Ministry of Higher Education's approval is granted to first graduate program at Effat University

Dr. Haifa Jamalallail, President of Effat University, has expressed gratitude and appreciation to the Ministry of Higher Education in the Kingdom, and her special thankfulness to HE. Prof. Khalid Al Angari, Minister of Higher Education, for granting the ministry's approval for the XIFM program, which is the first of its kind in the kingdom.

The XIFM curriculum consists of 50 credit hours of a number of compulsory and technical elective courses that include fundamentals of Islamic finance, principles of finance and market, and other related courses. To be able to graduate, the students must pass all the courses and write a professional thesis analyzing a current important topic in Islamic finance. Students will benefit from extra-curricular activities such as lectures given by special personalities, soft skills seminars, and career development coaching. What really makes this program distinct from other programs is that it provides its graduates with a joint Master Degree from Effat University, and from the Rotterdam school of Management and the Ecole Supérieure des Affaires in Beirut.

The Rotterdam School of Management RSM is ranked among the top 10 business schools in Europe, and the Ecole Superieure des Affaires ESA is also categorized as one of the top Middle Eastern Business Schools specialized in Islamic finance. The XIFM Program at Effat has also been recognized and validated by the Sharriya Review Bureau to ensure its complaisance with the Islamic Sharriya.

President of Effat University, Dr. Haifa Jamalallail, has expressed her delight on obtaining the ministry's approval on the XIFM program, and commented, "Launching the XIFM program is the first step in executing the future strategic plans for higher education programs at Effat University, which were set to fulfill the local job market needs; In this context came the idea of establishing such a program at Effat University, because education in Islamic finance has become an indispensable specialty for understanding and applying Islamic financial law in finance. Many of the specialists consider this as the key to success to adapt strategic management. In addition, there is shortage in qualified managers in the financial sector where the Islamic Sharriya is applied. This requires domestic financial institutions and international organizations to plan carefully to overcome the problem of lack of competencies in order to be able to take advantage of banking opportunities available to them."

Dr. Saddiga Al Ghalib, Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, has also gladly commented on this achievement by stating, "The Ministry's approval on our first graduate program at Effat University has pleased me greatly. The Ministry's approval is a commencement for activating the scientific chairs that Effat University has been proud of establishing since 2009, and this accomplishment is only the first step towards attaining Effat's graduate programs' goals and activating the scientific chair of Islamic Finance, which received great attention by the society. We have also recently been approached by many community development institutions who expressed their interest to contribute in activating both of the Urban Development Chair, and the Geographic Information Systems Chair. So we are looking forward to achieve more success in the future."

Dr. Eman Mohamed, Vice Dean of Graduate Studies, and the main responsible person for enhancing the effectiveness of this program which stems from the College of Business at Effat University, has also explained how Effat University is always keen to provide co-curricular activities, which offers variety of benefits to the society, including for example "the XIFM Lecture Series which are provided by XIFM visiting professors once every month. These lectures are for free and open to the interested public as part of Graduate Studies' community services activities."

Dr. Mervat Chuman, Dean of the College of Business, Effat University, also commented on the program by saying, "The program will proceed in the next term of this year 2010/2011, and we are very confident about the program in terms of quality and excellence. We are also so confident about our College of Business faculty's expertise and strong academic background to teach this program along with RSM and ESA visiting professors."