The Head of the UQU Department of Architectural Engineering, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Bukhari, said the department's bachelor program obtained the first accreditation from the German Academic Accreditation Agency (ASIIN) after the initial submission of the documents and fulfillment of all the requirements in coordination with the Vice Presidency for Development and Entrepreneurship, which organized the field visit of the agency to the university on February 2018 A.C.

In his speech to the Media Center, Dr. Al-Bukhari said the department started its endeavors four years ago to obtain academic accreditation from ASIIN for its bachelor program, realizing its importance in developing the academic educational environment and setting international standards in education, scientific research and community service.

Education Quality

He added that obtaining academic accreditation is an important step for the bachelor program of Islamic Architecture to achieve quality in university education and ensure that students will receive a quality educational environment in line with international standards, in addition to keeping pace with the rapid developments in the field of the specialization and ensuring continuity in developing teaching methods and the relevancy of the program with the needs and requirements of the labor market

He said the agreement with ASIIN concluded in coordination with the UQU Vice Presidency for Development and Entrepreneurship represented by the Vice Deanship of University Development and Quality and the National Center for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) according to the regulations governing academic accreditation in the Kingdom.

He explained that the UQU Department of Islamic Architecture is a unique academic school that took it upon itself to instill this science and art into future national architects through an urban environment study program. This mission aims to observe Islamic teachings and sunnah values in building schemes and urban design for Islamic communities.

Vision 2030

Dr. Al-Bukhari indicated that in light of the Vision 2030, the department copes with the latest developments in the field. It competes with peers and ensures it constantly develops its programs to prepare generations of qualified architects who are well-versed in their religious teachings related to their specialty application and identity formation.

The Head of the UQU Department of Islamic Architecture appreciated the great support the department received to obtain academic accreditation from His Excellency the President of Umm Al-Qura University, Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail; Vice President of the University for Development and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Hani Ghazi; the Dean of the College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Dr. Ahmad bin Naif Al-Ahmadi; and the Dean of Academic Development and Quality, Dr. Muhammad Thabit. He explained that the university aims to develop and qualify all the colleges and departments to obtain the international and national accreditations which contribute to increasing the quality of the academic and administrative performance and placing the university amongst the top 200 universities in the world.

It is worth mentioning that ASIIN is a German, federal non-profit accreditation organization specialized in granting academic accreditation certificates to under and post graduate programs in the fields of natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and computers. ASIIN has vast expertise in the accreditation of academic programs and obtains a wide range of scientists, experts, and specialists in the field of academic accreditation and quality inside and outside Germany. Moreover, the standards adopted by ASIIN keep pace with European standards of higher education.