Under the auspices of the UQU President, Prof. Moaddi bin Muhammad Aal Madh-hab, the Deanship of the Joint First Year organized the ‘Virtual Major Selection Forum’ for the students of the deanship. The forum was held last week, 16–18 Sha`ban, with the aim of helping students make the right decision regarding choosing their university career and introducing them to the majors available at Umm Al-Qura University.

The University Vice President for Educational Affairs, Dr. Amer Al-Zaidi, stated that the forum contributes to charting the way for students to choose the university major by the end of the academic year. He added that recent studies that have targeted thousands of young men and women indicate that the most educational challenge at the university level is choosing the appropriate major. The studies also show that those who possess sufficient information about the majors available at the beginning of their university life can choose the appropriate major and master it in the future.

The Dean of the Joint First Year Deanship, Dr. Waheeb Al-Harbi, noted that this introductory forum is an integrated program that the deanship presents annually, in which the deanship harnesses its capabilities to serve its male and female students by finding a balance between academic and personal qualification and by providing academic courses along with extracurricular activities, according to quality and excellence-based standards. He praised the UQU President's continuous support of everything that helps the students of the Joint First Year overcome the difficulties they might face.

Moreover, the forum provided an explanation of how to use the electronic major selection tool. Success stories were also presented with the participation of college students, and the students' questions were answered to save them much time and effort in aimlessly searching and investigating or in being hesitant and uncertain. A set of handy options and experiences are provided to help them to confidently define their specialization in accordance with their capabilities, potentials, inclinations, and the needs of the Saudi labor market.