The Quality Assurance Department held a workshop on the latest updates included in the Universities Guide for the Outcomes-Based Framework (OBF) – Version 11.5, issued by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, with the aim of supporting best practices in academic assessment.
The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Hani Bakr, Vice Chancellor of the University, who welcomed the attendees. The session was attended by deans of colleges, directors, heads of departments, and members of the academic and administrative staff. He emphasized the critical importance of the quality of the educational process and its role in graduating qualified individuals for the labor market, positively impacting society and ensuring sustainable development.
The workshop was delivered by Dr. Mohammed Al-Saeedi, Director of the Quality Assurance Department. It included a review of performance indicators, with a focus on the latest updates and implementation mechanisms to ensure the quality of the educational process. It also addressed the nature, importance, and accuracy of data collected from various colleges and departments, as they form the fundamental basis for evaluating institutional and academic program performance.
Dr. Al-Saeedi further explained the process of submitting this data from the Quality Assurance Department to the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research through the Master Application Programming Interface (Master API) and the Higher Education Database (HEDB), highlighting the files and data uploaded to the platform and the mechanism of direct integration with the Ministry.
The workshop also included a comprehensive presentation of the key updates in the framework, which consists of 24 key performance indicators distributed across six pillars: Employment Outcomes (25%), Learning Outcomes (25%), Partnership and Collaboration (20%), Research Outputs (15%), Reputation (10%), and Community Engagement (5%). It was clarified that 24 indicators are applied at the institutional level and 22 indicators at the academic program level.
In addition, the workshop highlighted a major new update: the introduction of the Future Readiness Assessment, an independent evaluation that does not affect the framework’s overall score. It is based on two equally weighted dimensions: Alignment with Future Skills (50%), which measures how well academic programs align with emerging future skills driven by technological advancements and labor market needs, and AI-Supported Teaching and Learning (50%), which evaluates the extent to which institutions integrate artificial intelligence in program design, delivery, student assessment, and faculty development. Institutions achieving ≥90% in skills alignment and ≥80% in AI-related indicators are awarded the Future Readiness classification.
The workshop witnessed extensive discussions and high engagement, contributing to maximizing its benefits. The discussions focused on implementation mechanisms, data accuracy, methods for calculating indicators and their respective weights, and the timelines assigned to each indicator, ensuring the quality and accuracy of submitted data.
This workshop comes as part of the University’s commitment to enhancing the quality of education, keeping pace with the latest directives issued by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and supporting the readiness of academic programs and students to meet labor market demands and modern technological developments.