then gave an overview of QS World University Rankings and the factors that are used to rank universities, followed by questions from an audience made up of the Deanship’s managers. Mr. Quacquarelli noted that the University of Dammam has all the elements necessary for success.
This was followed by a summary of the standards QS uses, presented by QS’s Mr. Ashwin Fernandes, the Head of Client Relations for the Middle East, North Africa and India. Mr. Fernandes discussed and clarified the methods used to evaluate and award stars to universities. He also acknowledged how familiar his company was with the nature, principles and culture of Saudi universities.
The Deanship’s manager of Electronic Quality Systems, Mr. Ali Mantache, gave a thorough explanation of the various applications currently in use at UoD, including: UDQuest, UDMetrex and UDStrategy, which Mr. Quacquarelli admired. The QS delegation visited the Office of Decision Support and met its manager, Abdullah Al Muraih who presented the University Data Panel, which includes data for students, faculty and NCAAA standards and answered Mr. Quacquarelli’s inquiries.
