Kuwait University

Kuwait University
جامعة الكويت‎‎
Motto	Rab'bī Zidnī Ilma(n) (My God, grant me more knowledge) Qur’an, 20:114
Type	Public
Established	8 October 1966; 52 years ago
President	Dr. Hussein Al-Ansari
Academic staff	1,600
Undergraduates	39,000
Postgraduates	2,200
Location	Kuwait City (Main campus), Kuwait
Campus	Urban, 380 acres (1.5 km2)
Website	http://www.kuniv.edu/ , http://ku.edu.kw

Kuwait University (Arabic: جامعة الكويت‎, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university in Kuwait.

Khaldiya Campus

History[edit]

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, and encourage innovation and development in the arts and the sciences. It comprises 17 colleges offering 76 undergraduate, 71 graduate programs.

Shuwaikh Campus

The university facilities are spread over six campuses, offering programs in the sciences, engineering, humanities, medical and social sciences. Students are awarded Bachelor, Master and Doctoral degrees.

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

In November 2015, the university organised the Kuwait Global Technopreneurship Challenge (KGTC).

Campus[edit]

The six campuses that comprise the university are Adailiya, Shuwaikh, Keifan, Khaldiya, Fintas, and Jabriya. They are minutes away from downtown Kuwait City. The main access to Shuwaikh campus, Jamal Abdul Nassar Street, overlooks the Persian Gulf. The 380-acre ‘green’ campus is designed to shelter students from extremes in weather.

Organization and development[edit]

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, and administrative and academic support personnel from 200 to more than 5,000. 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. 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.

The sphere of Presidential responsibilities finds expression in five core offices - Academics, Research, Health Sciences, Planning, and Academic Support Services, each headed by a Vice President. Another executive office is the KU General Secretariat, an 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.

Kuwait University academic system[edit]

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

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[edit]

Kuwait University Libraries (KUL) information resources contain 526,000 titles/651,000 volumes of Arabic and non-Arabic monographs, reference materials, dissertations and reports. 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 9800 scientific films, manuscripts collection consists of 1300 original and 22,000 copy. The library catalog (OPAC) includes bibliographic records for the Arabic and foreign books and periodicals of all disciplines.

Students admission process[edit]

The Admissions and Registration Deanship regulates the admission process, and is responsible for reviewing students’ applications and determining their admission, based on each program’s requirements as established by the faculties and the University Council. The admissions decision is based on an aptitude test administered by the university 3 times a year. The Deanship 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[edit]

Admission is open to students who have successfully completed their secondary education and meet the requirements set forth by the university’s admission policy. All admitted students 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 pursue their studies either on full- or part-time basis.

Adailiya Campus

Admission requirements may require students to take an aptitude test prior to being accepted to a 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[edit]

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.

Cultural scholarships[edit]

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

Credit system[edit]

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[edit]

An academic major consists of a group of courses necessary for specialization in a given discipline. An academic minor consists of a number of courses that usually constitute a less demanding specialization, taken in addition to the major.

Graduation time and requirements[edit]

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[edit]

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 academic excellence.

Colleges[edit]

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: