SAR Report
Faculty of Engineering and Applied
Science
University of Duhok (UoD)
Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Report Preparation Committee
1. Prof. Dr. Nazar M.S. Numan /Dean of Faculty
2. Dr. Arkan Fawzi Saeed /Head of the QA Committee
3. Mr. Auda Ablahad Yunan /QA for the Dept. of Elect and
Comp. Eng.
4. Mr Wael Abdulbari Hasan /QA for the Dept. of Water
Resources Eng.
5. Mr. Mohammad Alaaddin /QA for the Dept. of Architectural
Eng.
6. Mr. Ghanim Hussein Kuja /QA for the Dept. of Civil
Engineering.
7. Mrs. Nadine Nazar Qusto /Head of Planning & Follow up &
Statistic Dept./Faculty of Eng. & Applied Science.
Audit Committee UoD/External
1. Miss Shiler Ahmad /Head of the QA Office in
the University
2. Dr. Arkan Fawzi Saeed /Head of the QA
Committee in the Faculty
3. Prof. Dr. Abdulla M. Taib /Faculty of
Engineering /Univ. of Sulaimaniyah
4. Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Al-Saif /College of Computer
and Mathematics /University of Mosul
CONTENTS
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION …………………….………………… 4
CRITERION 1. Students ……………………………………………..…. 14
CRITERION 2. Program Educational Objectives …………….. 23
CRITERION 3. Student Outcomes …………………………………. 24
CRITERION 4. Continuous Improvements …………………. 24
CRITERION 5. Curriculum …………………………………………….. 25
CRITERION 6. Faculty …………………………………………………… 45
CRITERION 7. Facilities ……………………………….……………….. 47
CRITERION 8. Institutional Support ………… ………………….. 51
Background Information
• The Faculty of Engineering and Applied
Science is a major academic unit of the
University of Duhok consisting of three
schools namely, Engineering, Planning and
Applied Earth Science and Geo-informatics.
School of Engineering
• The School of Engineering is the oldest and
consists of the Civil, Water Resources,
Architectural and Electrical and Computer
Engineering departments.
• The School of Engineering (formerly College of
Engineering) was established in 1994.
• Undergraduate students started enrolling in
the academic years 1994/1995 in the
Department of Civil Engineering, 1995/1996 in
the Department of Water Resources
Engineering, 2004/2005 in the Department of
Architectural Engineering and 2006/2007 in
the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering.
School of Spatial Planning
• The School of Planning (formerly the Higher
Institute of Planning) is a graduate school that
was established in July 2007.
• An agreement has been signed with the
University of Dortmund, Germany to provide a
joint bachelor degree in spatial planning with
a stipulation in the agreement that provides
for half of the admitted students in this
program to be from Iraq Prime.
School of Applied Earth Science and
Geoinformatics
• The School of Applied Earth Science and Geoinformatics is in the establishment phase. The
first department of this School was opened in
October 2011. Two more departments are
slated for the future, namely Dept. of
GeoInformatic Science and Dept. of Applied
Environmental Science.
Graduates and Diplomas Offered
• The faculty offers comprehensive programs of
bachelor, higher diploma and master degrees in
engineering, applied science and integrated planning
which are essential for the sustainable development
of infrastructure and services in the Kurdistan
Region.
• Split-Site Ph.D’s have been arranged for a number of
the Academic staff
Engineering Consulting Bureau and
Research Center
• The Engineering Consulting Bureau in the faculty
has over the years provided engineering
consulting services to the public and private
sectors in the Kurdistan Region.
• The newly established Engineering and Applied
Science Research Center (in April 2011) is to
undertake multidisciplinary research that can
serve the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
Vision
• Infrastructure, integrated planning and
exploitation of natural resources are essential
requirements for the development and
advancement of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Provision of internationally benchmarked
programs for engineering and applied science
students together with multidisciplinary
research serves the objectives of the
development process.
Mission
Our mission has three strands:
• To supply the public and private sectors dealing with infrastructure
development in Kurdistan and Iraq with highly qualified and skilled
civil, water resources, electrical, computer and architectural
engineers with design, research and development capabilities.
• Strive to develop and build the capacity of the public sector through
the provision of highly qualified and skilled spatial integrated
planners.
• Supply the public and private sectors dealing with natural resources
in Kurdistan and Iraq with highly skilled engineering geologists,
petroleum and hydro – geologists, geophysicists, as well as
specialists in geo-informatics and applied environmentalists.
Programs Delivery Modes
• Classes are taught on campus in English language
using international literature and textbooks in the
different specialties. The classes include lectures,
practical applications in the labs, tutorials,
seminars, group discussions, as well as field visits
to construction and other infrastructure sites. The
bachelor degree lasts four years including
summer training outside the campus in the end
of the third year of the study. There are no online
courses offered in the faculty at present.
Faculty’s SWOT Analysis
STRENGTHS
• Incoming students are among the best that have graduated
from high school.
• Good and young academic staff with lots of potential.
• Experienced senior academic staff.
• Comparatively good and modern working spaces
• Free text books are distributed to students in addition to a
faculty specialized library and departmental libraries.
• Support from the University of Duhok and the Ministry of
High Education and Scientific Research of the Kurdistan
Region.
• Freedom of speech.
• Free education ?
Faculty’s SWOT Analysis
WEAKNESSES
• Predominance of teacher centered learning that
emphasizes content rather than learning outcomes.
• Lack of emphasis on the practical, design and problem
solving aspects in teaching.
• Rote and memory education inherited from school
continues into university with the inevitable result of lack
of critical thinking and self confidence amongst students.
• Lack of emphasis on the development of English language
capabilities including scientific writing amongst students.
WEAKNESSES
Continued
• Mediocre to poor level of English language
amongst some members of the academic staff.
• Lack of some essential equipment for teaching in
laboratories.
• Lack of equipment for research.
• Lack of emphasis on work values and ethics.
• Lack of training for the administrative staff.
• Sanitation and cleanliness questionable together
with dusty laboratories and some staff rooms.
• Gardens and green areas not well developed.
Faculty’s SWOT Analysis
OPPORTUNITIES
• Scholarships for students abroad will strengthen the
academic staff.
• Possibilities for short academic visits abroad provided
by Ministry of Higher Education, the European Erasmus
Mundus Program and other international
organizations.
• Possibilities for sabbatical leave abroad to do research.
• Possibility for enhanced collaborative research work
with other Kurdistan universities through the new
M.Sc. program strategy of the MHE.
OPPORTUNITIES
Continued
• Possibility for recruiting foreign staff (promised).
• Equipments will be supplied especially that is
necessary for teaching purposes.
• Central library of the UoD will soon be constructed.
• Provision of electronic library is possible.
• The Iraq virtual library is functional.
• The quality assurance program currently implemented
by the MHE of the KRG provides an opportunity and a
beginning towards improving quality of provision of
higher education and planning towards gaining
accreditation.
Faculty’s SWOT Analysis
THREATS
• Continuation of the old ways of teacher centered learning.
• The continuation of the weak level of English language and
scientific writing amongst the students and some of the
academic staff.
• Slackness in transforming students from their school days
methods of rote and memory education to critical thinking and
independent thought, together with design and problem solving
capabilities.
• Continuation of the content based programs instead of the
modern learning outcome based programs and assessment.
• Slackness in the development of communicative skills amongst
the students.
• Delays in equipping the laboratories.
Strategic Planning
1. Students teaching and learning
1.1 Curriculum development.
1.2 Pedagogic upgrading, e-learning and blended learning.
1.3 Provision of the networking infrastructure and other teaching
equipment and software.
1.4 The addition of two new departments to the School of
Applied Earth Science and Geo-informatics. These
departments will offer bachelor degrees in Geo-informatics
science and applied environmental science. Also explore the
feasibility of starting a department of Mechanical
Engineering within the School of Engineering.
1.5 Capacity building for the faculty, engineers and technicians.
Strategic Planning
Continued
1.6 Upgrading the faculty and departmental libraries.
1.7 Consolidation of the tutorial and student advice
program.
1.8 Development and upgrading the teaching and
learning environment for the students together with
consistent review of on campus safety.
1.9 Upgrading the teaching and research laboratories.
1.10Expanding green areas, a new student union building
with sports facilities.
1.11 Expanding the graduate studies in master degrees
and the split-site PhD’s
Strategic Planning
2.Research
Continued
2.1 Consolidation of the faculty’s Research Center by more facilities and
logistics.
2.2 Convening more research teams according to the changing demand.
2.3 Emphasis on research of applied nature which tackles local problems and
issues.
2.4 Emphasis on quality of research work and publication in international
journals.
2.5 Provision of an environment for fruitful collaboration with researchers
from partner universities in the US and other Western European
countries.
2.6 Holding local and international conferences in the faculty’s fields of
specialties.
2.7 Explorative research and development
Strategic Planning
Continued
3. Interaction with society
3.1 Expanding the services of the Engineering
Consulting Bureau of the faculty.
3.2 Continuous education for engineers, planners
and applied scientists in the private and public
sectors.
3.3 Following up alumni contacts to understand the
professional developments and gauge the job
market place.
Quality Assurance Program
• The Faculty has since the beginning of the academic year
2010/2011 implemented a stringent quality assurance program
based on the guidelines of the Ministry of Higher Education and
Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Region.
• The program deals with the student’s proficiency in English
language, development of their critical thinking, communication
and computer skills within the first year’s curriculum.
• Auditing of the courses performance is carried out through external
assessments (including examination papers) and student’s
feedback.
• Field trips to construction and other infrastructure sites are planned
and discussed together with the summer training of the
undergraduate students in the end of their third year.
• TOEFL test for postgraduate admission.
• Split-Site PhD programs
CRITERION 1: STUDENTS
Student’s Admission
• The graduates of the baccalaureate examination are distributed by a
central authority within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific
Research in the Kurdistan Region into the different universities and
faculties in the region.
• Students from the central and southern areas of Iraq, particularly those
who are internally displaced refugees from those areas due to security
issues.
• The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science is high on the list of
preferences of the students. This implies that the incoming students are
comparatively among the best and would be within the top 10% of the
newly admitted students to the University.
• There are currently 685 (59% males and 41% females) undergraduate
students and 44 postgraduate students In the faculty.
Students Advice and Tutorship Program
• During their study, students in each department are
divided into groups of five to six students and each
group is allocated a tutor from the department to
follow up their performance and provide advice to
them as appropriate.
• Each student is also allocated a supervisor to follow his
or her third year summer training requirement.
• The Dean of the faculty and heads of schools and
departments hold meetings with student’s
representatives and students to discuss issues of their
study in the departments.
Evaluation of Student’s Performance
• The student’s performance is assessed based on
Mid-term examinations, quizzes, and final
examinations
• Homework assignments
• Project reports (written and oral presentations)
• Laboratory performance and reports
Student’s feedback
• Student’s feedback is an intrinsic constituent of
the quality assurance system. A few of the faculty
were voluntarily asking the students to give them
their feedback in previous years. However, with
the application of the quality assurance system
from the academic year 2010/2011 this practice
became mandatory, regulated and documented
through the quality assurance system.
• The mandatory student feedback has already
played a significant role in improving the
performance of faculty (despite some sensitivity
on their part in the outset).
Student’s Accommodation and Grants
• Students from outside the City of Duhok are
accommodated in free-of-charge.
• Students also obtain a small sum of financial
assistance that partly covers their living
expenses.
CRITERION 2. Program Educational
Objectives
Alignment of the faculty mission statement with educational objectives
• The above described mission statement of the faculty heralds the
following educational objectives in the different schools and departments
in the faculty:
1. Graduate highly qualified civil, water resources, architectural,
electrical and computer engineers, planners and applied earth scientists
who are capable of reasoning and independent critical thinking, and are
on par in their skills with internationally recognized standards.
2. Carry out applied research that is viable for development, and
disseminate it through continuing education.
3. Contribute through its graduates towards technology transfer.
• Each of the departments has the autonomy to implement the above
general educational objectives in accordance with the specific demands of
its specialty in the job market and the variations with time that may occur
to the market and societal demands.
Formulating the student educational objectives
The quality assurance system which is in place
at the faculty requires that each of the given
courses in all of the departments has to have
its course objective. Each of the departments
updates its educational objectives taking into
consideration the faculty educational
objectives and orients them according to its
specialty.
Measurement of the achievement of
the educational objectives
• Measurement of the achievement of the educational
objectives has thus far been scanty. It was done only
through some of the alumni and their employers.
• However, a systematic measure of the achievement of
educational objectives has only been started in the
academic year 2010/2011 through the quality
assurance system. There were positive reports from
the external reviewers in this respect. The system
needs to be enhanced further by invigorating the
internal assessment by the faculty and students as well
as departmental committees.
CRITERION 3. Student Outcomes
• The faculty utilized the quality assurance system to
have the three basic ingredients of course outcomes in
the different departments, namely: Knowledge,
application and communication. However, it is felt that
there is room for improvement with regards to the
application part by providing more training equipment
and laboratory enhancement, and also there is more
work that needs to be done with the communication
especially in scientific writing.
• These shortcomings are going to be the first priority
not only in the faculty but also in the university and the
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in
Kurdistan starting in the academic year 2011/2012.c
CRITERION 4. Continuous Improvement
• The quality assurance process in the faculty provided the
platform to review all the curricula in the faculty schools
and departments. There was more emphasis during the
academic year on field visits to construction and
infrastructure sites.
• The laboratories of the civil, water resources and the
applied earth science departments will be improved during
the academic year 2011/2012. There will be a continuation
of the program of staff development in the faculty and the
university through the implementation of the quality
assurance guidelines, as well as additional requirements for
enhanced faculty competency that the Faculty Board
deems necessary with respect to pedagogy and research.
First Engineering Education Conference in
Kurdistan
• The Faculty held the First Engineering Education
Conference to be held in University of Duhok under
the title Engineering is the Future 17-19 April 2012.
The aim of this conference was to share ideas in
engineering pedagogic methods together with the
development and implementation of engineering
curricula.
• The attendants were engineering practitioners and
academics from Kurdistan Region and other Iraqi
universities as well as invited speakers from western
universities (USA, Japan and Malaysia).
CRITERION 5. Curriculum
• It was noticed that the old curricula were based on content rather than on
learning outcome.
• The curriculum revision process was carried out in two stages, the first by
the ECE Dept. in 2009/2010. The second stage was carried out in the
academic year 2010/2011 by the School of Engineering for the
departments of civil, water resources and architectural engineering in
collaboration with the heads and faculty of the mentioned departments.
• The new curricula will be applied in progression
• The faculty adopts the recommendations s of the Ministry of Higher
Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan regarding the emphasis on
scientific debate, development of student’s critical thinking and improving
the level of English language proficiency especially in the first year of
study.
CRITERION 6. Faculty
• There are currently 126 faculty 111 of them are on permanent
employment the rest
• are on contracts (Table 1).
• Junior faculty can use one of four types of scholarships to continue
their study to the
• PhD level or do a postdoctoral program abroad. These are:
• 1. Iraqi Government grants.
• 2. Kurdistan Regional Government grants.
• 3. The European Erasmus Mundus Program
• 4. Leaves-on-pay granted by the University of Duhok
• There is currently 20 faculty from the different departments
studying for their PhD’s
• as in Table 1 .
CRITERION 7. Facilities
Space
• The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science has five modern buildings
within the University of Duhok main campus, these are the buildings for:
1. The Deanery and the departments of civil and water resources
engineering, also housing the faculty’s library and the Engineering
Consulting Bureau.
2. The departments of architectural and electrical and computer
engineering.
3. Laboratories for the departments of civil and water resources
engineering.
4. The schools of planning and applied earth science and geo-informatics,
as well as the Engineering and Applied Science Research Center
• 5. The new building (final stages of construction) for the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Deanery
The Engineering Consulting Bureau
List of Accomplished Consultancies
1. Consultancy for the Town of Zakho Water Project.
2. Consultancy for the City of Duhok Water Project
3. Design for the replenishment of the Duhok Dam Lake with water from the
Tigris River.
4. Design of the Sihaila Water Project.
5. Design of the Chamchamal Water Project.
6. Auditing of the design of the Convention Center in the UoD
7. Auditing of the designs of Block Flats Buildings including Avrocity.
8. Different soil investigations.
9. Design of multistory commerce building in Zakho
10. Auditing the building of the Professional Training Center in Zakho
11. Auditing the steel structure for the Zakho Stadium.
Ongoing Consultancies
1. Auditing the implementation of the Duhok Dam Lake replenishment.
2. Consultancy for the Duhok Dam
3. Design of the Cultural Center of Koya University
Offices
• Every two members of the faculty share an office which is
10m2. Technicians and teaching assistants (demonstrators),
and graduate students have offices within the department
buildings or in the laboratories. The new building will create
space that enables having a separate office for each of the
faculty.
Classrooms
• The faculty has a total of 29 classrooms that can take up to 40
students, together with a drawing hall. There are also two
seminar halls that take 60 and 80 people consecutively, and
three other large lecture halls in the building of the School of
Planning with a seating capacity of over 80. Almost all the
classrooms have data show facilities.
Computers and internet
• The faculty has a computer and internet unit with three technicians to
maintain the computer and internet services for the different
departments. There is a central computer and internet pool that can take
25 people. There are also separate computer labs in each of the
departments. Internet facility is available but it needs to be enhanced.
Library
• The faculty has a main library with over 11000 engineering and applied
science
books from international publishers. Together with 3500 e-books. Two
branches of the library exit in the Dept. of Architectural Engineering and
the School of Planning.
• A separate section of the library provides yearly lending of textbooks of
the different courses to the undergraduate students.
• The library has very few journals. However, the students and faculty can
make use of the Iraqi Virtual Library that is provided online.
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Workshop and Store
The faculty has a workshop that oversees the
proper operation of the different
facilities. Three technicians are employed
including the operator of the stand-by
electric generator. The faculty store is run by one
employee.
Laboratories
The faculty has 41 teaching and research
laboratories. Following is a list of the labs.
CRITERION 8. Institutional Support
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The University of Duhok is a public university that is funded by the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG).
The Institutional Summary
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The University of Duhok
President of the university: Dr. Asmat M. Khalid
The Structure of the University of Duhok (UoD)
The University of Duhok has Eight Faculties embracing 12 schools and 42
scientific
departments. Each of the faculties has a research center and a professional
consulting bureau. The UoD has a total of 11000 students and 900 faculty
members as well as 2400 administrative staff.
The University has one major campus near the Malta Village and two other
campuses for the Faculty of Medical Sciences near the Azadi Hospital and the
Faculty of Basic Education in Aqra City (90 km from Duhok).
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History of the Institution
The University of Duhok (UoD) was established in 1992
by the Kurdish Regional Parliament in the aftermath of
the Kurdish uprising after the second Gulf War.
The main objective of the UoD was to fulfill the needs
of Higher Education in the Duhok Governorate and the
Kurdistan Region.
The Faculty of Medical Science (College of Medicine )
and the Faculty of Agriculture (College of Agriculture)
were the first to open.
This was followed by the faculties of Engineering and
Arts in 1994 and the other faculties were opened later.
Student Body
• Students are mainly from the Duhok Governorate
and the other governorates of Kurdistan.
• A sizable number of students also come from the
other governorates of Iraq, mainly from Nineveh
and Baghdad.
• The student body is Kurdish in the majority;
nevertheless it actually reflects the whole ethnic
and religious spectrum of the Iraqi society.
Administrative Heads
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Prof. Dr. Nazar M.S. Numan Dean
Mr. Sami Mamlouk Giliana Assistant Dean
Prof. Dr. Ahmad K Al-Sulaivany Head School of Engineering
Dr. Mohammad Jalal Noori Head School of Planning
Dr. Jalal Hasan Javsheen Head School of Applied Earth Science and Geoinformatics
Dr. Dr. Bahzad M. Ali Noori Head Dept. of Civil Engineering
Dr. Jawhar Rasheed Mohammad Head of Dept. of Water Resources
Engineering
Dr. Bayez K. Al-Sulaivany Head of Dept. Electrical and Computer
Engineering
Dr. Layla Rasool Head of Dept. Architectural Engineering
Dr. Sherzad Al-Khalifa Director Engineering and Applied Science Research
Center
Other Supporting Units
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Student’s Registry Unit
Scientific and Postgraduate Affairs
Library
Laboratory Supply Unit
Personnel Office
Accountant’s Office
Planning and Follow-up
Workshop
Sports Manager
Thank You