What is the "Leadership from the Frontlines" program and what are its objectives?
The "Leading from the Front" program, launched in January 2025, is more than just an initiative; it is a community movement aimed at empowering all members of the KSU community to actively participate in shaping and contributing to the university's future. We believe that you, our students, faculty members, and staff, possess the best insights and ideas for development and improvement. We are committed to transparency and hard work, and your feedback and suggestions will directly impact the development of the campus environment and culture, academic curricula, support for scientific research, and facilities and services. In this journey of transformation that we embark on together, we invite you to participate, take initiative, and lead, because the transformation at KSU is not top-down, but rather emerges from the front lines, from all members of the university.
Leading from the front phases:
Phase 1
✓ Program launch.
✓ Listening across Academia & RDI.
✓ Enlisting frontliners.
✓ KSU transformation Hackathon.
Phase 2
✓ Listening across KSU Medical City.
✓ Delivery of pilot improvement projects for Academia & RDI.
Phase 3
✓ Scaled up delivery for Academia & RDI.
✓ Preparation for launching pilot improvement projects for Medical City.
Through the Leading from the Front program, we have witnessed extraordinary engagement across all levels of our University. Your active participation across Academia and RDI has yielded over 267,000 data points, providing invaluable insights into our strengths but also areas for improvement.
Your direct feedback highlighted five key areas where we can improve your experience at KSU:
- Campus Environment:
Upgrading facilities, learning spaces, and student amenities.
- Culture and Community:
Fostering inclusive engagement, diversity, and alignment with institutional goals.
- Academic Experience:
Enhancing curriculum relevance, teaching methods, and student employability.
- Research Excellence:
Strengthening research support, facilities, and collaborative opportunities.
- Staff Development and Management:
Improving career progression, workload balance, and compensation structures.
Frontliners are dedicated KSU faculty and staff members who were selected through a competitive process to lead priority projects that drive tangible improvements across the university. They play a key role in implementing change initiatives and shaping KSU’s transformation journey.
Phase 1 Frontliners
Our Phase 1 frontliners were chosen through a highly competitive selection process, with over 1,200 applicants. From this exceptional pool, 16 distinguished faculty and staff members were shortlisted to lead the priority pilot projects - delivering meaningful and lasting improvements across KSU.
Frontliner enlistment process
- Announcing the recruitment for frontline positions.
- Closing registration.
- Reviewing applicants’ data.
- Initial screening.
- Interviews.
- Selecting the final candidates.
- Receiving/onboarding the selected candidates.
Project leads
Abdossalam M. Madkhali
Assistant Professor,College of Medicine
Manal Suliman Alsaif
Assistant Professor,School of Education
Amal Fahad Alshammary
Associate Professor, College of Applied Medical SciencesTeam members
Ghedeir Alshammari
Professor, Food Science and Agriculture
Muna Mohammed Alhammad
Associate professor,Vice dean of electronic transactions and communications for e-learning. Business administration
Ahmad Yahya Floos
Deputy Director E-Services Admin
Noura Mofarrej Alhaqbani
Assistant Head of Administrative and Financial Affairs, Unit Public Relation and Media department
Rima Alhaidar
Assistant Professor, Applied Medical Science
Mohab Amin Kamal Amin
Associate Professor, Engineering
Nouf Saleh Aluneq.
Assistant Director,Deanship of Graduate Studies
Norah Ali Alqahtani
Head of the Female Student Affairs,College of Business Administration
Mohammed A. Alsubaie
Lecturer, Accounting Department,College of Business Administration
Noura Saud Alhazzani
Associate Professor Computer Science and Education,College of Education
Laila Alkahtany
Assistant Professor
Riyadh Alshammari
Assistant ProfessorEmpowering KSU changemakers to lead from within The Transformation Ambassadors Acceleration Program (TAAP) is designed to activate and support a network of passionate individuals across King Saud University who serve as catalysts for positive change.
Spotlight: KSU’s largest hackathon
During April, over 900 participants came together to compete over 3 days in the KSU Transformation Hackathon. Teams co-created solutions across three key tracks: Academic Experience, Campus Life, and University Operations—fostering collaboration and innovation to support KSU’s strategic transformation. For the first time, over 900 faculty members, administrative staff, students, and alumni all joined forces — not just as participants, but as co-creators of KSU’s future.
Review in numbers
- 20 external sponsors supported the initiative.
- winning teams awarded a total of 450,000 SAR .
participants competed across three-days
ideas across 3 transformation tracks
hours of ideation and solution building
The winning teams
Academic experience
LexAI: An AI-powered platform that enhances moot court experiences by analyzing student performance and providing detailed feedback to improve practical legal skills.
Campus life
An integrated system for innovation and entrepreneurship: An electronic platform that protects and commercializes intellectual property while managing stakeholder challenges and attracting contributors to innovative ideas across technical fields
