A total of 118 students graduated from Effat University, a leading women’s college in the Kingdom, on Monday.

The annual graduation ceremony was held at the college’s auditorium, under the patronage of Princess Loulwah Al-Faisal, the vice-president of the board of trustees and the university’s general supervisor.

Haifa Jamal Al-Lail, the university president, kicked off the event with a speech. Manal Fakeeh, advisory board member of Effat University, strategy director, and board member of Suleiman Fakeeh Hospital, delivered the keynote speech in which she highlighted her life experiences.

This year’s ceremony marked the announcement of the Queen Effat Award for faculty members. The award for excellence in teaching for humanities and social sciences was presented to Dorothea Boshoff, lecturer in the general education department, and Sanna Dhahir, assistant professor in the English and translation department. Dhahir also won for excellence in teaching.

The award for engineering was given to Zaki Mallasi, assistant professor in the architecture department, and Charles Kumar, lab engineer in the electrical and computer engineering department. The business award went to Jamaladeen Faleel, assistant professor in the finance department.

In addition, the college announced the establishment of two research centers, for smart buildings and virtual reality, which has been encouraged by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

Jamal said that Effat expects to enroll 3,346 students in the coming academic year, with 3,276 for bachelor's and 70 for master's degrees. The university was preparing more classrooms and computer laboratories for these students, and increasing staff to 356 members.

She stated that 34 percent of research outcomes were published in different scientific magazines that were listed in 151/Scopus. She encouraged the students to use their intelligence to achieve their goals and emphasized the importance of higher education.

She said Effat alumni are either employed in reputable organizations or pursuing further education at renowned institutions. Others have established their own businesses in the Kingdom.

The graduates in their black robes and mortarboard hats were very proud and excited about graduating. “I still can’t believe this is happening. This moment feels so surreal. Effat University has helped us grow and confront challenges individually. We are thankful to Effat for creating new opportunities and prosperity,” said Noor Saleh Al-Shehry, an engineering graduate.

An information and systems management graduate said: “It feels amazing to hold my proficiency certificate in my hand. Years of hard work have finally paid off.”

The university also announced it had received several global accreditations recently. This includes the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for information systems, computer science and electrical engineering. The other entities are National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) for business and master's in Islamic finance, and Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET) and the Executive Education and Community Services Institute (EECSI).