TABLE OF CONTENTS

MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT 
ABOUT KOYA UNIVERSITY
VISION
MISSION 
VALUES 
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES
PILLARS OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN
PILLAR I: STUDENT SUCCESS AND EMPLOYABILITY 
OBJECTIVE 1: ACHIEVE EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING 
OBJECTIVE 2: ENHANCE STUDENTS’ SOFT AND TECHNICAL SKILLS
OBJECTIVE 3: EMPOWER STUDENT WITH WITHIN AND BEYOND THE CLASSROOM 
PILLAR II: RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 
OBJECTIVE 1: INCREASE RESEARCH FUNDING 
OBJECTIVE 2: CREATE MORE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR FACULTY AND STUDENTS
OBJECTIVE 3: ENHANCE RESEARCH COLLABORATION
OBJECTIVE 4: MANAGE RESEARCH RESOURCES 
PILLAR III: COMMUNITY Outreach
OBJECTIVE 1: FOCUS ON SOCIAL EXCELLENCE 
OBJECTIVE 2: ENHANCE COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING 
OBJECTIVE 3: ADDRESS SOCIETAL ISSUES FACING LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND IMPROVE THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE 
PILLAR IV: RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
OBJECTIVE 1: IMPROVE HUMAN RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT STAFF PERFORMANCE AND EFFICIENCY 
OBJECTIVE 2: INCREASE FINANCIAL RESOURCES
PILLAR V: INTERNATIONALIZATION AND GLOBAL VISIBILITY 
OBJECTIVE 1: IMPROVE INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION 
OBJECTIVE 2: INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY (IR) DEVELOPMENT 
OBJECTIVE 3: IMPROVE UNIVERSITY MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS 
PILLAR VI: DIGITIZATION
OBJECTIVE 1: IMPLEMENT STUDENT DIGITIZATION 
OBJECTIVE 2: IMPLEMENT STAFF DIGITIZATION 
OBJECTIVE 3: TRANSFROM UNIVERSITY E-SERVICES 
OBJECTIVE 4: IMPLEMENT CAMPUS AND MATERIAL DIGITIZATION AND DIGITIZE ALUMNI SYSTEM 
PILLAR VII: GREEN UNIVERSITY
OBJECTIVE 1: WORK TOWARD LEAN UNIVERSITY
OBJECTIVE 2: IMPROVE HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT 
OBJECTIVE 3: RENEWABLE ENERGY AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 
OBJECTIVE 4: FORESTATION AND GREEN SPACES
SUMMARY OF THE OBJECTIVES

Koya University Strategic Plan 2023-2027

MESSAGE FROM THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT

Being an increasingly important academic and educational institution, a university is expected to play a significant role in the development of society to an extent that the development of any society largely depends on the quality and impact of its universities. To achieve their mission, and especially to play their role in areas of education, teaching, academic research and innovation, technological development, and economic growth in society, universities must develop a strategic plan that reflects local educational and financial needs and socio-political reality.
Undoubtedly having a strategic plan is crucial because it serves as a roadmap to achieve the university’s goals and that includes developing and implementing sound strategies to achieve the university’s mission. Developing an effective plan requires several steps and processes including collecting data on the university’s strengths, weaknesses, and needs, analyzing the data, and developing the best strategies to achieve the university’s objectives. Once the final version of the strategic plan is available, we all need to cooperate to execute the plan and achieve the university’s goals.
Based on what has been mentioned above, soon after I assumed the position of the President of Koya University, we formed the Koya University Strategic Planning Committee according to the university decree No 7-2-3306 issued on July 5, 2022. This is in addition to several other relevant subcommittees. Those committees worked hard for more than six months. During that time, they held many meetings and met and consulted with a number of experts from our university, and other national and international institutions to develop the Koya University strategic plan for the next five years that aligns with our university motto “A university for a Stronger society.”
The next step is to start the university strategic plan implementation process which is as important as developing the strategic plan itself because the operational plans will enable the university to achieve its strategic objectives. I know that our university community, including the faculty, staff, and students, have been waiting to have a strategic plan and I am sure that they will actively participate in implementing the plan. We should also not forget the role of governmental institutions, and local and international NGOs and the need to collaborate with them to implement this strategic plan. Certainly, developing such a strategic plan would have been impossible without the tireless work of every member of the Strategic Planning Committee and its subcommittees. Thus, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all the members and reiterate that completing the strategic plan is not the end goal but the beginning of our mission that we have set out to accomplish. I am also sincerely appreciative of all our university staff and local and international reviewers for their valuable feedback and insights that have contributed to strengthening the quality of our strategic plan. Let us serve our local and international communities better than ever before.

Koya University Strategic Plan 2023-2027

Dr. Mohammed H. S. Zangana
Koya University President

ABOUT KOYA UNIVERSITY

Koya University that was founded in 2003 by former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani is a comprehensive public university located in Koya (Koy Sanjaq) which lies 65 km southeast of Erbil, the capital city of Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Koya University consists of six faculties including the Faculty of Education (FEDU), the Faculty of Engineering (FENG), the Faculty of Science and Health (FSCH), the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS), the Faculty of Medicine (FMED) and the Faculty of Physical Education (FPED). The six faculties have a total of 27 academic departments. Current enrollment at the university is over 5,000 students. The university also has more than 1000 permanent faculty and administrative staff.

Koya University Strategic Plan 2023-2027

VISION

Koya University will be a leading academic institution in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and beyond. We will be recognized nationally and globally for our excellence in teaching, research, innovation, sustainability, public service, and entrepreneurship. As a world-class center of higher education, we will serve the interests of society, protect the environment, contribute to the local economy by unleashing the innovative and creative potentials of our students, practice continuous improvement in the quality of teaching, support the academic staff to conduct creative and ground-breaking research, and produce community-oriented graduates.

MISSION

To achieve our vision and uphold our motto “A University for a Stronger Society,” we are committed to improving and transforming the lives of the people we serve through excellent teaching, creative and innovative research, and exceptional community engagement. We seek to implement innovative teaching approaches, practices, and policies that ensure student success and foster employable skills and self-employment prospects of our graduates so they can positively shape their future and successfully navigate the ever-changing job market. To enable our faculty and students to conduct high-quality research that meets local, national, and global needs, we create and develop state-of-art research infrastructure and acquiring resources.
Assuming our social responsibility, we prioritize serving the local communities by engaging our students, staff, members of the local communities, and other stakeholders in service projects and activities that promote active citizenship and meet the needs of the community. We are also committed to creating and implementing a robust finance strategy that redistributes university income to benefit all our stakeholders, minimizes our reliance on governmental funding, increases and diversifies revenue, and attracts new sources of funding from third-party entities to further invest in our students, staff, and infrastructure. At Koya University, we promote internationalization through student and staff exchange, mobility, and cooperation as well as partnerships with other global higher education institutions and organizations. To that end, we accelerate the process of digitization of all our university services, processes, and activities to increase our global visibility and engagement. Committed to environmental sustainability, we also seek to be a role model for all universities in Iraq by being the first university in the country that adopts “Green University” as one of its ultimate goals.

VALUES

Our university values are as follows: Integrity, Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Environmental Sustainability, Social Engagement, and Diversity.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Our strategic objectives reflect our university’s core values and outline the outcomes that our university aims to achieve within the next five years and beyond. The strategic objectives will serve as a roadmap to help Koya University to meet the needs and aspirations of its students, staff, and local communities as well as establishing a strong national and international standing as a reputable academic institution. The objectives also delineate the university’s strategic focus in linking the university programs with the knowledge and skills required in today’s changing local and global labor market. The following are our strategic objectives:

  1. Introduce and implement an innovative education strategy that can successfully address the challenges and opportunities that university students and staff encounter in the 21st Century.
  2. Develop and reform undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and programs to meet global standards to be accredited by intentional accreditation organizations and agencies.
  3. Enhance graduates’ employability and self-employment prospects.
  4. Promote the entrepreneurial university practices to fulfill its “Third Mission (TM)” as an academic institution which is contributing to local, regional, and national economic development.
  5. Make Koya University a leading research-intensive academic institution in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq by developing our existing research skills, capabilities, and infrastructure and providing our academic staff and postgraduate students with enhanced research support with opportunities to increase the proportions and quality of research and publications including collaborative research and co-authored publications with international researchers.
  6. Improve the relationship between the university and our stakeholders and engage them in the process of decision-making and implementation of the university policies.
  7. Maximize and diversify financial resources and revenues to balance the university budget to meet our educational priorities and goals.
  8. Increase our global engagement efforts to build more international relationships with universities, organizations, and businesses, attract foreign students and staff to our university, and create more opportunities for our students and staff to study or teach abroad.
  9. Digitize all university processes and services to coordinate across all the departments and campus units while delivering a seamless experience to everyone who uses our university e-platforms.
  10. Introduce the “Lean University” concept and integrate it with the “Green University” practices to make Koya University a more sustainable university.

PILLARS OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN

Since its establishment in 2003, Koya University has enjoyed consistent growth and success and has continuously been ranked among the leading public universities in both Kurdistan Region and Iraq. However, guided by our value of continuous improvement and to live out its duty as the first public university founded outside the metropolitan cities in the region, Koya University strives to build on its accomplishments by creating and promoting excellence in teaching and learning, scientific research, and other areas. Based on a comprehensive review of the university practices and an institutional SWOT analysis, the University Strategic Plan Committee has developed an extensive plan which has the following seven pillars:

  1. Student Success and Employability
  2. Research and Innovation
  3. Community Outreach
  4. Resource Development
  5. Digitization
  6. Internationalization and global visibility
  7. Green University

Koya University Strategic Plan 2023-2027

Koya University Strategic Plan 2023-2027

PILLAR I: STUDENT SUCCESSAND EMPLOYABILITY

One measure of the effectiveness of higher education and the degree to which human capital has been invested is the relationship between the academic programs offered by universities and the demands of the local and national job market. Learning is one of the foundational ways in which human capital is formed and developed. Human capital—with its competencies and capabilities—is the most productive capital. In all communities, there are two fundamental dimensions to human activity. Work is the process of engaging in social and economic activity, whereas education is the process of acquiring knowledge, abilities, and social orientations.
Koya University recognizes that college graduates’ skills gap has negatively contributed to unemployment in the region, which can hinder economic growth and jeopardize social stability not only in the Koya District but across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Thus, our Student Success and Employability strategic plan aims at bringing about systematic reform in our academic programs to equip our students with adequate knowledge, skills, and competencies needed to succeed as productive citizens and to prepare them for the 21st-century job market. During the development of curricula at the university, therefore, employability skills should be one of the top priorities of the academic departments. This enables departments to adopt appropriate strategies to support and enhance employable skills among their students.
The primary goal of this pillar is to achieve teaching excellence, enhance students’ soft and technical skills, and empower students to succeed both academically and professionally.

OBJECTIVE 1: ACHIEVE EXCELLENCEIN TEACHING

STRATEGIES:

  1. PROMOTE CREATIVITY AND EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING
  • Review and reform existing programs.
  • Promote creative and innovative teaching as well as assessment methods and tools including appropriate assessment strategies to measure learning outcomes for both undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Strengthen the pedagogical knowledge and skills of faculty members.
  • Design and implement the Student-Centered Learning (SCL) curriculum.
  • Improve students’ overall confidence in their academic ability using peer tutoring.
  • Obtain international accreditations for programs offered by the university.

      2. IMPROVE RETENTION, PERFORMANCE, AND ENGAGEMENT

  • Provide students with the required support, adequate resources, quality information, and instructions to overcome the challenges they face and to enable them to have a remarkable university experience.
  • Holding student conferences, symposiums, and workshops at both the department and the university level to enhance and recognize student research skills and achievements.
  • Create libraries and reading areas in the academic departments and college buildings.
  • Promote effective use of technology both inside and outside the classroom to create an engaging learning environment that encourages students to be lifelong learners.
  • Incentivize students’ ideas, achievements, and innovative projects by sponsoring and creating awards and mini-grants for outstanding students.
  • Design new summer course opportunities and camp experiences for high school students.
  • Create online programs and other non-traditional learning pathways to allow those who cannot afford to take classes on campus to further their education and acquire skills needed to advance their career.

      3. REFORM ACADEMIC CURRICULA AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

  • Review and reform curricula to reflect academic departments’ learning outcomes and fulfill the university’s teaching excellence mission.
  • Prioritize valuable extracurricular activities including community services activities, honors programs, leadership, personal development programs and experiences, volunteering, and student employment.
  • Create effective credit accumulation to encourage students to engage in co-curricular and extracurricular activities by earning credits for participating in these activities.
  • Establish an advisory board made up of recognized people from industry or other relevant societal organizations.
  • Review, develop, and accredit academic programs to meet the 21st-century job market.

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE

  1. Mohammed H. S. Zangana, University President and Committee Chair
  2. Haidar Lashkry, Vice President for Scientific and Postgraduate Affairs
  3. Rostam S. Aziz, Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs
  4. Qaraman N. Mohammed, Vice President for Student Affairs
  5. Yadgar K. Ahmad, Department of Law, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  6. Halgurd S. Maghdid, Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
  7. Abdulbasit K. Faeq, Head of Software Engineering Department , Faculty of Engineering
  8. Ahmed A. Mohammad, Head of English Department, Faculty of Education
  9. Dawan J. Hawezy, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
  10. Bnar J. Ahmed, Director of Pedagogy and Academic Development Center
  11. Rastee D. Ali, Director of Career Development Services
  12. Hana M. Smail, Head of English Department, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  13. Muhammed Karim Saedgul, Director of Media and Committee Coordinator

EXTERNAL REVIEWERS

  1. Joseph D. Smith, Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, USA.
  2. Amilcar Soares, Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal
  3. Faik Hamad, Associate professor, School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies, Teesside University, Middlesbrough, UK
  4. Sohail Murad, Professor and Chair of Chemical and Biological Engineering Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA
  5. Kelsey Shanks, Professor of Education at Ulster University and UNESCO Chair in Education for Peacebuilding and Human Rights, UK
  6. Sherko Kermanj, Assistant Professor, The Chair of the Department of International Relations, University of Sharjah, UAE.
  7. Mohammed M. Amro, Professor and Chair Director of the Institute of Drilling Engineering and Fluid Mining at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany.
  8. Ali Al-Sherbaz, Associate Professor of Mobile and Network Security , University of Gloucestershire, UK
  9. Muthanna Al-Dahhan, Professor and Chairman at Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA
  10. Nikki C. (Scarberry) Ratcliff, Pinnacle Teaching Solutions, USA
  11. Christopher D. Ratcliff, Pinnacle Teaching Solutions, USA
  12. Pashew Majeed Nuri, PhD Student in Curriculum and Education Policy, Monash University, Australia
  13. Autumn Yang, Coordinator of HWPL Peace Education Department, South Korea
  14. Jaime Lloret Mauri, Professor, Department of Communications Polytechnic University of Valencia Camino de Vera, Valencia, Spain

STRATEGIC PLANNING SUBCOMMITTEES

  • Student Success and Employability
  1. Qaraman N. Mohammed, Chair
  2. Rastee D. Ali
  3. Yadgar K. Ahmad
  4. Bnar J. Ahmed
  5. Hana M. Smail
  • Resource Development
  1. Rostam S. Aziz, Chair
  2. Bnar J. Ahmed
  3. Brwa S. Ahmad
  4. Yadgar A. Ali
  5. Dunya I. Saleh
  • Green University
  1. Rastee D. Ali, Chair
  2. Fakhri H. Ibraheem
  3. Rebwar T. Aziz
  4. Muhammed Karim Saedgul
  5. Pshtiwan M. Taha
  • ​​​​​Community Outreach
  1. Ahmed A. Mohammad, Chair
  2. Rostam S. Aziz
  3. Rastee D. Ali
  4. Dawan J. Hawezy
  5. Peshawa J. M. Ali
  • Digitization
  1. Halgurd S. Maghdid, Chair
  2. Rostam S. Aziz
  3. Abdulbasit K. Faeq
  4. Akar H. Taher
  5. Muhammed Karim Saedgul
  • Research and Innovation
  1. Haidar Lashkry, Chair
  2. Halgurd S. Maghdid
  3. Yadgar K. Ahmad
  4. Bnar J. Ahmed
  5. Nihad A. Qadir
  • Global Visibility and Internationalization
  1. Abdulbasit K. Faeq, Chair
  2. Yadgar K. Ahmad
  3. Hawkar B. Bakir
  4. Rekurd S. Maghdid
  5. Hana M. Smail
  • Strategic Plan Translation
  1. Salah M. Salih
  2. Yasir A. Al-Jumaili
  3. Hamid B. Abdulsalam
  4. Najat O. Kareem
  5. Bikhtiyar O. Fattah
  6. Karzan O. Dawd
  • Strategic Plan Language Review
  1. Nawzad Anwer Omer
  2. Nikki C. (Scarberry) Ratcliff
  3. Christopher D. Ratcliff
  4. Daban Q. Hamadameen
  5. Koyan I. Jumaah
  6. Hana M. Smail
  7. Muhammed Karim Saedgul

GRAPHIC DESIGN
Othman k. Alsumaidaie, Architect and Graphic Designer, Media Directorate
Koya University - Media Directorate
media@koyauniversity.org