Program Assessment Team Visit Exit Meeting

Mechanical Engineering Program

 Dr. Ahmet S. Yigit Kuwait University  Dr. Ramazan Kahraman Chemical Eng. Dept, KFUPM  Dr. Syed M. Zubair Mech. Eng., KFUPM  Dr. Necar Merah Mech. Eng., KFUPM Program Team Representative AT Members for Mechanical Engineering

Program Overall Assessment  Well established program  Appears to be fulfilling its mission  Administration is effective and supportive of the goals  Excellent collegial environment  Excellent preparation

Program Strengths  Faculty  Outstanding credentials  Dedicated and hard working  Cover all the required areas of ME  Students  Some of the brightest in the Kingdom  Articulate with good command of English  Confident about their abilities and job prospects  Proud to be a KFUPM student, and pleased with their education

Program Strengths  Facilities  State of the art laboratories  Excellent library and IT facilities  Modern classrooms  Adequate funding  To maintain and upgrade facilities  For research  For faculty development

Program Areas for Improvement  Objectives and outcomes  Improve the process of evaluating program educational objectives and involve all constituents  Need to develop and implement a detailed assessment plan for the program outcomes – surveys are not sufficient

Program Areas for Improvement  Curriculum and instruction  Quality of major design experience can be improved  A cornerstone design course may be useful  Need to provide awareness of professional and ethical responsibilities  Communication and teamwork skills need some more emphasis  Educational value of some Arabic courses may be enhanced  Need more flexible and broad general education component (e.g., management, leadership, international relations, history etc)  Need more real world applications in coursework

Program Areas for Improvement  Laboratories and facilities  Need to maintain quality technical support staff (technicians and lab engineers)  Need additional space for new labs and for expansion of existing ones  Need study space for students (learning center)  Student support and advising  Work on a two-year plan for elective course offerings

Program Areas for Improvement  Process control  Processing time for promotion cases vary greatly- consider requiring periodic reports on the progress of promotion cases  No written feedback is provided to faculty on their evaluation once the process is complete  Faculty  Faculty salaries and fringe benefits (health care) are not satisfactory  Some faculty view committee work as excessive  No consulting is allowed for expatriate faculty

Summary The programs offered by ME department are very good, but they can be made even better.

Thank You