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In The Name of Allah the most Beneficent the most Merciful
Praise be to Allah Who blessed us with Islam and Peace and blessed
be our Prophet Mohammad, His family, and his Companions.
Dear Brothers and sisters…. Dear Colleagues,
Thanks to Allah the Almighty …. Then to my brothers, KAU
Vice-presidents and all KAU staff for
organizing this festive ceremony which I would not have accepted if
it were not for my desire to meet with you all to determine our
vision and plans for the next four years.
You, dear brothers and sisters, are an outstanding team, a loyal and
faithful team that I cherish and feel proud to be a member of; Allah
has blessed you with such values to better serve the interests of
this university and those of the country. You are a team that never
spare any efforts or time in achieving their noble objectives.
I recall in these moments of joy and faithfulness the engagements
and oaths we took during our past meetings when we joined hands to
achieve the goals of our common plans to develop this university in
all its sectors and activities. We have worked with determination
and faith in ourselves to succeed in our sincere and constructive
efforts towards the outstanding achievements we were able to attain
with the grace of Allah and the active participation of every one of
you.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The achievements that have been attained are well known to you all
as you are the ones who made them happen. As an example, I would
like to mention what KAU has achieved in the International
University Ranking and the preservation of its leading position in
international academic accreditation, earning more than 40
international academic accreditations, not to mention a large number
of ISO administrative and technical certifications. We also
continued to harvest numerous domestic, regional, and international
awards. We have attained excellent achievements in the fields of
curriculum development and research activities. We have gained a
prominent position for ourselves for our research published in some
of the most renowned research journals and through our cooperation
and cooperative programs with more than one hundred international
institutions in addition to the
International Advisory Board. We have expanded in terms of
quality, quantity and profit to provide academic education all over
the kingdom and even outside Saudi Arabia.
All of this was attained despite various adverse conditions that you
all know of and could have resulted in failure to achieve the
planned development. However, with the blessing of Allah, the
support of our wise government and the determination of our
university staff, we were able to overcome all those obstacles.
The focal point of those achievements remains, in my opinion, the
results of successful proliferation and adherence to the culture of
development, excellence and a loyal affiliation to the university.
Every one of us acquired that culture and became a devoted
practitioner of its principles until this university savored
successive achievements within the implementation of the first
university strategic plan, scoring a 78% attainment ratio which is
quite an achievement of strategic planning by international
standards.
All these achievements are the fruits of your most appreciated
efforts and dedication at all levels; from Vice-Presidents, Deans,
faculty members to administrative and technical staff.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Acknowledging exploits is a virtue. Our university went through
several tenures led by dedicated, enthusiastic and faithful
officials who achieved tremendous success that marked the
development of this university. Our achievements are the
continuation of those of the previous administrations which gave
this university the advantage of being one of the most successful
higher education institutions in the region. Those dedicated
officials deserve today to be remembered and honored for their noble
efforts.
Now, we stand before a new tenure that requires doubling the
efforts, additional striving and utmost dedication to attain more
rewarding development and achievements for our university and to
better serve our community and country as well as reinforce our
contribution to the well-being of humanity as a whole.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The results of the university's first strategic plan show that the
least sought achievements were in the field of academic research and
related applications such as inventions, patents and their transfer
to applicable outcomes. The only excuse – if we were to seek one-
would be the fact that this university did not start to focus on
academic research and its application until recently. This late
interest in the field can be attributed to a lack of basic structure
for academic research. However, now that the necessary
infrastructure to conduct research has been provided, including
well-equipped labs with up-to-date technology, with excellent
research centers and rewarding publication and invention
remunerations and with the provision of mechanisms for intellectual
and property rights protection in addition to the opportunity of
their investment through the Business and Knowledge Alliance and
Jeddah Valley Company, no excuses can be sought. Also the advantage
of research culture dissemination and distinctive outcomes that I am
beginning to see and whose development and attainments filled me
with pride and satisfaction is a favorable environment for more
academic research, for more research publishing in renowned
journals, for more inventions and their patents, for more transfer
to products of knowledge investments, and for more companies in
which you contribute and earn substantial monetary and intellectual
rewards.
Indeed, we are ready to elevate ourselves to new frontiers, to new
developmental achievements. Indeed we believe this is our arena and
with our enthusiasm, with our determination and devotion, there will
be no more excuses.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I remind you and myself of the importance of the trusteeship thrust
upon our shoulders towards our sons and daughters, students of this
university, in terms of the quality of our performance of our duties
towards them, of our commitment to course content, exams, references
and schedules. We must be exemplary role models. This university has
provided all its facilities, know-how and mechanisms to serve the
students. Certainly, we feel enthusiastic about our students and we
believe that they are our priority. Indeed, we have realized that
this is not the time for excuses.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Everybody is aware of the huge benefits of exchanging views and
expressing opinions in constructive discussions. It is also no
secret to anyone the importance of active participation of our
younger students, faculty members or staff. This is confirmed by the
outcome of university efforts to enrich views and the general
involvement in decision making, recommendations and directives
through workshops, through meetings between students and university
officials, through the open door policy, through the involvement of
the Women’s Campus officials in the University Council and Deans’
Committees as well as on many other committees. Also the male and
female students’ participation in the Deans’ Consultative Committees
are of utmost importance. We, at the founder's university, also
ought to establish a foundation for greater participation of our
youngsters and senior citizens, of our men and women in matters
pertaining to university issues. We must encourage them to express
their opinions. Let us work together on finding ways to hire the
very best for university positions and to provide equal opportunity
for all. Let us work together to generalize the participation
experience in meetings to include all university councils,
committees and teams. Let us interact further, share more
willingness to fulfill university staff’s hopes, expectations and
suggestions. Let us further develop our interaction with students by
listening to them, by engaging them in dialogue, by meeting their
needs and encouraging their participation in extracurricular
activities.
As a matter of fact, we are ready for more communication and for
paying more attention to others’ opinions. In fact, we do need that.
In addition, we are confident of our responsiveness to all these
mechanisms and initiatives for boosting the level of communication
and effective participation of the university management
in terms of opinion, advice and action, because indeed, we
are enthusiastic,,,, because we are aware that we have no more
excuses after today… no more excuses.
Dear Colleagues,
The second university strategic plan that we started a while ago
demands concerted efforts to be able to fulfill its objectives. It
also needs the activation of more programs for the maintenance of
university assets and the protection of its staff and residents in
cases of emergencies or disasters. The wonderful programs and plans
we established already,
the accuracy of planning standards for these programs,
the assignment memos that were sent to all for prompt
implementation, the level of our enthusiasm towards more and more
achievements -- all of these factors incite us to work harder, to
strive for more tender because indeed, we are enthusiastic as we are
aware that there are no more excuses after today,,, no more excuses.
Dear innovators,
I am confident that what has been achieved in this university has
been done without using the university's full capacity. What would
happen then if we were to dedicate our full capacity and if all
university employees were to become involved?
Undoubtedly, we will be more comfortable to fulfill the trust
bestowed on us and our university. We will be singled out from
around the world and we will serve all whole humanity. I urge
everyone who made an effort and achieved his/her goals to work
further. I also invite those who are in a state of vegetation and
hesitation to roll up their sleeves and participate with us.
If we liken our achievements to a train, this train started its
journey with just a few passengers on board. However, I expect
waiting passengers to board for further development, achievements,
creativity and the satisfaction of achievement and reward from the
Almighty Allah.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
During my first tenure, I raised to you my right hand asking for
your support and help. You kept your promise. In my second tenure, I
raised both my hands asking for help and assistance, and you kept
your promise again. Now in my third tenure, I continue to raise both
hands so that everyone’s assistance and help will bring further
participation and involvement from all sides so that we can continue
to develop the university towards a full realization of its nature
and goals.
We will not be satisfied with less than the stars as we will not be
satisfied with less than 110% achievement in terms of quantity and
quality because we are, dear audience, capable and enthusiastic
achievers who will succeed with the grace of Allah.
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