As a continuation of the consultation approach between faculty members and the administration, and out of the keenness to maintain the continuous  development of education and learning methods and strategies, the College of Public Health and Health Informatics held an academic meeting on Monday 1 Muharram 1439AH, corresponding with 16 October 2016. The meeting was titled: “Vice-Deanship for Educational Affairs at FPHHI: Working Together for Continuous Improvement”.
The lecture was delivered by the Dean of the College of Educational Affairs, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Health, Dr. Ali Mohsen Al-Shahri.

The lecture was attended by the Dean of the College, Dr. Wahib bin Dakheil-Allah Al-Harby; the Vice Dean of the College, Dr. Hamid Ghulam; the Supervisor of the College’s Vice Deanship for Hospital Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Abdullah Othman; Supervisor of the College’s Vice Deanship for Graduate Studies and scientific Research, Dr. Ayman Gouda Abu Al-Fotouh; in addition to supervisors of different departments, and several faculty members from the different departments within the college.

At the beginning of the presentation, Dr. Al-Shahri showcased the tasks and responsibilities of the Vice Deanship for Educational Affairs in the College, represented in: Following-up all the activities and cases related to the educational process in the college, as well as supervising its track smoothly, in addition to guaranteeing implementing the policies and programs in the fields of educational affairs. Moreover, the tasks include directing and offering consulting to students and supervising the units and committees concerned with educational affairs, in addition to planning and supervising the students’ extracurricular activities.

He also addressed continuous improvement in the workplace, explaining that it is an ongoing cycle of looking at and evaluating process and procedures in the workplace in order to help enhance the way things are done; this eventually aims to make the way of doing activities as effective as possible, which essentially means that this process revolves around collecting information about daily operations; meaning that there is an ongoing process to improve undertaking tasks.  

He pointed out the necessity of continuing to ask oneself as a faculty member whether or not one’s performance is satisfactory, as well as ask ourselves "Where do we stand compared to others?”  Can we carry out more improvements?  What improvements can we adopt?  How can improve what we do? He also stressed the importance of “feedback” among all participants in the educational process for continuous improvement.

He then put forward some educational aspects that were noticed to require improvement. They included adhering to the lectures schedule and a uniform based on each specialty. He also highlighted the importance of writing a report at the end of every academic year  by all the committees, in order to help improve students’ academic performance.

He proposed some suggestions that were previously presented. They included: Unifying some repeated courses in different departments, concluding agreements with foreign interested parties, maintaining a healthy environment in the college, checking whether students are happy with their specialties, following the available mechanisms to motivate students to study, and conducting discussions with students about ways to maintain a healthy academic culture.

As the lecture came to a close, attendees discussed a few of these issues, including: Agreeing to establish regulations for the college that are based on UQU's regulations, in addition to holding sessions and workshops to raise awareness among students, especially newcomers.  The importance of activating a unified Absence and Excuses Committee for the college was also pointed out, especially in cases where students are prohibited from entering finals or have missed periodic tests. Another point that was discussed included the importance of issuing warnings for students who exceed certain absence rates. In addition, attendees discussed the need to emphasize students' adherence to uniforms, as well as maintaining discipline in their appearance and not smoking on campus. They also emphasized the importance of the role of course reports in improving performance, and the need to review and benefit from comments and suggestions in these reports as well as the changes that could be done to the courses.

 Attendees also discussed the importance of unifying the methods followed to assess students, whether in terms of tests or other matters, in order to achieve justice between all students of the college and involve them in the assessment process to ensure improvement takes place.  The importance of activating academic guidance for students was also emphasized, in addition to paying attention to field and social activities to enhance the educational performance within the college.   The attendees also discussed preparation difficulties facing the educational process, such as air-conditioning issues, and the availability of classrooms and studios, in addition to the issue of providing some general services for students in the college, such as the cafeteria and stationeries.