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The analytic hierarchy process at Dar Al-Hekma, Saudi Arabia.

Article Excerpt
I designed and implemented a multicriteria group-decision-making model based on the analytic hierarchy process to select the best candidates to send overseas to do graduate studies and eventually become teachers at the newly created Dar Al-Hekma women's college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Thus, scientific application of an OR method has proved to be robust in a highly political environment. Users do not need to understand the sophisticated, albeit transparent, theory that underlies the methodology. The model is user friendly and relies on simple constructions that conform with what people actually do using logic and discussion to express their opinions in a collective effort to make a decision. Its outcome creates public trust in the management of the college.

(Decision analysis: multiple criteria. Education systems: planning.)

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Until 1998, the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) was the only authority in Saudi Arabia that was responsible for higher education. Education is provided free of charge in Saudi Arabia. Enrolled students are paid a monthly allowance until they graduate. However, as demand for higher education exceeds the capacity of public universities and other public colleges, MOHE is now giving nonprofit organizations in the private sector permission to provide higher education.

Dar Al-Hekma is one of the first private colleges for women instituted under the new system. It began its first year of operation in September 1999. Located in Jeddah, the college offers a four-year baccalaureate program and associate degrees in business information systems, interior design, and special education. All courses are taught in English with the exception of Arabic and Islamic studies.

This new college faces several problems that require rational decision making. One problem is the shortage of qualified women to staff the three departments. Recruiting from the USA could be an option, but it is not a viable long-term solution. One way to solve the staffing problem is to send Saudi women to be trained abroad. To help Dar Al-Hekma carry out this policy, MOHE is offering nine scholarships for graduate studies in the USA and the UK. Whom should it select?

The Problem

The board of trustees asked the academic committee to select nine candidates. The committee consisted of seven members, four experienced faculty members from local public universities, acting as external consultants, plus three members of the board of trustees.

During the first meeting, the members of the committee established that their objective was to select nine qualified women who were interested in continuing their graduate studies abroad in one of the three majors of interest to the college. They suggested more than one strategy for choosing the candidates and posed many hard questions that focused on measurable and nonmeasurable issues. Should the committee give priority to students committed to becoming teachers over students already studying abroad who might not yet have expressed such an interest? How should the committee trade off a high grade point average (GPA) against a low TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score? How is the committee to decide whether the applicant is suitable for filling a faculty position, which is the main purpose for financing her education abroad? These questions do not have straightforward answers. They depend on the judgments, preferences, and goals of the academic committee, which in turn reflect those of the board of trustees and the administration. The members of the committee debated these questions for two meetings...