Kuwait University

Kuwait University
Motto	Rab'bī Zidnī Ilma(n) (My God, grant me more knowledge) Qur’an, 20:114
Type	Public
Established	8 October 1966; 57 years ago
President	Dr. Hussein Al-Ansari
Academic staff	1,565
Undergraduates	38,638
Postgraduates	2,188
Location	Kuwait City (Main campus) , Kuwait
Campus	Urban, 380 acres (1.5 km2)
Website	http://www.kuniv.edu/ , http://ku.edu.kw

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Kuwait University (Arabic: جامعة الكويت‎‎, abbreviated in English as Kuniv) is one of the public universities in Kuwait.

Khaldiya Campus

History

Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29/1966. The university was officially inaugurated on 27 November 1966 to include the College of Science, the College of Arts, the College of Education and the College for Women. The university is the state’s first public institution of higher education and research.

The university aims to preserve and transmit knowledge through scholarship, encourage innovation and development in the arts and the sciences through addressing issues of national, regional and global significance. It has made significant advances since its establishment nearly 50 years ago and has evolved into a multi-faculty institution of higher learning composed of 17 colleges offering 76 undergraduate, 71 graduate programs.

Shuwaikh Campus

Kuwait University’s facilities are geographically spread over six campuses, providing sites for intellectual exchanges across disciplines and faculties offering programs in the sciences, engineering, humanities, medical and social sciences. In keeping with its dynamic plans for development, the university continues to add new programs, facilities and faculties, ensuring that students are at the cutting-edge of scientific advances and global initiatives.

Facilitating students’ entry into mainstream programs is a wide range of options in undergraduate and graduate studies. The university seeks to promote faculty-student discussions, peer-bonding, and stimulate a culture of humility, respect, and camaraderie. Within the university’s environment, vast opportunities are available for students to develop analytical and scientific skills through practical exposure, scientific experimentation, research and presentations, to learn, improve and excel. The entire learning process ultimately finds expression in the students overall performance and academic excellence, leading to the awarding of the Bachelor, Master and Doctoral degrees.

The institution’s scientific culture strives to further postgraduate studies, develop new programs, and enhance collaborations with world-renowned universities and research centers to attain global recognition and visibility. This purpose dynamically involves faculties in exploring new dimensions in academic exchanges and research, in bolstering their institutions external profiles and international standing.

The current president of Kuwait University is Dr. Hussain Al-Ansari

The Campus

The six campuses that comprise the university—Adailiya, Shuwaikh, Keifan, Khaldiya, Fintas, Jabriya—are minutes away from downtown Kuwait City. The main access to Shuwaikh campus, Jamal Abdul Nassar Street, overlooks the Gulf Sea. This 380-acre self-contained ‘green’ campus is specially designed to shelter students from extremes in weather. Despite the university’s rapid expansion, architectural beauty was never sacrificed. Kuwait has a rich cultural history—accessing its museums and budding art galleries—can add immeasurably to students’ aesthetic enjoyment and enlightenment.

Organization and Development

Kuwait University's organization is a well-defined system that integrates key structural elements and responsibility spheres into a vibrant functional entity, overseeing growth and sustenance of academic, research and administrative processes within the framework of its institutional policies, strategic goals, and future missions. Since its inception in 1966, Kuwait University has followed a progressive path and achieved significant milestones. It has developed an academic, administrative and educational system that responds to internal needs and external challenges, while consolidating the foundations of a distinguished institution that fulfils national aspirations, and achieves international recognition. In explicit terms, Kuwait University has witnessed tremendous growth in students and faculties strength, infrastructure and resources. As it nears its semi-centennial anniversary (Golden Jubilee), the university has seen its enrollment grow from about 418 to 40,000 students, faculty from 31 to 1,565, colleges from 4 to 17, administrative and academic support personnel from 200 to more than 5,000, firmly backed by the most modern infrastructure, state-of-the-art facilities, and model laboratories. Kuwait University has more than 100,000 alumni serving the country and the region and some have attained prominent positions

College of Law

The strategic plan of the university is set by the government. Its executive powers are vested in the President, who heads the university, and is responsible for its scientific, intellectual, technical, administrative and financial affairs. Further, the President oversees implementation of KU laws, bylaws and the University Council’s decisions, and sustenance of institutional development through policies, plans and strategies geared to advancement, and effectively driving the institutional processes towards accomplishing the university’s mission, domestic vision and global aspirations.

The extensive sphere of Presidential responsibilities finds legitimate expression in five core offices, identified as distinct Sectors - Academics, Research, Health Sciences, Planning, and Academic Support Services, each headed by the Vice President with a mandate to envision, plan, implement and develop their respective domains within the framework of institutional mission. An equally dominant executive office is the KU General Secretariat, a virtual arm of the institutional administrative affairs, headed by the Secretary General, which together with the five Vice Presidents, constitute Kuwait University’s senior leadership and executive authority, with clearly defined spheres of responsibility, each vital for implementing Kuwait University’s policies, plans and goals, and spearheading its institutional advancement.

Kuwait University Academic System

Kuwait University follows the Credit Hour System (approved hours), with teaching arranged on semester basis, except in the Faculty of Law, which follows the yearly system of continuous teaching, and the Health Sciences Center’s faculties.

College of Social Sciences

Kuwait University’s academic programs operate on a semester calendar beginning mid-September and finishing at the end of May. Each semester lasts about 15 to 17 weeks. The fall semester commences the second week of September and lasts until the end of December. The spring semester commences at the end of January and lasts until the end of May. Enrollment in the summer program is optional. It lasts eight weeks including the examination period, as approved by the University.

Information Resources

Kuwait University Libraries (KUL) Information resources contain approximately 526,464 titles / 651,042 volumes of Arabic and non-Arabic monographs, reference materials, dissertations and reports in different branches of knowledge. KUL subscribes to 76 databases and E-Books - contain 10,000 titles in various fields - 1645 printed journals (Arabic, non-Arabic) and 783 online journals (Arabic, non-Arabic). In addition, the audio-visual collection consists of approximately 20,000 items including 9808 Scientific Films, Manuscripts collection consists of approximately 1254 original and 21,496 copy. Currently, the library catalog (OPAC) includes bibliographic records for the Arabic and foreign books and periodicals of all disciplines.

Students Admission Process

University rules and regulations govern student admission to the university, details of which are outlined in booklets issued by the university, as well as on its website. The Admissions and Registration Deanship at Kuwait University regulates the admission process, and is responsible for reviewing students’ applications and determining their admission, based on each program’s specific requirements and criteria, as established by the faculties and the University Council. The Deanship also oversees admitting students from other countries, and whether cultural scholarships will be awarded to them by the university; similarly, the Deanship also determines whether a degree will be awarded by the university.

Admission Requirements

Admission is open to students whom have successfully completed their secondary education and meet the requirements set forth by the university’s admission policy, approved annually by the University Council. All admitted students may choose the degree program they wish to join and the courses they wish to attend on a full-time basis. Students admitted to the College of Graduate Studies may pursue their studies either on full- or part-time basis.

Adailiya Campus

Admission requirements may, in some cases, require students to take an aptitude test prior to being accepted to a specific faculty; in such instances, admission is determined using the equivalent average system (combining the student’s high school grade point average (GPA) with the results of the aptitude test) as a prerequisite for admission to the College of Engineering and Petroleum, Allied Health Sciences, Administrative Sciences, Health Science Center, Life Sciences, and Computing Science and Engineering, or through personalized interviews, as determined by the College of Law, and the College of Education.

Transfer of Students

With written permission, students may transfer internally from one department or faculty to another; students not currently enrolled may formally apply to transfer from another university to Kuwait University. The transfer process is subject to meeting the conditions for transfer, and the availability of seats. However, when requesting transfer from another university, the student must be enrolled in an accredited university and in good academic standing.

Cultural Scholarships

The University offers a number of cultural scholarships to students from Arab and non-Arab countries, who meet Kuwait University’s admission requirements.

Credit System

With the exception of the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Dentistry, the University follows the credit system, which makes it mandatory for each student to complete a minimum number of credits to qualify for the award of a degree. Students have the option of selecting courses to fulfill their major sheet requirements.

Academic Majors and Minors

An academic major consists of a group of courses deemed necessary for specialization in a given discipline. An academic minor similarly consists of a number of courses that usually constitute a less demanding specialization, taken in addition to one’s major. Course taken to fulfill these requirements can be intensive. The major-minor system is meant to enrich students’ knowledge and expertise in the chosen fields.

Graduation Time and Requirements

Normally it takes eight semesters for students to successfully complete their programs, and to qualify for graduation. However, for the Engineering and Petroleum program, the courses normally last for nine semesters, and for the Architecture program, 10 semesters. The Medical and Dentistry programs require seven years of study to qualify for graduation. Students are awarded their university degrees upon successfully completing the required credit units.

Honors System

Kuwait University takes pride in its distinguished students and bestows honors and awards on students who have demonstrated scholastic excellence; the university also strives to nurture talent in rare specializations. Each faculty maintains a list of its honors students who achieve a grade point average of 3.5 and above. Students who finish their program’s requirements within the prescribed period and graduate with a grade point average of 3.67 are awarded an honors degree in recognition of their distinguished accomplishment and academic excellence.

Colleges

The university has 16 colleges housing academic departments in addition to the College of Graduate Studies which oversees the graduate programs. The colleges and departments are as follows:

Allied Health Sciences

Department of Health Information Management
Department of Hearing and Speech Loss
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences
Department of Occupational Therapy
Department of Physical Therapy
Department of Radiological Sciences

Architecture

Department of Architecture
Department of Visual Communication and Interiors

Arts

Department of Arabic Language and Literature
Department of English Language and Literature
Department of French Language and Literature
Department of History
Department of Mass Communication
Department of Philosophy

Business Administration

Department of Accounting
Department of Economics
Department of Finance and Financial Institutions
Department of Management and Marketing
Department of Public Administration
Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Systems

Computing Science and Engineering

Department of Computer Engineering
Department of Computer Science
Department of Information Science

Dentistry

Department of Bioclinical Sciences
Department of Developmental and Preventive Sciences
Department of Dental Practice
Department of Diagnostic Sciences
Department of General Dentistry
Department of Restorative Sciences
Department of Surgical Science

Education

Department of Curriculum and Teaching Methods
Department of Educational Administration and Planning
Department of Educational Psychology
Department of Foundations of Education

Engineering and Petroleum

Department of Chemical Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Petroleum Engineering

Law

Department of International Law
Department of Penal Law
Department of Private Law
Department of Public Law

Life Sciences

Department of Communication Science and Languages
Department of Environmental Technology Management
Department of Family Sciences

Medicine

Department of Anatomy
Department of Community Medicine and Behavioral Science
Department of Medicine
Department of Microbiology
Department of Nuclear Medicine
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Department of Pathology
Department of Pediatrics
Department of Pharmacology
Department of Physiology
Department of Psychiatry
Department of Radiology
Department of Surgery

Pharmacy

Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
Department of Pharmaceutics
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Department of Pharmacy Practice

Public Health

Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Department of Health Policy and Management
Department of Public Health Practice
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Science

Department of Biological Sciences
Department of Chemistry
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Department of Marine Sciences
Department of Mathematics
Department of Physics
Department of Statistics and Operations Research

Sharia and Islamic Studies

Department of Belief, Invocation and Preaching Islam
Department of Comparative Jurisprudence and Legitimate Policy
Department of Jurisprudence and Rules
Department of Qur'anic Interpretation and Prophetic Tradition (Hadith)

Social Sciences

Department of Geography
Department of Library and Information Sciences
Department of Political Science
Department of Psychology
Department of Sociology and Social Work

College of Graduate Studies

References

External links