Institutional Academic Assessment and Effectiveness in Higher Education: A Saudi Arabia Case Study

Amani K. Hamdan Alghamdi, Ghazi Alotaibi, & Osama Ibrahim   |    Volume Fifteen  |   

The Vision 2030 agenda was recently adopted as a roadmap and methodology for developmental and economic action throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030 includes support for universities’ academic and administrative operations through the collection, rigorous analysis, and reporting of a wide range of data. Prefaced with an overview of the Saudi economic, policy, and educational landscape, the paper’s main contribution is a case study of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), chosen because of its recent attempt to institutionalize academic assessment protocols, procedures and culture. It institutionalized a directorate focused on academic assessment, launched a Decision Support Unit dashboard, and developed key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess students’ academic performance, course performance and employability. The IAU has since become a regional leader in higher education assessment. Emulating their approach affords other Saudi higher education institutions the opportunity to increase Saudi graduates’ ability to directly contribute to the country’s economy, ultimately promoting economic growth, diversification, and development as envisioned in Vision 2030.

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