Admission and Graduation Requirements

Admission and Graduation Requirements

The evaluation of Electrical Engineering students is discussed in individual sections below for both incoming freshman and transfer students.

 A.Student Admissions

Students applying for admission to the program are centrally admitted by the Deanship of Admission and Registration, King Khalid University. The new applicants must common the first year before admitting to the program-specific courses from the second year onwards. The University Council decides the number of students to be admitted for each academic year according to the recommendation of the council of the College of Engineering. The deanship of admissions and registration implements all policies in liaison with the College of Engineering. Admission takes place twice a year at the beginning of 1st Semester (Fall Term) and 2nd Semester (Spring Term). 

Requirements of admission are published on the weblink https://dar.kku.edu.sa/ar/node  and summarized as follows:

1. Secondary school certificate (Natural Sciences) or equivalent from inside or outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
2. The score of the “Entrance Examination” is based on an aptitude test and a subject test. The test is conducted by the National Centre for Assessment in Higher Education (https://etec.gov.sa/en/About/Centers/Pages/qiyas.aspx), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It consists of two sections. The first section is General Aptitude Test. This test measures students' analytical and deductive skills. It focuses on testing the student's capacity for learning in general regardless of any specific skill in a certain subject or topic. The other section is called “Achievement Test for Science Colleges”. This section covers the general and key concepts in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and English covered in the courses of the three years of general secondary school.
3. Character certificate from secondary school.
4. Appearance in the interviews required by the university council.
5. Physical fitness certificate.
6. Permission from the employer (For employed candidates).
7. No record of suspension/rustication from King Khalid University (KKU) or any other university.

All the above conditions are mandatory for admission to be fulfilled by the applicants. A merit list of all applicants is prepared by the Admission and Registration Deanship based on the following scores:

-   Secondary school certificate score (30%).

-   Aptitude test score (30%).

-   Scholastic achievement admission test (40%).

Applicants are offered admissions to a college and program of their preferences based on a merit list subjected to the availability of seats. Once seats are filled in a particular college/program, admission to that particular college/program is closed and the remaining students have to make their choices from other colleges.

The common first-year aims:

• To improve the students' English language proficiency because this is the principal language of instruction in the College of Engineering.
• To ensure the students’ abilities to communicate effectively.
• To strengthen the students’ knowledge of mathematical and analytical techniques and calculus-based physics.
• To develop the basic computer skills of the students.

The duration of the common first year is for one academic year, divided into two semesters, as well as an optional summer semester. The common first year represents the first two semesters of all Engineering programs. The complete program comprises ten levels covering five academic years. The courses offered in the common first year include courses related to English, Maths and Basic Science, Computer Science, and Islamic Culture. An orientation session is held during the second semester of the common first year for students to familiarize themselves with engineering education.

The “Education and Examination Regulations” regulates the admission procedures, and it is available in the Arabic language on the KKU website. The URL for admission regulations is given in: https://dar.kku.edu.sa/sites/dar.kku.edu.sa/files/general_files/files/laeha.pdf

A.1. Registration Procedure

The student is automatically registered at the beginning of each semester for the courses according to his academic standing. Students with a GPA of at least 2.0 are eligible to register for up to 14 credit hours, while those with a 4.5 GPA or above are eligible for up to 20 credit hours. The academic advisor is allotted to each student among the faculty to help them in modifying the automatically registered courses for each semester according to the specific study course plan of the engineering program. The study plans are available for the students and the academic advisors online at the URL: https://engineering.kku.edu.sa/en/content/918 and are also available with the Chairman of the Department.

A.2. Withdrawal

The student has the right to withdraw from an academic semester within the withdrawal period announced in the academic calendar for that semester. Each student can withdraw from up to three courses during the completion of the program

 B.Evaluating Student Performance

A Faculty acts as an academic advisor for the student of B.Sc. Electrical Engineering. The academic advisor helps the student in selecting courses for registration in each semester according to the study course plan of the Electrical Engineering program. The study plans are available for the students and the academic advisors online at the URL: https://engineering.kku.edu.sa/en/content/918 and is also available with the Chairman and the Coordinator of the Department. Based on this study course plan, a student can register online. The maximum of 20 credit hours course load is allowed to a student. The Coordinator of Students Registration for the college can allow the exceptions based upon the performance of the student during the last few semesters.

The Course Coordinator evaluates the students’ performance for each course. The Course Coordinator designs the assessments for finding out the achievement of the course learning outcomes specified by the Curriculum Committee. The Semester Work consists of homework, assignments, online quizzes, in class quizzes, continuous assessment examinations and final examination can be used by the Course Coordinator to evaluate students’ performance, but for the courses which involve laboratory practical are evaluated on their achievement of the learning outcomes based on laboratory classes, laboratory experiments, quizzes, written reports and the laboratory final examination. Electrical Engineering program has formulated a grading system based on the policy and implementation Rules of Examinations and Grades, which is approved by the Department Council.

B.1. Examination and Grading System

Students are evaluated mainly through exams, online quizzes, in-class quizzes, assignments, oral presentations, projects, etc. The courses which involve laboratory practical’s also include their performance in laboratory experiments, written reports, laboratory exercises, and the laboratory final examination. The assessment methods are designed to measure the student's level of achievement in course outcomes, which are related to the program educational objectives and program key performance indicators. Therefore, students’ performance in the courses reflects the level of achievement of program objectives. Success in a course is usually based on the combination of grades awarded for the course work and for the final examination.

• Each course will have a total of 100 points.
• The grade for the semester work is 60% of the total mark, and the remaining 40% for the

grading for the final examination.

• The pass mark in each course is 60%.

The grading system at King Khalid University is shown in Table 1.1. A student's grade point average is determined by dividing the cumulative point value of all courses attempted by the number of units in the student's semester schedule. Table 1.2 shows example of student Grade Point Average

Table 1. 1 Grading System of KKU

 Table 1.2 shows an example for calculating the GPA. Similarly, for all the semesters taken together, the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is calculated and the final range of CGPA is shown in Table 1. 3.

Table 1. 2 Grading point average calculation example

  Table 1. 3 Range of CGPA.

  B.2. Monitoring the Progress of Students

There are three major processes to monitor students’ progress across the curriculum: 

(1) Monitoring of progress and performance by the Registrar’s Office, (2) Monitoring by the academic advisor allotted to the student, and (3) Student self-monitoring.

The procedure for monitoring students’ progress across the curriculum is carried out at the end of each academic year, the Deanship for Registration analyzes through digital Registration Application ‘Academia’, the GPA, cumulative percentage of credits approved, and the number of years in the program. This is done for all students at the university, including freshmen. The purpose of this specific assessment is to identify students whose performance is below minimum requirements. Once the week students are identified, the information is sent to the student. A document including a list of such students is sent to the department chair at the beginning of each semester.

There is an academic advisor within the formal departmental administrative structure. The academic advisor monitors the students’ progress and handles exceptions under the direct supervision of the Department Chair, and makes sure that the administrative procedures and university regulations are followed. A student can come when desired to the academic advisor or the department head for an evaluation of his progress. In turn, the department chair meets with the academic advisor who contacts all students who need advising. The student's category is shown in different colors on the Academic Advisor’s login to draw his/her attention.

Students can monitor themselves. The computer-based registration system and Academia mobile app are programmed with the curricular requirements of each academic program including built-in checks for course requisites. Currently, students access this system through the internet.

B.3. Meeting the Prerequisites

At the time of registration, the Academia system allows the students to be registered only in courses for which the requisites have been satisfied and which are in their course curriculum. Through the system, students can monitor their progress through the required courses for their degree. It is important to point out that there is a final check that culminates the monitoring of the students before graduation, where the deanship for Registration certifies that the graduating student has completed all the requirements.

 B.4. Attendance

Believing that regular course attendance is necessary for academic success, KKU requires that students should attend at least 75% of the lectures and practical lessons. Students who have valid medical or other valid excuses are being subjected to given excuses on dates. The received excuse is studied closely and discussed in the meeting, the decision is taken, and excuses are given to the students or rejected. Students failing to meet this requirement in any of the courses will be prohibited from appearing in the final examination of that course and will have F (Fail) grade in that course. Furthermore, the student who is absent in the final examination of a course(s) will not be given a substitute examination, except for a valid reason accepted by the department and college council.

 B.5. Academic Probation

At the beginning of each term, the Deanship of Admission and Registration provides each student with his full academic advising record showing the results of all the courses that have been studied from the study plan as well as the number of academic warnings that have been issued. All students at KKU are required to maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 out of 5.0. Those who fail to maintain this average are placed on scholastic probation and are given two semesters in which they must attain a GPA of 2.0. If this condition is not met within the two semesters of probation, the student may then be dismissed from his studies at the College of Engineering. One last opportunity of a third semester to raise the average can be given to those who can attain a 2.0 GPA if they study 12 credit hours.

 B.6. Drop Rules

Any student who is on probation and does not satisfy the conditions of that probation may be dropped from the College of Engineering.

• The student is considered to be a discontinuing one if he withdraws from a semester or fails to register, whether with or without a valid reason. It is permissible for a student to be on a discontinuing status for a maximum of two consecutive semesters or a maximum of three non-consecutive semesters during his enrollment at King Khalid University. The student's enrollment will be terminated if he exceeds these limits.
• Any student who loses his status as a student at KKU due to the condition mentioned in item (1) above is entitled to appeal to be readmitted to KKU based on the following conditions:
  
  • The student should satisfy all the admission conditions announced at readmission.
  • The student should keep the same university identification number and record he had before discontinued his study.
  • The student's appeal should be approved by his college council. The Council has the right to ask the student to retake/repeat any course that he has passed.
  • If the student’s discontinuity exceeds four semesters, he can apply for admission as a fresh one, without looking into his previous record, provided his discontinuity was not due to misconduct.

C.Transfer Students and Transfer Courses

 Transfer can be done through three different channels as follows:

 C.1 Transfer from other Universities

 A student may be accepted to transfer from outside KKU if he has studied at a recognized university or college and has not been suspended from that institution based on disciplinary or academic reasons. The transferring applicant must not have spent more than 6 terms at the university from where he is transferring, and he must study at least 60% of the required courses at KKU. The applicant is required to get approval from the Dean of the College and the Chair of the program he/she is transferring to. These requirements and process for accepting transfer students are governed by the Article #42 of the policy on regulations of study and examinations available in the Arabic language at:

https://dar.kku.edu.sa/sites/dar.kku.edu.sa/files/general_files/files/laeha.pdf

Credits for courses taken by the students outside the university (KKU) may be transferred provided the college council, based on the recommendations of the concerned department offering the equivalent courses, approves the transfer of credits. The equivalent courses are documented in the academic record of the student being transferred.

The transferred student should submit an application for getting equivalency credits to the Deanship of Admission and Registration along with the original academic record and certified detailed description of the courses taken by the student outside KKU. The Deanship of Admission and Registration refers the application to the concerned department for evaluation of equivalency of credits. This evaluation is performed by the academic advisor in coordination with the chairman of the department on a case-by-case basis. The department, after getting the approval of the college council on the equivalency evaluations, sends the recommendations to the Deanship of Admission and Registration. These requirements and processes for courses equivalency and transfer credits are governed by Article #43 of the Policy on Regulations of Study and Examinations available in: https://dar.kku.edu.sa/sites/dar.kku.edu.sa/files/general_files/files/laeha.pdf

●    The student should have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 (out of 5.0) or equivalent from a recognized college. This is complemented by other conditions developed by the college council every year. The procedure for evaluating transfer applications to the college from outside the university is as follows:

●    Fill in the university application form.

●    Upon receiving all applications, the university registrar's office sends all applications that satisfy the college requirements to the college’s Vice Dean of academic affairs office. The Vice Dean of the academic affairs office prepares the applicants’ information for the college Dean. The college Dean evaluates the presented information and makes decisions on transfer applications.

●    The maximum allowable percentage of credit hours that could be transferred by students from other universities is 40% of the total credit hours in the curriculum.

Students who want to study some courses in other universities must do the following:

●    Fill in a course transfer form and submit it to the Program Chair (PC).

●    The PC consults the faculty who teaches the course.

●    The faculty reviews the syllabus of the transfer course in the light of the departmental course syllabus checking the equivalency of the syllabus and credits.

●    The PC approves the equivalency and signs the form.

●    The student should then get the approval of the Vice Dean for academic affairs.

●    The student hands in the form to the university registrar's office and gets an official acceptance letter to study the course at the specified university.

●    After studying the course, the student should get an official completion letter and the transcript from the registrar's office of the university where the transfer course was completed.

Finally, the student should hand over the official completion letter to the KKU registrar's office.

 C.2 Transfer of Students within the University

 Students can apply for transfer only after studying for at least one semester in the college they are registered in (summer semester is not counted). The student must satisfy the college’s admission conditions, which are announced every year. The procedure for evaluating transfer applications is as follows: 

●    Fill in the transfer form (Inter-College Transfer Form).

●    Submit the form to the college Vice Dean of academic affairs.

●    Upon receiving all applications, a designated college-based committee (which consists of the Vice Dean for academic affairs and the chairs of all departments) meets and recommends transfer applications. If the number of eligible applicants is high, students with the highest cumulative GPA are tentatively accepted.

●    The tentative transfer decisions are then forwarded to the Dean for final approval.

The academic committee of each department reviews transcripts of all tentatively accepted transfers of students and decides on the equivalency of credits based on an equivalency table of credits approved by the college council.

 C.3 Transfer to a Department within the College

 The procedure for evaluating transfer applications between departments within the college is as follows:

-   Fill in the inter-departmental transfer form.

-   Get the recommendation of the chair of the department to be transferred.

-   Submit the form to the college’s Vice Dean of academic affairs.

-   Upon receiving all applications, a designated college-based committee (which consists of the Vice Dean and the chair, and representatives of all departments) meets and decides tentatively on transfer applications. If the number of eligible applicants is high, students with the highest cumulative GPA are tentatively accepted.

-   The tentative transfer decisions are then forwarded to the Dean for final approval.

The academic committee of each department reviews transcripts of all tentatively accepted transfer students and decides on the equivalency of credits based on equivalency tables of credits approved by the college council.

 C. 4 Transfer Credits

 The transfer of credits will occur in three particular situations; current students wanting to take courses at other universities, for example, as part of an exchange program, summer visiting semester, or transfer students wanting to transfer credit for courses taken at their original university. A student seeking to take courses in other institutions must obtain authorization from the department that offers the course (certifying that the course in that institution is equivalent). Then, this must be authorized by the chair of the department where the student is registered, who by doing so certifies that the desired course is in the students’ required curriculum.

 D.Advising and Career Guidance

 The College of Engineering employs a mandatory advising system. All students are advised by Electrical Engineering Department Staff members. Electrical Engineering students are divided in groups and assigned to individual Professors and Lecturers in the department. They are called academic advisors and they advise them every semester till the last semester of program.  

The registration itself at the beginning of the semester is computerized at university level, including the College of Engineering. During the weeks of registration, the advisers are ensuring the smooth procedure by solving student's problem which may sometime be encountered with automatic registration and then receiving a registration form signed by their academic adviser to complete the registration.

The student's advisers advise the students on curricular matters as well as ensuring appropriate course registration, summer training and career goals.

 E. Work in Lieu of Courses

 The Program does not offer or has no provision for work in lieu of courses. 

 F.Graduation Requirements

 All graduation requirements are defined clearly in the student transcript to award the degree. With the use of the online registration system, the Deanship of Admissions and Registration and the respective departments are equally responsible for ensuring that graduating students have completed all graduation requirements. A student must earn the credit hours required for the award of the degree certificate. There are also particular requirements for the competencies that students must possess by the time they graduate.

The student outcomes define the competency standards that must be met by graduates.

Some of the rules concerning graduation requirements are discussed below.

1. Student graduates after completing all graduation requirements according to the curriculum plan provided that the cumulative GPA is not less than 2.0. 
2. If the student has passed the required courses, but his/her cumulative GPA is low, the College Council, based on the recommendations of the council of the department concerned, is entitled to specify the appropriate courses that the student must complete to improve his or/her GPA. 

To complete the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, a student must complete 162 credit hours as per old plan and 161 credit hours as per new plan.

Honors of Degrees

• First class honor will be granted to a graduating student who earns a cumulative GPA of 4.75-5.00. 
• Second class honors will be granted to a graduating student who achieves a cumulative GPA of 4.25-4.75. 

The Rules of Awarding Honors Degree to a Student 

1. Must not have failed in any course. 
2. Must have completed all graduation requirements within a duration ranging between the maximum limits for completing the program of study (five years). 
3. Must have completed 60% or more of the graduation requirements at the university from which he graduates.

Dismissal

Dismissal from the university will occur in the following circumstances: 

A student will be dismissed if he obtains a maximum of three consecutive academic probations as the result of his cumulative GPA being less than 2.00 (out of 5.0). Following the recommendation of the college council, a student may be allowed a fourth opportunity to improve his cumulative GPA by taking additional courses. 

Time Limit for Graduation

To accomplish the degree requirements, a student is expected to study full time for five years. The maximum limit of time duration allowed to fulfill the degree requirements is ten (10) years or 20 terms. In exceptional circumstances, a student may be permitted to extend the time e.g. medical reasons.

Name of the degree awarded

On completion of the graduation requirements, a student is awarded a degree ‘Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering’.