This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 009469 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHAHRAN SENDS 
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU 
STATE FOR NEA/PPD - CWHITTLESEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2015 
TAGS: SOCI KMPI PINR SA
SUBJECT: HEAD OF TOP SAUDI UNIVERSITY LEADS THE DEVELOPMENT 
OF SAG'S 25-YEAR PLAN FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 
 
Classified By: Classified by Consul General John Kincannon for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: CG John Kincannon and consulate staff met 
with Dr. Khaled S. Al Sultan, Rector and CEO of King Fahd 
University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM) on December 17th 
¶2005. Al Sultan discussed current challenges facing the 
university, the importance of educational exchange, and 
KFUPM's involvement with SAG's 25-year strategic plan for 
higher education. The 2-year development of this plan will 
include extensive studies of the needs of higher education in 
Saudi Arabia, and result in a 5-year implementation plan. End 
Summary. 
 
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"THE SAUDI UNIVERSITY WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS" 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (U) KFUPM began as the College of Petroleum and Minerals 
in 1964, founded to train people to work at Aramco. Long been 
considered the best university in Saudi Arabia, standards 
seem to have slipped within the past decade, but it still 
remains Saudi Arabia's top public university. Over 17,000 men 
apply each year (no female students are accepted), and 1800 
are selected on the basis of their final high school 
examination, subject tests in the sciences, and an aptitude 
test. 
 
¶3. (SBU) "We have no competitors," said Al Sultan. About 1200 
students graduate each year, each with 4 to 5 good job 
offers. Alumni constitute significant proportions of the 
boards of major organizations - 25 of 38 Aramco VPs graduated 
from KFUPM, as did 8 of 16 SABIC senior executives. The 
university offers bachelors of science and master's degrees 
in sciences, engineering, computer science, industrial 
management and finance, and environmental design. It has a 
growing graduate program that includes PhD's in many of these 
fields. 
 
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CHALLENGES IN RECRUITING AND RETAINING FACULTY 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (C) Attracting top-level Saudi students is easy, but 
recruiting top international faculty is not. The 
international competition for faculty is fierce, and external 
events affect the process. The rise in China's economy for 
instance, says Al Sultan, significantly hurt KFUPM's English 
program when many native English teachers were attracted by 
new opportunities in China. There is also high turnover with 
the Saudi faculty, who find that teaching at the prestigious 
university opens up many other opportunities. "We are victims 
of our own success," he noted. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The other major challenge identified by Al Sultan is 
to strengthen KFUPM's position as the leader of higher 
education in Saudi Arabia. Many KFUPM's decisions in the past 
have been on the cutting edge of education in Saudi Arabia. 
They were the first university to introduce an internship 
component to the course of study, to teach entirely in 
English, and to link degrees to the needs of the market. Al 
Sultan wishes to continue to lead the way with new ideas, 
including distance learning, the development of commercially 
viable products out of university research, and expanding the 
community service activities of KFUPM, both in the EP and in 
Saudi Arabia as a whole. 
 
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"STUDENTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN BUSINESSMEN" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) As someone who studied in the United States, Al 
Sultan strongly believes in the importance of educational 
exchange. He encouraged graduate students to go to the US 
even during the months after 9/11, when many were reluctant 
to go.  He says the US-Saudi relationship is "strengthened 
not by businessmen but by students."  He is happy that Saudi 
Arabia is investing in sending students to study in the U.S., 
and said the scholarships pose no threat to KFUPM's ability 
to attract top students. Al Sultan stated the importance of 
having an international perspective in education; there are 
60 nationalities on the teaching staff.  There are also many 
foreign students, although most are of Middle Eastern origin. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
HIGHER EDUCATION IN SAUDI ARABIA: THE NEXT 25 YEARS 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7. (C) KFUPM is managing a 2-year project to develop a 
25-year strategic plan for higher education in Saudi Arabia. 
This includes, Al Sultan said, "everything - private 
education, women's education, everything that is post 
secondary", although vocational training is considered 
separate. The US-based firm Charles River Associates are 
assisting in the development of the plan, and Al Sultan says 
the process is very participatory.  Focus groups will be held 
with parents, students, and alumni; other universities will 
be invited to participate. "It's a little sensitive that one 
university has been chosen to develop the plan for the entire 
kingdom," said Al Sultan, "but we're trying to assure the 
other universities that they will be included in the process." 
 
¶8. (U) The project already has a website: aafaq.kfupm.edu.sa, 
where the objectives and plans are detailed in both English 
and Arabic. This website includes calls for bids to complete 
a range of technical studies of the needs of the higher 
educational system in Saudi Arabia. These studies will be 
followed by national and international workshops and 
conferences. Participants are also welcome to contribute via 
the internet. The final result will be a detailed 
implementation plan for the next 5 years, with a mechanism 
for continued strategic planning for the next 25 years. 
 
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BIO NOTE 
--------- 
 
¶9. (U) Dr. Khaled Saleh Al Sultan has spent a great deal of 
time at KFUPM, as a student, professor, and administrator. He 
was appointed by Royal Decree as the Rector and CEO of KFUPM 
in May 2003. Al Sultan served as the Deputy Minister for 
Educational Affairs, at the Ministry of Higher Education in 
Riyadh from 1998 to 2003. Before that he worked as a 
professor and department chair of KFUPM's System's 
Engineering Department. His BS and MS in Systems Engineering 
are from KFUPM, and he received an MS in Applied Maths and a 
PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the 
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1990. He is originally 
from Al Gassim, Saudi Arabia. 
 
(APPROVED KINCANNON) 
GFOELLER