To boost protection of its affiliates, in line with the directives of the UQU President, the Colleges of Engineering and Computers in Al-Leith have taken a number of preventive and precautionary steps and procedures to confront any possible outbreak of Coronavirus in the facilities of the two colleges. Precautionary steps were taken in the offices of the academic staff and employees, supportive departments, prayer areas, corridors and classrooms of the colleges, where more than 20 hand sterilizers were placed..

The two colleges have sprayed all offices and corridors with disinfectants, and have suspended the fingerprint system, using paper attendance sheets instead, in line with the directives of the UQU President. They have also intensified regular cleaning, ventilated some offices, and sterilized elevators, door handles, walls, and desktop surfaces.

On the awareness arena, the Department of Public Relations and Media in the two colleges, in collaboration with the Safety Department, held a number of awareness meetings with the employees and cleaning supervisors. These meetings gave information about the Novel Coronavirus, infection control, and prevention methods, in addition to teaching proper sterilization methods and directly enhancing staff protection. Moreover, the departments organized awareness and educational messages, signboards and TV screens, and messages sent by the university in the social media websites. This is in addition to the continuity of the educational process via the Blackboard platform, and the academic staff members providing health and preventive tips in the interactive classrooms during the scientific lectures presented via the Blackboard system to provide comprehensive information about Coronavirus.

The Dean of the Colleges of Engineering and Computers, Dr. Iskandar bin Muhammad Hawsawi, expressed his appreciation for the directives of His Excellency Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail, President of Umm Al-Qura University, and his close follow-up and opening channels of communication. All this comes from his keenness to prepare the educational environment and apply the directives of the Ministry of Education and the relevant authorities in order to increase awareness and take preventive and precautionary procedures in all the facilities of the university and its branches to curb the outbreak of Coronavirus.

He highlighted the keenness of the UQU President to ensure that all the academic and administrative staff members in each college follow up their job duties of continuing the educational process, coordinating the distance learning procedures, responding to the inquiries of the students, and ensuring readiness of virtual classrooms during the study suspension period via the learning methods provided by the Ministry of education and overseen by the university. This will take place through the Blackboard virtual platform, which will provide all services as an alternative to complete the educational process without the direct attendance of the students in the college. The system provides lectures in a synchronized manner, solves assignments, and uses digital enrichment materials depending on the application available for Apple and Android under the title: ‘Unified Education System’.

Dr. Hawsawi appreciated the efforts exerted by the government of the Saudi Kingdom, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz (may Allah safeguard them), to curb the outbreak of epidemics, including the Novel Coronavirus.