External Supervisor

Appointment of an External Supervisor

• The external university nominates an external supervisor from the faculty members according to their terms, rules and conditions in the contract or agreement with them. The external supervisor is the main supervisor of the thesis.
• The external supervisor's nomination depends on the approval of the department and college councils and the program's Standing committee.
• It is possible to add an assistant external supervisor when needed, and the nomination is approved according to the university’s external regulations and the concluded contract.

Obligations of the External Supervisor

1. Undertake the academic supervision during the student's study period.
2. Visit the university annually or as agreed in the admission agreement to follow up on the student's academic and research progress, provided that the visit period is not less than three days each time.
3. Prepare a detailed report on the achievements of the visit as mentioned in article (27), and inform the Joint Supervising Department of any weakness in the student’s academic level.
4. Prepare semi-annual reports on the student's studies and send them to the Joint Supervision Department.
5. Cooperate effectively with the student, and the Joint Supervising Department through continuous communication via the available communication channels
6. If the student visits the external university, the supervisor writes a report about the student's visit.

External Supervisor's Rights

Based on Article 60 of the Unified Regulations for Graduate Studies in Saudi Universities, stating that it is allowed to meet the external supervisor, if needed, and with the approval of the Deanship of Graduate Studies Council of the university, and with the university request to delegate the external supervisor for master's and doctoral thesis for a maximum of three days. The beneficiary university shall bear the expenses of the supervisor according to their rank.

Local Supervisor

Appointment of a Local Supervisor

• For each student, a local supervisor is appointed from faculty members in the scientific department, based on the recommendation of the Scientific Department Council and the approval of the Deans of the College and Graduate Studies and the external university. He/she is considered an assistant for the external supervisor.
• The rank of the local supervisor must not be less than associate professor; if not possible, an assistant professor can be selected, provided that he/she has been appointed for two years and have at least two published research papers.
• The local supervisor may be from another department within the university, provided that his/her specialization is related to the student's research.
• The local supervisor may supervise a maximum of two students in the joint supervision program simultaneously. Provided that the total number of students supervising in the joint supervision program or graduate studies inside or outside the university does not exceed five academic theses. Each thesis in the joint supervision program is calculated as two credits for the faculty member's teaching load.
• In case the local supervisor is unable to continue supervising, the scientific department suggests an alternative supervisor take his/her place and is authorized by the department and college councils and the program's standing committee.
• The student has the right to submit a request to replace her local supervisor when there are valid reasons. The request must be submitted to the scientific department and approved by the department and college councils and the program's standing committee.

Obligations of the Local Supervisor

The local supervisor's role will be as follow:

1. Supervise the implementation of the student's study and research plan approved by the external supervisor.
2. Help the student overcome the scientific and research difficulties and serve as the student's academic advisor throughout her academic period.
3. Coordinate with the concerned authorities regarding all the students' materials, scientific equipment, and others.
4. Submit a detailed semi-annual report about the student's academic year and reports on scientific visits to the external university as mentioned in the article (28).
5. Notify the Vice Presidency of Graduate Studies for the Joint Supervision Program about the student's academic level.

Local Supervisor's Rights

• Supervision of each thesis is calculated as two academic units.
• If the local supervisor needs to visit the external university for thesis discussion, article 61 of the Unified Regulation for Graduate Studies in Saudi universities will be implemented. It states that if the discussant is from a different city in which the thesis is being discussed, whether she is from inside or outside the Kingdom, she will be issued a onetime payment of (1500) SAR for discussing the doctoral thesis, and the reward increases to (2500) SAR if discussant was from outside the Kingdom, as well as a two-way ticket, appropriate housing, and allowance for a maximum for two nights. The Council of Graduate Studies may add one or two nights if necessary if requires by the nature of the study and based on the recommendation of the Department and College Councils and the Standing Committee of the Program.