About the Deanship

Vision

Pioneering and excellence in applying standards for achieving national and international accreditation, certification and ranking.

Mission

Instill a culture of quality and continuous improvement in all university activities to attain its vision and strategic goals.

Values

• Innovation
• Excellence
• Professionalism and
• Transparency

DQAA Strategic Objectives

To achieve its mission, vision, and values, DQAA has defined (8) strategic objectives that are fully aligned with Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University strategic objectives.

1. Enhance IAU quality assurance systems and improve performance to achieve institutional, programmatic, and professional national and international accreditations.
2. Conduct and support institutional research within the boundaries of quality and academic accreditation to improve university's performance.
3. Enhance the university identity and its leadership role in enriching quality best practices and excellence for higher education institutions.
4. Provide training programs, workshops and webinars to instill IAU values and quality culture to meet the institutional, programmatic, and quality assurance systems requirements.
5. Enhance sustainability of buildings, work environment associated facilities, equipment, and property of the Deanship, and implement digital transformation in office works to reduce paper and energy consumption.
6. Support IAU deanships, directorates and centers to develop and document quality systems and achieve ISO certification and accreditation.
7. Contribute to increasing the university’s revenues by accrediting and operating selected laboratories on a commercial basis and providing paid consultancy services.
8. Provide innovative electronic applications to enable and automate IAU management to collect required data for taking effective and timely decisions to improve the quality of higher education.

What We Do?

1. We develop commitment to quality management & improvement
   The Deanship
   
   1. Promotes understanding of the importance of Quality Management (QM) as well as Academic and Professional Accreditation, and, of strategies to achieve both.
   2. Develops mission and objectives for QM in IAU and encourage all its units to take similar action in their own spheres of professional activity.
   3. Arrange for recognition and reward in IAU for significant improvements and outstanding achievements in quality.
   4. Involves stakeholders in strategies for QM and Academic as well as Professional Accreditation.
   5. Ensures community awareness of significant achievements in the Institution.
   6. Seeks collaboration with industry in the enrolment and education of students in the proposed Quality Management Programmes

2. We assist & support internal administrative units in their quality improvement planning
   The Deanship
   1. Arrange for the nomination and/or appointment of quality officers in administrative units in different parts of IAU.
   2. Provides or arrange training for IAU staff in QM processes and accreditation.
   3. Cooperate with internal units in the provision of orientation and induction programs for new staff to ensure understanding and support for QM and Accreditation strategies.
   4. Assist in the preparation of QM plans and their evaluation.
   5. Develops and recommend standard forms for use in IAU to conduct surveys and report on quality indicators such as teaching evaluation, employer or graduate surveys, and, program and course specifications and reports.
   6. Provides technical support for calculations of validity and reliability of assessment tasks and evaluation surveys.
   7. (a) Collaborates with Alumni set up in IAU to conduct surveys of graduates and other stakeholders.
      (b) Maintain contact with graduates and other stakeholders and seek their opinion and advice on QM strategies.
   8. Assists internal units to identify independent evaluators to assist them in their QM & Accreditation activities, and advice on QM.
   9. Provides reference material and disseminate information about other institutions in Saudi Arabia and abroad that would assist faculty and staff throughout the Institutions on QM and Academic Accreditation.

3. We coordinates institution-wide strategies for QM and improvement & academic accreditation
   The Deanship
   
   1. Develops a QM plan for IAU as a whole.
   2. Specifies Key Performance Indicators [KPIs] for use across IAU, leaving scope for individual units to define additional indicators relevant to their own activities.
   3. Maintains files and records (preferably in ë-format) of plans, reports, statistical information, and other information for reference over time.
      • Publish data on time-series and trends across IAU
   4. Follows up plans for quality improvement to monitor implementation, and, evaluate success.(i.e. Ensure closure of the Audit Cycle.)
   5. Coordinates and lead the preparation and management of external institutional reviews.
      • Coordinates these with external program levels.

4. We report the development in QM to IAU as a whole
   The Deanship
   1. Prepares annual reports on QM & Academic Accreditation, drawing on KPIs and consolidated information from reports of internal units.
   2. Lead periodic institution self-studies for IAU; coordinate these with the timing and conduct of program self-studies as a quality culture for all IAU.