Speech by the Dean of the College

Speech by Dean of the College:

The challenges in the field of science and technology are a reality that makes it imperative for developing countries to change their attitudes towards science and technology and to strive to provide all possible support to scientific research institutions to catch up with and keep pace with developed nations.

The establishment of Al-Huda University College in Anbar Governorate - Ramadi City was due to an urgent and necessary need for the specializations and departments opened there, whose outputs are supplied by state institutions in general and the Anbar Governorate with the departments of health, education, water, oil, as well as the laboratories of the public and private sectors with highly qualified graduates in their field of specialization.

Since its establishment in 2020, Al-Huda University College has set several strategic goals, particularly achieving excellence in advanced fields such as engineering, medical and health technology, accounting, and law, as well as to reach the so-called edges of science and nanotechnology. Thus, it embodies its vision and fulfills its mission to serving and developing the community. For this reason, the college has strived to implement plans and programs that include its various departments to keep pace with the highest international standards and in accordance with quality criteria. It is also constantly working to develop and improve these plans in line with developments taking place in society. From this standpoint, we believe that the success of colleges in fulfilling their mission and building a generation of graduates capable of carrying responsibility and the advancement of society are sufficient to ensure the success of its scientific and societal roles. For this reason, our college has worked hard to attract distinguished local teaching staff members to develop a generation of graduates equipped with the knowledge, scientific skills, and creative abilities to compete in the job market. That is why our college has worked hard to attract a locally distinguished teaching staff in an effort to prepare a generation of graduates armed with knowledge, science and creative skills to be able to compete in the labor market. To raise the efficiency of the teaching staff, Al-Huda University College has worked to encourage scientific research through efforts to contribute to publishing fees and granting material and moral prizes for publishing in indexed international journals in addition to subscribing to international databases.

In line with these principles, a strategic plan has been prepared to develop Al-Huda University College for the years 2023-2028 Based on an analysis of the circumstances surrounding the college, to be compatible with the vision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and international standards in developing college staff, its curricula, scientific laboratories, laboratory equipment, and advanced applied computer programs, administrative and research units, and aim to enhance the role of the academic and scientific role of teaching staff, raise the intellectual and scientific level of students, discover their abilities and develop mechanisms for cooperation with universities, government departments and institutions, and civil society organizations. As well as, providing shared services to the community and supporting Al-Huda University College's position in local and international rankings. The college's new vision, mission, and core values are a genuine motivation for all college members to implement the college's new strategy. Furthermore, the college's strategy is based on a comprehensive and precise strategic analysis aimed at achieving the strategic objectives, providing students with the highest level of education, and creating a scientific research environment compatible with developments in the higher education sector, both regionally and globally.

1. Introduction :

Al-Huda University College is a private scientific institution not affiliated with a university. It has a legal personality and financial and administrative independence represented by the Dean of the College. The college has its own flag and a logo placed on its flag, documents and correspondence.

Since its opening, the college has sought to follow a policy of continuous development and improvement of its performance and achieve its goals for which it was established, It looks forward to providing a scientific, academic, and research system, both theoretical and practical, to achieve excellence and mastery and contributing to the preparation of specialized and distinguished scientific cadres in terms of qualification, training, and work with high professionalism and expertise, by implementing integrated specialized educational programs characterized by the highest level of quality, efficiency and flexibility, it relies on modern technologies and keeps pace with scientific development and the information revolution.

2- A historical overview about Al-Huda University College:

Al-Huda University College was established in 2020 in Anbar Governorate – Ramadi City according to Ministerial Order No. (T H A/K 8443 dated 14/12/2020). Students began studying there during the academic year 2020-2021. The number of students who admitted that year reached (226) distributed into three main departments: The Fuel and Energy Engineering Techniques Department, the Accounting Department and Medical Laboratory Techniques Department.

The college has experienced remarkable growth at all levels, including the number of students enrolled, the number of academic departments, and the number of workshops and laboratories. The college has experienced remarkable growth at all levels, including the number of students enrolled, the number of academic departments, and the number of workshops and laboratories.

The Department of Law was established in the academic year (2021-2022), and the college seeks to establish other specialized scientific departments such as pharmacy, Dentistry, Radiology techniques, Anesthesia, Business Administration Techniques, Computer Engineering Techniques and Medical Devices Engineering.

3- Strategic plan

     It is a set of programs, procedures, and policies that represent the priorities of effective management in the college. They are implemented over a five-year period based on an analysis of the college's reality. Then, priorities and requirements are established to achieve quality results in the different specializations available at the college. This is done based on the college's vision, mission, and objectives, as well as the optimal use of available material resources and human competencies within the college, to work within the right path within a specific time frame and avoid overlapping and duplication of decisions, strategic planning is one of the most important requirements for a university to achieve institutional and academic accreditation and activate its quality and performance systems.

4- Determine the paths of the strategic plan

It consists of defining both the college's vision and mission and the college's values and goals, these concepts were identified and presented to specialized committees, which were then presented to the College Council for approval:

College vision

     Al-Huda University College seeks to achieve excellence locally and in the Arab world and work to raise its level to the international level by achieving scientific sobriety and making the college a pioneer in the field of higher education and scientific research.

College message

To offer high-quality academic programs that reflect local and international scientific and technological developments, prepare graduates qualified for leadership and innovation in our college's academic fields, and serve the community through effective participation in various sectors in the country.

Values

Focusing on issues of concern to society within a framework that preserves the rights of all individuals, achieves justice and equality, promotes national spirit, belonging, and belief in teamwork, provides moral support, and encourages creativity and innovation.

The college's objectives:

• Preparing and qualifying an educated, cultured generation with high levels in various types of science and knowledge, able to meet the needs of the local and global labor market by accepting all Iraqis and non-Iraqis regardless of gender, race, sect and religion.
• Commitment to the national line based on faith in God, the unity of the people and the homeland, and avoiding atheism.
• Strengthening scientific and cultural ties with Iraqi, Arab and foreign scientific institutions in order to achieve the college's goals.
• Providing advanced cognitive education based on keeping pace with modern developments in scientific specializations and is committed to the authenticity of Iraq's cultural heritage.
• Contributing to the development and delivery of scientific research by keeping pace with the scientific and cultural movement in various aspects of knowledge in scientific research.
• Absorbing human resources that have the ability and desire to learn and enrich scientific research and providing the National Intellectual Library with the best research and inventions and working to open horizons of joint cooperation with scientific institutions to exchange opinions and experiences.
• Upgrading the college's staff to achieve unique professionalism and reach the best approved international standards.
• Encouraging working groups to establish development projects and specialized research projects to access applications in practical life.
• Utilizing information technology and e-governance to provide distinguished services to the labor market.
• To improve the economic and moral efficiency of researchers, academics and experts in all research, technical and administrative fields by preparing well-considered proposals and submit it to the competent authorities.

5- Analysis of the college’s internal and external environment

     The challenges facing Al-Huda University College's internal and external environment require strategic planning based on scientific and practical principles to address these challenges and overcome their impact on the college and its departments. This will be achieved by considering the actual experiences of college members, including teaching staff, employees, and students, In addition to a desk survey of the strategic plans of similar and nearby colleges. The strengths and weaknesses were extracted and the most important available opportunities and obstacles facing the college were identified which represented in the following:

1. Strengths:

The college has many strengths that can be summarized as follows:

1. Availability of human and material resources that will enhance strategic planning paths.
2. The presence of an elite group of teaching staff and support staff members at a high level of university and educational qualification The presence of an elite group of teaching staff and support staff at a high level of university and educational qualification in various departments of the college, with high academic titles and from different age groups, they graduated from local and international universities.
3. The college's serious and continuous endeavor to achieving quality assurance and obtaining academic, programmatic and institutional accreditation.
4. Adopting electronic programs in many of the college’s work and activities (final exam results, grade records, course descriptions, student registration, etc.)
5. The existence of a declared job description within the college and its departments, as well as the organizational and administrative structure.
6. College graduates acquire general and in-depth knowledge in the areas of computers, programming, engineering and medical techniques, the art of public speaking, working in a team spirit, and others.
7. Holding various activities, including seminars, courses, scientific conferences, and community and environmental participation inside and outside the college.
8. Working on issuing a peer-reviewed scientific journal with the college's various specializations.

B. Weaknesses:

They are as follows:

1. Difficulty participating in international conferences and seminars for reasons that are often economic and financial.
2. There are not enough technicians and administrators in workshops and laboratories for scientific departments and administrative units in the collage.
3. The lack of clear policies and methods to motivate teaching staff and support staff to engage in scientific research and community service for the purpose of developing resources and keeping pace with scientific development.
4. Fluctuation in the service of the information network (Internet) within the college.
5. Lack of educational equipment, devices and laboratories.
6. Weakness in the database, information, and electronic archiving in some offices and academic departments within the college.
7. Lack of new service facilities, including parking lots, various playgrounds, and a cultural center.
8. The college does not include a scientific research center or a consulting center among its formations.
9. Location and geographical area of the college.

C. Available opportunities:

The opportunities available to the college that it seeks to exploit are as follows:

1. Supporting the college administration and its departments for a culture of quality and institutional and programmatic academic accreditation.
2. Increasing societal needs and confidence in the college's outputs in specializations that serve the labor market.
3. The existence of several cooperation and twinning agreements between the college and other governmental, universities, private colleges, also with various state institutions, departments and civil society organizations.
4. The college has a distinguished reputation within the governorate and the surrounding area compared to similar colleges.

D- Obstacles (threats):

A set of threats have been identified that limit the optimal exploitation of the college’s strengths and opportunities, the most important of which are:

1. Difficulty in completing contracts with teaching staff, teaching support staff, and new employees due to limited resources and financial allocations, which constitutes an obstacle to achieving the goals of the college's strategic plan.
2. Imposing laws and regulations from outside the college that restrict and limit effective decision-making. Restricting private colleges to the laws and instructions of public colleges and universities (Centralization in the private university education system).
3. Establishing corresponding scientific colleges and departments and competing within the college's geographical area.
4. The drain of teaching, technical, and administrative expertise from the college to other competing academic institutions due to financial constraints.
5. Disguised unemployment and public sector saturation reduce college graduates' employment opportunities and their ability to secure suitable positions in their field of specialization.

6-Objectives of the college's strategic plan:

A set of strategic objectives has been identified that the college seeks to achieve over the next five years (2023-2028), which are as follows:

1. Evaluating the college's educational landscape and identifying its strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

1. Developing and updating the college's policies in the fields of medical technology, renewable energy engineering, accounting, and law.

1. Achieving excellence in the outcomes of the college's educational process in accordance with the needs of the evolving labor market.

1. Raising the level of efficiency of college teachers in terms of:

• Using modern technologies in education.
• Providing an attractive and stimulating work environment for teaching staff and researchers.
• Updating and developing appropriate teaching methods by the college's teaching staff.
• Encouraging teaching staff to publish their scientific research in accredited international journals.

1. Developing students' skills by developing primary collage curricula, programs, and various activities, and preparing generations capable of creativity, innovation, and scientific research.
2. Qualifying and raising the efficiency of employees (administrative and technical) to achieve effective and rational management using modern technologies such as computers, the Internet, electronic archiving, and activating the role of electronic management.
3. Developing and updating the college's policies in the field of community service and environmental development through community participation and communication with bodies and institutions that benefit from the college's outputs.
4. Securing the requirements for obtaining academic, programmatic, and institutional accreditation, ensuring quality, and achieving advanced rankings according to global competitive standards.
5. Directing the scientific research system to meet the needs of economic and sustainable development and the labor market, and creating new economic opportunities.
6. Providing the necessary financial, human and material resources to sustain the college’s academic progress.
7. Activating scientific cooperation and twinning agreements with government institutions and civil society organizations.

7-Mechanisms for Implementing the Strategic Plan.

Providing an ethical code for teaching staff and students that specifies:

A. Reinforcing positive behavior among both.

B. Emphasizing the principle of reward and punishment, and reinforcing this with laws, regulations, and instructions.

C. Establishing a transparent system for interactions between students and teachers, between administration and teachers, and between administration and students.

D. Emphasizing the ethical dimension in student and teacher evaluation.

 1- Emphasize a fair and transparent system for selecting and appointing teaching staff members, and provide opportunities for the deanship to interview prospective appointees.

2- Emphasize the role of Continuing guidance and counseling unit through workshops, colorful posters, lectures, and courses. Guides should be among the best in their work and interactions, promoting virtuous behavior and positive values.

3- Conduct realistic, non-theoretical workshops on negative behavioral phenomena in society and at the collage, analyze them, and develop programs to curb or combat them, such as drug abuse, smoking, destruction of university property (government property), healthcare facilities, waste, neglect of textbooks, cheating in all its forms, and other problems.

4-The selection of administrative leaders should be based on a case study and reports on their professional conduct, integrity, transparency, and credibility in dealing with students and teaching staff.

5- Disseminate instructions, regulations, and laws (such as student disciplinary codes, laws of discipline of state employees, examination instructions, admission instructions, and collage guidelines, etc.) clearly, transparently, and accessible. Workshops, seminars, or the publication of murals may be held or through bulletins placed for this purpose.

6- Adopting a clear and announced policy to attract scientific talent and developing an announced incentive system for all administrative units to develop capabilities and creativity and support research projects.

7- Emphasize the importance of ethics in scientific research and consider it as a red line along which lecturers train their students to follow the steps of scientific research and affirm the results of scientific research, regardless of their nature, address problems and hold accountable those who violate the conditions of scientific research by establishing mechanisms for evaluating research.

8-Review the standard operating procedures manual and update the job description within the college.

9-Raising awareness of security, safety and risk prevention systems.

10-Continuously developing and updating the college's website to showcase the college's activities, departments, and scientific research outputs.

11-Achieving balance in the distribution of teaching, research, and administrative tasks within the college.

12- Establish social and financial support funds for needy students, with controls and instructions.

13- Effectively and truly motivate teaching staff and employees to participate in implementing the strategic plan.

14- Divide the plan into annual phases, with each phase evaluated at the end of the academic year leading up to the target year of 2028.

15- All employees are enrolled in training courses on work ethics and the use of computers and available communication tools (Internet) in internal and external dealings, emphasizing the importance of time in completing transactions.

8- Procedures for Implementing the Strategic Plan

1. The plan will adopt the necessary policies and procedures in accordance with international standards in the following areas:

• Raising the level of the degree from master's to doctorate among teachers to reach 100% by the end of 2028. This means that master's degree holders should be increased annually by 25% to obtain a doctorate degree in their specializations, the following statistic illustrates this:

Current status: 18 PhD holders and 10 Master's degree holders.

Global standard: 80%

Current rate: 74.9%

This is to reach the goal in 2028 to achieve the plan, two master's degree holders must complete their studies annually to obtain a doctorate degree. Study leave is granted will only be granted for doctoral studies, not for master's degrees.

1. Encouraging teachers to obtain advanced academic titles in order to reach the global standard of 75% in professorships. According to the plan, we should pay annually 25% of scientific titles to move to the higher title.
2. Increasing the success rate to the extent that is consistent with the standards of the League of Arab States and the standards that confirm the minimum success rate of 85% to the highest success rate of 100%. This includes the following:

     A - Urging teachers to pay attention to modern teaching methods that encourage students to participate in learning the subject.

     B - Encouraging students to participate in teaching the subject through cooperative and individual learning and methods that encourage the student to participate. This includes holding seminars, workshops, development courses for the curriculum and teaching methods, posters, and various other activities in which faculty members participate. This is part of projects to develop the performance of teaching staff.

1. Raising the level of the teaching to student ratio, reaching the international standard in the field of humanities studies to reach 1-30. In scientific disciplines 20:1. To achieve this goal, the College Council determined the number of teaching staff compared to the number of students, and established the need in each specialty according to lists that were carefully studied with the scientific committees, departments, and the College Council, and came up with a summary in which the actual need in each specialty was determined, starting from the year 2023 until the target year of 2028. .

9- Evaluation of the strategic plan

      Based on the objectives of the strategic plan and its implementation indicators, the college has included in its calculations the preparation of a self-evaluation to follow up on the implementation of these objectives on an annual basis for the purpose of identifying strengths and weaknesses to ensure the achievement of the objectives within the specified time period.

10- General indicators

1. Presenting the standards of the Ministry, the Arab League, and the standards of the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education (NACAT) for discussion by holding seminars and workshops in which all college teachers and students participate and specifying a time frame for the purpose of raising awareness and effective, productive participation.
2. Selecting teachers who are passionate about development and change, shaping the elements of change, and creating the important nucleus of change.
3. Establishing mechanisms for implementing what has been planned.
4. Determine the factors that will contribute to the success of the plan by studying them with the departments.
5. Monitoring the implementation rates of submitted projects.
6. Preparing accurate and comprehensive descriptions of courses and coding these courses.
7. Activating the role of the subcommittees formed in the departments to follow up on the implementation of quality in the departments through the central committee for this purpose and to identify the factors that prevent the success of the departments and the college in implementing the planned projects.
8. Focus on the departments' role to follow up on the development and achievement of the department's objectives and the strategic plan.
9. Formation of the following committees:

a. Committee for evaluating the performance of teaching staff and following up on graduate students.

B. The College Outcomes Evaluation Committee, through controlling the comprehensive examination activities for fourth-year students annually, must do the following:

1. What should the teacher and student know about college activities?
2. What should the teacher do in order to achieve the goals of the college, department, and subject?
3. What positive impact can a teacher have on students’ education?
4. Searching globally for the best courses for each scientific department and methods for implementing them.

10. Push and encourage students to participate in achieving this plan through workshops, extracurricular activities, and seminars held by departments