3. Good health and well-being

General concepts:

• The Academic Support and Counseling Unit is a unit established by a decision of the Dean of the College and is responsible for planning, coordinating and supervising the implementation of the academic supervision process in the college, and the committee is accountable to the Dean of the College or the Vice Dean of the College for Educational Affairs.

• Academic advising is the responsibility of all faculty members and not just the Academic Support and Advising Unit, so all faculty members are involved in academic supervision activities for students.

• An academic advisor is a faculty member or equivalent who is appointed by the Academic Support and Advising Unit to perform the task of academic advising for a group of college students.

• The unit works in coordination and cooperation with the Counseling and Guidance Department at the Deanship of Student Affairs.

Message of the Academic Support and Counseling Unit:

The Academic Support and Counseling Unit is concerned with providing support and guidance to college students to benefit from their own abilities, work to develop their skills, encourage them to excel and academic creativity, and graduate within the specified period after acquiring scientific expertise and practical skills that provide them with a successful opportunity to work, as well as studying their psychological, health, financial and career issues and contributing to their solution.

Objectives of the Academic Support and Counseling Unit:

• Preparing students to learn and adapt to university life.

• Provide students with the right information about the college, educational policies, resources, and programs.

• Enhancing students' academic achievement, raising their abilities, and overcoming obstacles during academic achievement.

• Reducing the chances of academic failure (preventive counseling).

• Counseling and assisting students who are facing academic issues.

• Paying attention to low-achieving and struggling students and following up with them to raise their academic level.

• Caring and assisting students socially, financially, healthily, psychologically, psychologically, and functionally if needed.

• Paying attention to outstanding and distinguished students, and providing what enhances their abilities and supports their creativity.

Tasks of the Academic Support and Counseling Unit:

• Developing a plan for academic supervision in the college.

• Supervising the implementation of the academic supervision plan.

• Spreading awareness among students about the nature and importance of the unit and how to benefit from its services through meetings, bulletins, and the college website.

• Introducing students to the goals and mission of the college, its educational programs, its scientific departments, the fields of work of its graduates, and the aspects of care and services it provides to students, and guiding them to choose majors suitable for their abilities and potentials.

• Distributing new students to academic supervisors and publishing the lists on bulletin boards and the college website at the beginning of each year.

• Submit periodic reports (mid-semester) that include the unit's work and students' level to the college administration.

• Studying the cases referred to it by the college administration, preparing reports on them and submitting them to the competent authorities.

• Consider the academic issues raised by the counselors and seek to resolve them with the college administration.

• Consider student complaints of an academic nature and develop appropriate solutions or raise them to the college administration if necessary.

• Consider students' complaints related to any course, find solutions, and submit them to the college administration.

• Raising awareness of the importance of academic counseling and the importance of communicating with the academic advisor by publishing brochures and publications and using the college website for this purpose.

• Supervising orientation programs for new students to introduce them to the study and testing system at the college.

• Hold regular meetings every 4 weeks or according to new reports to discuss periodic or exceptional reports submitted by academic advisors.

• Contributing to solving students' psychological, financial, social and career issues and raising them when needed to the Deanship of Student Affairs to take the necessary measures.

Academic Advisor Tasks:

• View the registration, deletion, and addition dates announced by the Deanship of Admission and Registration.

• Know the college's study plan and graduation requirements for students, and ensure that the student's schedule aligns with the study plan.

• Preparing and updating the academic advising file for each student, where the counselor opens a special file for each student that includes registered subjects, grade level, GPA, minutes of periodic meetings between the counselor and the student, and any reports or alerts issued by the course of the subject, to assess the student's level.

• Organize periodic interviews (at least once at the beginning of each semester) with each student to:

  • The student's performance in the previous semester.

  • Motivate the student and encourage him to work harder and praise him if he excels in some courses.

  • Discuss difficulties, if any, and look for appropriate solutions.

  • Discuss the appropriate options for the student in the next semester (enrollment or deletion, raising the GPA, choosing a major, etc.).

• Providing assistance to the student in case of registration difficulties or course conflicts.

• Careful follow-up of the student's academic achievement in the registered subjects, writing periodic reports and attaching them to the student's file.

• Addressing faculty members if the student's level is low.

• If a student's attendance or achievement is poor, regular meetings are intensified, and the reasons for the issue are discussed and resolved or referred to the Academic Advising Committee.

• Discovering and developing students' talents.

• Helping students learn how to utilize the college's e-learning website.

• Encourage students to participate in academic and extracurricular activities.

• It is preferred that a student does not change advisor from the moment of enrollment until graduation.

• The dean of the college or his deputy does not sign the certificate of good conduct until after a letter from the academic advisor stating that the student has completed all the requirements.

• The need to build an academic friendship between the counselor and the student to resolve disputes between them.

• Preferably, the role of the counselor should also be a social and professional counselor for the student to know his social conditions and help him to settle or his professional future and contribute to opening the horizons of job opportunities, training or postgraduate studies.

• Allocate office hours to meet with students to discuss issues they face while studying.

• Introducing students to the goals and mission of the college, its educational programs, scientific departments, fields of work of its graduates, aspects of care and services provided to students, and guiding them to choose majors suitable for their abilities and potentials.

• Submit a periodic report on student performance to the Academic Support and Guidance Unit (before the end of the semester), including the student's academic performance (better or worse than before) and the measures taken to address poor performance.

• Submit a report on issues that need the intervention of the unit or the college administration.

• Encourage students to utilize the library and manage time effectively.

• Encourage students to study in groups and learn from their peers.

The responsibility and role of the student:

• The student takes full responsibility for their academic achievement as academic advising is an auxiliary mechanism.

• Review the college catalog and website to familiarize yourself with department, college, and university requirements.

• Familiarize yourself with the details of the academic calendar and important dates related to registration, withdrawal, apology, etc.

• Know the academic advisor and his office hours.

• Meet with the advisor for a consultation about academic and career goals, the program, the schedule, and to ask about any ambiguities.

• Implementing the consultant's recommendations and continuing to meet with him according to the agreed dates.

• Inform the advisor of any variables that may affect their program or academic achievement.