Official government website of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
His Excellency the President of Qassim University, Prof. Khalid bin Abdulrahman Al-Hamoudi, praised the achievement achieved by the College of Economics and Administration at the university after it obtained the initial international accreditation from the International Authority for the Development and Accreditation of Business Schools (AACSB), stressing that this achievement is a qualitative addition to the programs and specializations of the college, especially that it comes from a professional international body specialized in accrediting business schools, which reflects on the quality of the college programs and the continuous development and improvement according to international standards, noting that this initial accreditation is also a practical translation of the vision and mission of Qassim University to prepare qualified students.
For his part, the Vice President for Planning, Development and Quality, Prof. Dr. Sulaiman Al-Yahya, stressed that this international accreditation is an appreciation of Qassim University by an international organization. He pointed out that the AACSB accreditation of business schools is one of the highest and most important accreditations for educational institutions and is the most important in the field of administrative education, as it gives scientific and reliable confirmation to ensure the quality of educational programs in the college, and emphasized that this initial international accreditation obtained by the College of Economics and Administration at the university enhances confidence among educational institutions to cooperate with each other and promote the attraction of competencies from professors and students, which confirms the level of the T
The Dean of the College of Economics and Administration, Dr. Obaid bin Saad Al-Mutairi, explained that this initial international accreditation from the AACSB is not strange for the college, which is more than three decades old, and this initial accreditation adds to the success stories of the college throughout its journey, stressing that this distinction means a lot to the college and increases the ambition of its employees, as it qualifies it to be at a distinguished educational level and achieves the university an addition and a global dimension, and it also reflects on the college with a new culture and a positive change in the orientation of the college to adopt the spirit of initiative, spread the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, link with partners from local, regional and global society, and what follows.
In the same context, the Dean of the College points out that this initial accreditation is also an incentive to upgrade the educational process and raise the level of graduates in the academic aspects and personal skills, and the continuous improvement in the methodologies of the Bachelor's and MBA programs to support the college's mission in the final stage of obtaining international academic accreditation AACSB, and indicated that the AACSB is considered the strongest accreditation body for business schools in the world, as it was founded in 1916, and less than 5% of business schools in the world have received its approval, and the number of colleges in the Arab region is about 9 colleges only, three of them in the Emirates.
Dr. Al-Mutairi praised the development efforts made at the university level represented by His Excellency the Director, Prof. Dr. Khaled Al-Hamoudi, and his great support and permanent guidance to the college towards achieving quality, excellence and academic accreditation in light of the university's mission and strategic plan: Dr. Al-Mutairi praised the development efforts at the university level, represented by His Excellency the Director, Prof. Dr. Khaled Al-Hamoudi, and his great support and constant guidance of the college towards achieving quality, excellence and academic accreditation in light of the university's mission and strategic plan.
He pointed out the most important milestones and facts about the college's journey towards achieving AACSB international academic accreditation to become a distinguished administrative and academic edifice at the local and international levels.
Dr. Al-Mutairi reviewed the steps taken by the college, where the college submitted an application for qualification for international academic accreditation AACSB, in January 2012, and was accepted in March 2012, and usually this acceptance is granted only to candidate colleges that are promising to achieve the requirements and standards of accreditation, and the college adopted its mission and educational objectives in October 2012, At the same time, the International Academic Accreditation Advisor visited the college in December 2012 to discuss the college's development plan for international academic accreditation in accordance with international standards (Standards Alignment Plan (SAP) of 21 standards), and presented a positive report to the Accreditation Commission indicating the college's positive progress in achieving the requirements of accreditation, and the college also attracted a number of Visiting professors With the aim of exchanging experiences and applying best practices, the college has received academic experts represented by deans of business schools from leading universities to present their experience in offering specialized programs and their journey in obtaining AACSB international accreditation,The college has built a qualified and trained specialized team that supports the college's progress in the stages of AACSB international academic accreditation. The college has prepared a set of policies and procedures for the Assurance of Learning Outcomes (AOL) system and confirming the contributions of faculty members and excellence in teaching and scientific research and also prepared the development plan for international academic accreditation according to AACSB standards (Standards Alignment Plan (SAP) and 21 standards) as part of the college's strategic plan, which was submitted to the Accreditation Commission in May 2013. This plan represents the basic structure of international accreditation In June 2013, the SAP accreditation plan was accepted and everything included in the plan was approved to improve the college's academic performance in preparation for accreditation. In July 2014, the college submitted a progress report on its journey towards accreditation in implementation of the accepted SAP accreditation plan, and the report was submitted in accordance with the new international accreditation standards issued in 2013, which focuses on new and important axes that contribute to encouraging innovation in the educational process to keep pace with modern developments, motivate the college to continuously improve its programs and methodologies according to best practices, and enhance the role of the college in society and link and partnership to improve the quality of the college.
In September 2014, the college qualified for the final stage of international academic accreditation, as the Commission's Initial Accreditation Committee approved the college's progress in implementing the accreditation plan and meeting the requirements of the new accreditation standards in its August meeting.
The next stage is to submit the SER self-study report and prepare for the evaluation team of deans of academically accredited colleges.
Al-Mutairi stressed that the college's reaching the final stage of international accreditation is a pride for the university and the country and an added value for the community, and is a practical translation of the vision of the wise leadership towards achieving excellence in higher education programs, and that this achievement was achieved thanks to God and then thanks to the leadership of His Excellency the UQU President. The Dean of the College concludes that this stage requires a commitment from all college affiliates (professors, students and employees), the university and community partners to work continuously to implement the college's mission and educational objectives and continuous improvement of programs in accordance with international accreditation standards to ensure a high status for the college, raise the level of student learning, continuous development of methodologies and faculty members, create the appropriate environment for student services, rehabilitate classrooms, laboratories and student meeting rooms, continue to make concrete progress on all college initiatives and partnerships with the local community and move the college forward and upward.
