The ELI Awarded KAU President’s Excellence Prize for University Performance
In an official ceremony on the KAU campus on Tuesday, the English Language Institute (ELI) was presented with the KAU President’s Excellence Prize for University Performance in the Arts and Humanities Colleges Category for the academic year 2020-2021.
During the ceremony, the ELI Dean, Dr Abdullah Al-Bargi, was presented the award by President of the Saudi Education and Training Evaluation Commission, His Excellency Professor Khaled Al-Sabti, and the KAU President, Professor Abdulrahman Al-Youbi. Also in attendance were high-ranking officials of the Commission, KAU Vice Presidents, and College Deans.
The prestigious honor was awarded to the ELI in recognition of the ELI’s impressive performance in the face of the hurdles presented by the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that forced the temporary suspension of face-to-face instruction. The ELI’s rigorous administrative and academic operations in the academic year 2020-2021 were deemed in line with KAU’s quality assurance guidelines following careful examination by the KAU Deanship of Quality and Academic Accreditation.
Dr. Al-Bargi, in receiving the award, said, “The ELI has long established a culture of quality practices in all its administrative and academic operations and will continue with developing its operations-based, research-oriented, and data-driven decisions. The ELI has performed significant data analysis and research studies to achieve its vision of being the leading ELT organization in the region.”
The ELI was the first English-language institute affiliated with a university in the Kingdom to receive accreditation from the US-based Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA) in 2013 and is the home of Saudi TESOL, the sole TESOL organization in Saudi Arabia approved by the Ministry of Education.
“We draw on a wide variety of ELT and higher education quality practices to ensure that we provide the best services possible to our younger generation while supporting Vision 2030 and its Human Capabilities Enhancement Program,” Dr Al-Bargi continued. “I sincerely thank the ELI Vice-Deans, Unit Heads, faculty members and staff for their amazing collaboration that has culminated with this prestigious honor.”
The ELI Vice-Deanship for Development, led by Dr Khaled Al-Harthi and his team, oversaw the ELI’s adherence to the University’s quality assurance guidelines.
This is the second time that the ELI has been awarded this prestigious accolade.
Last July, the ELI was recognized for its embrace and implementation of its full-time remote learning program that saw some 18,000 students complete their English language preparatory year in a wholly remote and digital environment.