HEAD OF TOP SAUDI UNIVERSITY LEADS THE DEVELOPMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 009469

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DHAHRAN SENDS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU
STATE FOR NEA/PPD - CWHITTLESEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2015
TAGS: SOCI KMPI PINR SA
SUBJECT: HEAD OF TOP SAUDI UNIVERSITY LEADS THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SAG'S 25-YEAR PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

Classified By: Classified by Consul General John Kincannon for reasons
1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Summary: CG John Kincannon and consulate staff met
with Dr. Khaled S. Al Sultan, Rector and CEO of King Fahd
University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) on December 17th

2005. Al Sultan discussed current challenges facing the
university, the importance of educational exchange, and
KFUPM's involvement with SAG's 25-year strategic plan for
higher education. The 2-year development of this plan will
include extensive studies of the needs of higher education in
Saudi Arabia, and result in a 5-year implementation plan. End
Summary.

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"THE SAUDI UNIVERSITY WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS"
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2. (U) KFUPM began as the College of Petroleum and Minerals
in 1964, founded to train people to work at Aramco. Long been
considered the best university in Saudi Arabia, standards
seem to have slipped within the past decade, but it still
remains Saudi Arabia's top public university. Over 17,000 men
apply each year (no female students are accepted),and 1800
are selected on the basis of their final high school
examination, subject tests in the sciences, and an aptitude
test.


3. (SBU) "We have no competitors," said Al Sultan. About 1200
students graduate each year, each with 4 to 5 good job
offers. Alumni constitute significant proportions of the
boards of major organizations - 25 of 38 Aramco VPs graduated
from KFUPM, as did 8 of 16 SABIC senior executives. The
university offers bachelors of science and master's degrees
in sciences, engineering, computer science, industrial
management and finance, and environmental design. It has a
growing graduate program that includes PhD's in many of these
fields.

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CHALLENGES IN RECRUITING AND RETAINING FACULTY
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4. (C) Attracting top-level Saudi students is easy, but
recruiting top international faculty is not. The
international competition for faculty is fierce, and external
events affect the process. The rise in China's economy for
instance, says Al Sultan, significantly hurt KFUPM's English
program when many native English teachers were attracted by
new opportunities in China. There is also high turnover with
the Saudi faculty, who find that teaching at the prestigious
university opens up many other opportunities. "We are victims
of our own success," he noted.


5. (SBU) The other major challenge identified by Al Sultan is
to strengthen KFUPM's position as the leader of higher
education in Saudi Arabia. Many KFUPM's decisions in the past
have been on the cutting edge of education in Saudi Arabia.
They were the first university to introduce an internship
component to the course of study, to teach entirely in
English, and to link degrees to the needs of the market. Al
Sultan wishes to continue to lead the way with new ideas,
including distance learning, the development of commercially
viable products out of university research, and expanding the
community service activities of KFUPM, both in the EP and in
Saudi Arabia as a whole.

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"STUDENTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN BUSINESSMEN"
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6. (SBU) As someone who studied in the United States, Al
Sultan strongly believes in the importance of educational
exchange. He encouraged graduate students to go to the US
even during the months after 9/11, when many were reluctant
to go. He says the US-Saudi relationship is "strengthened
not by businessmen but by students." He is happy that Saudi
Arabia is investing in sending students to study in the U.S.,
and said the scholarships pose no threat to KFUPM's ability
to attract top students. Al Sultan stated the importance of
having an international perspective in education; there are
60 nationalities on the teaching staff. There are also many
foreign students, although most are of Middle Eastern origin.

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HIGHER EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA: THE NEXT 25 YEARS
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7. (C) KFUPM is managing a 2-year project to develop a
25-year strategic plan for higher education in Saudi Arabia.
This includes, Al Sultan said, "everything - private
education, women's education, everything that is post
secondary", although vocational training is considered
separate. The US-based firm Charles River Associates are
assisting in the development of the plan, and Al Sultan says
the process is very participatory. Focus groups will be held
with parents, students, and alumni; other universities will
be invited to participate. "It's a little sensitive that one
university has been chosen to develop the plan for the entire
kingdom," said Al Sultan, "but we're trying to assure the
other universities that they will be included in the process."


8. (U) The project already has a website: aafaq.kfupm.edu.sa,
where the objectives and plans are detailed in both English
and Arabic. This website includes calls for bids to complete
a range of technical studies of the needs of the higher
educational system in Saudi Arabia. These studies will be
followed by national and international workshops and
conferences. Participants are also welcome to contribute via
the internet. The final result will be a detailed
implementation plan for the next 5 years, with a mechanism
for continued strategic planning for the next 25 years.

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BIO NOTE
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9. (U) Dr. Khaled Saleh Al Sultan has spent a great deal of
time at KFUPM, as a student, professor, and administrator. He
was appointed by Royal Decree as the Rector and CEO of KFUPM
in May 2003. Al Sultan served as the Deputy Minister for
Educational Affairs, at the Ministry of Higher Education in
Riyadh from 1998 to 2003. Before that he worked as a
professor and department chair of KFUPM's System's
Engineering Department. His BS and MS in Systems Engineering
are from KFUPM, and he received an MS in Applied Maths and a
PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1990. He is originally
from Al Gassim, Saudi Arabia.

(APPROVED KINCANNON)
GFOELLER