All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Beneficent, the Merciful.,

It is my pleasure and honor to take this great opportunity to welcome you all to the Department of Information Systems (IS) at the College of Computer and Information Sciences (CCIS), King Saud University. The IS department is one of the largest and major departments of the CCIS. Its discipline is considered as a bridge among different disciplines such as Computer Science, Information Technology and Business Administration. The department strides to support and promote the development of the IS industry in the kingdom. It is committed to exerting every possible effort towards raising the standard of the IS discipline in a way that allows the local industry to become highly competitive worldwide.

The goal of the Information Systems program is to fully prepare students with strong knowledge and skills for developing, designing, using and maintaining highly efficient information systems that can significantly improve the processes and performance of private and public organizations. The basic knowledge provided by the program enables students to understand the relation of IS environment with the business organization and IT industry. We aim to ensure that our students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels receive a high-quality education with necessary skills such as technical, business and communication skills that will enable them to become leaders in the IS industry. Our efforts are enabled through excellent faculty expertise and a strong research record in both traditional and emerging areas of information systems.

Our strategic plan is to have our commitment towards excellence and quality recognized internationally by achieving accreditation through international bodies. You will be pleased to know that we have already received ABET accreditation and continuously working on getting other accreditation as well.

I would like to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation to all who have contributed to our program. I pray to Almighty Allah (SWT) to help and guide us in fulfilling our aspirations for our students and faculty. Wishing you a fruitful time at the Department of Information Systems.

Arif Al-Amri, PhD
Head, Information Systems Department

Program info  |  Objectives  |  Outcomes  |  Admission  |  Study plan  |  Project  |  Statistics  |  Course Catalog

1. Computer science,
2. Basic sciences in Mathematics, Statistics, and Physics,
3. Humanities and Social Sciences,
4. English Language, and
5. Arabic Language and Islamic Culture.

The B.Sc. Program In Computer Science is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, https://www.abet.org, under the General Criteria and the Computer Science and Similarly Named Computing Programs Program Criteria.

The program satisfies the ACM/IEEE recommendations for a computer science curriculum and takes into account the community needs. The department staff is continuously working on updating the B.Sc. program to meet the latest technologies in computer science and the fastly changing society needs.

1. Graduate will work as computing professionals, conducting research and/or leading, designing, developing, or maintaining computer-related projects in various fields;
2. Graduates are capable of demonstrating professionalism and a sense of societal ethical responsibility in all their endeavors.
3. Graduates continue enhancing their skills, embrace new computing technologies through self-learning activities, and post graduate training or education.

Table 1 depicts the mapping between the Program Educational Objectives, the corresponding short-term objectives, and the performance indicators defined to measure the attainment level.

Table 1: Mapping PEOs - Actions – Student Outcomes

The student outcomes of the CS program are consistent with the ABET/CAC student outcomes for Computer Science programs. By the time of graduation, the program enables the students’ ability to:

1. Analyze a complex computing problem and to apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
2. Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements in the context of the program’s discipline.
3. Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
4. Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
5. Function effectively as a member or leader of a team engaged in activities appropriate to the program’s discipline.
6. Apply computer science theory and software development fundamentals to produce computing-based solutions.

The Saudi National Commission for Academic Accreditation and Assessment (NCAAA) categorizes the Student Outcomes (SOs) into three domains of learning:

1. Knowledge and understanding.
2. Skills.
3. Values.

The CSC program adopted the student outcomes of ABET/Computing Accreditation Commission. These outcomes were mapped to the three domains of learning identified by NCAAA as shown in the Table below.                  
 

Table 2: Mapping of Student Outcomes to NCAAA Learning domains.

The CSC curriculum has been designed to enable students achieve the outcomes reported above. In fact, the SOs of the CSC program were developed based on the mission of the department and college. Moreover. they were reinforced through consultation with academic and professional international advisors involved in the field of computing, as well as the needs of the different program constituents. Furthermore, the design and development of the program and its SOs took into consideration the criteria set by reputable professional societies, such as Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the well-known qualified accreditation authority for engineering and computing programs, (http://www.abet.org/accreditation/), and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society recommendations for Computer Science programs of 2008 and 2013 (ACM 2008 body of knowledge, Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Science 2013).

To get accepted in the Computer Science program, the students must first complete the first common year program at King Saud University. Male students should register in the track engineering/science of the program, whereas female students should register in the science track. Access to the preparatory year program is rank-based, whereby students are ranked and selected according to their composite average computed as follows:  

• 30% of General Aptitude Test,
• 30% of Secondary School GPA,
• 40% of Subject Achievement Test.  

Upon successfully completing the first common year program, the students can choose one of the available programs. The requirement for the admission to the College of Computer and Information Sciences, including the computer science program, is based on a composite average that should not be less than 70% and which is calculated as follows:

• 25% of General Aptitude Test,
• 25% of Subject Achievement Test,
• 25% of the First Common Year GPA,
• 25% of Math Courses in the First Common Year.

Students transferring to the Computer Science program from other programs within King Saud University or from outside the university can request that their previous credits are counted into the program requirements. For that, the student must submit full descriptions of the courses already studied to the college. The latter, based on approval from the chairman of the computer science department has the right to note the courses equivalent to the parallel courses in the study plan provided that the equivalent credit hours do not exceed 40% of the study plan at the program. Equivalence between courses is based on the number of credit hours and the course content, which is judged by qualified faculty members from within the program.

Further details on the transfer between colleges, and from other specialties within CCIS to the Computer Science program can be found HERE.

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The number of graduates, students accepted and students enrolled in the CSC program are reported below:

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