Monitoring and evaluating implementation of an International Partnership at a Saudi University

Abstract

This paper shows that the international partnership between Taibah University (TBU) and George Washington University (GWU) in the United States (US) supports the goals of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as stated in the Kingdom's Vision 2030 statement. This partnership was formed to build a doctoral program in educational leadership and administration. The current research relates to monitoring and evaluating the partnership in the implementation phase, and asking: (1) What is the level of the partnership process in terms of inputs, activities and outputs? (2) What are the results of the partnership? (3) Has the partnership resulted in any benefits, challenges, recommendations, or changes related to department management, team members, leaders, course content, teaching/learning processes, or students? In order to follow the steps of this partnership, the researcher used the major steps by Sallis (1990). This approach enables the organization to identify requirements and determine the best way to achieve them. The first seven stages of the Sallis model (1990) were discussed in a previous paper by the current researcher (Alhazmi, 2017), one of the executive members of the programme. The current study seeks to address the last step ("monitoring progress"), which was not addressed in the previous paper. The researcher uses a logic model approach that is generated from information gathered from self-study, including interviews, visualizations, and reports, to create an overall picture of the different perspectives in the logic model. The participants' feedback was generally positive, and the two universities' work teams made sure that the program and course specifications were met, as agreed in the terms of the partnership contract.