Civil Engineering Department

Faculty of Engineering
King AbdulAziz University

CE 390-SUMMER TRAINING GUIDELINES

1. INTRODUCTION

The civil engineering students are required to undergo a comprehensive Summer

Training Program (STP) with a reputable and specialized industrial organization in or
outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia relevant to his major area of interest in the civil
different engineering fields Construction, Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural
analysis and design, Surveying, Transportation, and Water resources. The purpose of
this summer training is to increase the students' practical experience and to enhance
their career abilities, also to deepen their civil engineering knowledge acquired during
their academic years through this in the field practical experience. In addition, such a
program enhances the relationship between the civil engineering department at KAU
and the governmental and private industrial firms, and provides the business and
industry with well-trained professionals.

The students are expected to spend a significant portion of the summer training period,
depending on the activities of the training organization and the student's field, in the
following areas:

- Orientation period covering the organization, its activities, operations, etc.

- Safety regulations and procedures

- On the job practical training in any field of civil engineering that deals with planning,
designing, construction, and maintaining public and private facilities such as
buildings, tunnels, bridges, transportation systems, water and sewage treatment
plants, etc.

The student is expected to spend his entire summer training period with the training
organization abiding by its regulations like other employees. Throughout the summer
training period the student is required to fill a Weekly Progress Report about
accomplishments of his training activities and submit it weekly to his supervisor in the
training organization for review and approval. Upon approval, a copy of the weekly
report will be sent to the Civil Engineering Department (CED) summer training
supervisor for follow up purposes. , Within four weeks after the end of the training
period, the student is required to submit a formal written Summer Training Report in
accordance with Section 14 of this document.

In order to assess the student seriousness during the training period, the number of
days he spent on training, the number of absences and the number of times he came
late to work, a Summer Training Evaluation Form is requested from the training
organization to be forwarded to the Summer Training Program Office and to the CE
department.

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2. OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the summer training is to expose the student to the work
environment in the field of civil engineering. In particular, the summer training program
will:

1) enable the students to gain valuable practical experience,

2) test the students' career interests.
3) provide the students with in depth knowledge about career fields.
4) develop the students' job-related skills.
5) enhance the students' civil engineering knowledge acquired in class through field
experience.
6) teach the students on how to deal with the society outside the university.
7) enable the students to earn some income.
8) provide the training organizations with a better assessment of the quality of future
human resources, and suggest improvements,
9) enhance the relationship between the civil engineering department and public and
private sectors.
10) provide the CED with feedback on the quality of its program outcomes.

3. DURATION OF THE SUMMER TRAINING PROGRAM (STP)

The qualifying student should spend eight to ten weeks in a CED approved
governmental organization, a reputable industrial firm, or a research center that
conducts and/or is involved with civil engineering activities.

4. SUMMER TRAINING COORDINATOR

The summer training coordinator is a civil engineering faculty member assigned by the
Chairman of the department. His main duties are:

1. Coordinate the different sections of STP.

2. Inform registered students about the requirements of summer training in a public
lecture in the beginning of spring semester.
3. Participate in the examining committee of each student.

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5. SUMMER TRAINING ADVISORS AND INSPECTORS

The summer training advisors are civil engineering faculty members in charge of CE
390 sections. The main role of the advisor is to guide the student to write and compile
his summer training final report in a professional format. It is expected that the advisor
will have frequent meetings with his advisee. The advisor should ensure that the
student submits and presents his final report on or before the end of the tenth week of
the first semester (fall semester).

The summer training inspectors are faculty members teaching summer courses. Each
of them will be in charge of a group of summer training students. They make at least
two on site visits to monitor the execution of the approved training programs.

6. SUMMER TRAINING EXAMINING COMMITTEE

The examining committee will consist of the summer training advisor as a chairman, the
summer training coordinator and the student supervisor in the training organization.
The examining committee will evaluate the student based on the four items listed in
Section 15 of this document. The advisor will report the final grade (PASS/FAIL) to the
summer training coordinator. The examining committee should take into consideration
any delay by the student in submitting any of the required documents and may penalize
the student for that delay.

7. ACADEMIC REGULATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

1. The students are responsible for knowing and following the academic rules and
regulations, including requirements for graduation. Faculty advisors will assist
students in planning their academic program.
2. The student will be allowed to register one course only during his summer training
based on the approval of the training organization.
3. The students must complete the summer training work before their last semester in
the university.
4. To qualify for assignment of summer training, the student should fulfill the following
eligibility requirements:
(i) complete 120 credit hours (including the credit hours expected to be completed
at the end of the semester prior to the training),
(ii) complete all the 200 level courses,
(iii) enroll as a student during the summer training and not been dismissed for
academic or disciplinary reasons.

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8. REGISTRATION PROCEDURES

Students eligible for summer training should register in one of the CE 390 sections that
normally offered in the spring semester. Therefore, the 2 Cr. Hrs. of the summer
training will be included within the total load available for the student. Under limited
conditions, a student may register in the CE 390 sections offered in the summer upon
the request of the student advisor.

9. WITHDRAWAL PROCEDURE

After the registration deadlines, dropping the summer training needs approval of the
civil engineering summer training coordinator. This approval will be granted only to
students with legitimate reasons by completing the dropout form and submitting it to
the CED academic affairs committee coordinator, where it will be processed and sent
to the registrar of the university.
A student may be automatically withdrawn from the summer training without being
informed due to any of the following reasons:

(i) When the student is subjected to dismissal for academic and/or disciplinary
reasons.

(ii) When the student drops some credit hours during the semester preceding the
training period so that the total number of the earned credit hours after this
semester is less than 120 credit hours.

N.B.:

1. If a student is asked to withdraw from the summer training due to any

of the reasons mentioned above in (i) and (ii), his training, if completed,
will not be counted towards the training graduation requirements.

2. A grade of "WF" will be given to any student withdrawing from summer

training program without completing withdrawal formalities.

10. PLACEMENT OF TRAINEES

Although the CED seeks and obtains significant training positions for its students, it is
the responsibility of the summer training office at the College of Engineering to
coordinate with the organizations within and outside the Kingdom to create training
opportunities for the nominated students. A student may look for a training opportunity
for himself in any organization. However, the civil engineering summer training advisor
approval of the selected organization and training program is mandatory. The papers
for summer training will be processed by the summer training office at the College of
Engineering only after the selected organization is approved by the departmental
advisor. Finally, all nominated civil engineering students must contact the Student
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Affairs summer training office and the department summer training advisor to finalize the
administrative formalities before leaving for training.

11. OBLIGATIONS OF THE TRAINING ORGANIZATIONS

1. The training organization is encouraged to utilize the trainee in a job related to

the field of civil engineering in design, analysis, and construction and not assign
him to clerical and routine work, such as operator, translator, etc.

2. The training organization is requested to provide the university with a filled

evaluation form for each trainee at the end of the training period.

3. The training organization should allow the university officials to visit the trainee(s)
as and when required.

12. SUMMER TRAINING TASKS

Figure (1) summarizes the summer training tasks that students should follow to
complete his summer training. These tasks are explained as follows.

A. Before leaving for training

1. Be sure that you are enrolled as a formal student at KAU.

2. Be sure to see the summer training advisor to discuss your training assignment and
how to prepare yourself for your work assignment and training report.
3. Seek your CED advisor’s approval for your training program.
4. Be sure to make a note of the telephone number and e-mail of your advisor as well
as the telephone, fax numbers and the e-mail of the civil engineering department
(i.e. for CE department the Fax is 02-695-2179, the Tel. is 02-695-2488 and the e-
mail is civil_eng_1@hotmail.com).
5. Be sure to take the official documents from the summer training office – College of
engineering - which include
 Official letter addressed to the organization where you will be working.
 Contact guide which has names and telephone numbers of persons in the
organization where you can contact in case they have any major problems during
their summer training.
 Evaluation form to give to your supervisor at the organization.
 Be sure to report to your employer on the prescribed date.

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Figure (1) – Summer Training Tasks

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B. During the training period

1. Be sure to spend all your training period with the organization you were assigned to
and should not transfer to any other organization unless it is approved by both the
university and the organization.
2. Be sure to send your contact address at the training firm to the summer training
office at the College of Engineering not later than the end of the second week of the
beginning of training period.
3. Be sure to obey all organization rules and regulations.
4. Be sure to write your weekly progress report regularly which must include your
actual experience.
5. Be sure to collect all information related to writing the summer training final report.
6. Be sure to remind your training supervisor to fill and send the summer training
evaluation form directly to the summer training office at the College of Engineering -
at the end of your training period.
7. Be sure to contact your department and/or the summer training office at the College
of Engineering if you have any problems.

C. After the training period

1. Be sure to contact the summer training department advisor during the first
week of the first semester following your training to schedule a date for
completing your final report within the specified deadline.
2. Be sure to complete your report and prepare yourself to present your training
experience to the examining committee. The longer you wait after training, the
more distant some of your personal experiences become, and consequently the
more difficult writing the report becomes.

13. DELIVERABLES

1. After completion of the summer training, the student is required to submit three
copies of his formal written report according to the format detailed in Section 14 of
this document to his advisor at least one week before the student's scheduled
presentation which must be on or before the tenth week of the first semester.
2. After completion of the summer training, the student is required to submit the
following materials to the summer training department advisor.

(i) The compiled weekly progress report signed by the student's on-the-job
supervisor showing the major work accomplished during each week. This
should be submitted during the first week of the first semester following the
training period.

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 (ii) A copy of the final report implementing all committee corrections (if any) which
is written according to the format detailed in Section 14 of this document for the
department use accompanied with CD contains MS word file for the report and
power point file of his presentation.

14. WRITING THE SUMMER TRAINING FINAL REPORT

The summer training report must be properly typed and bound. Figures and Tables (if
any) must be placed in relevant location. It is the student's responsibility to follow up
with his department advisor and check if the report needs any corrections or
modifications. A suggested format for the summer training final report is given below:

(1) Cover page which should include

 University, college and department names
 Course title and number
 Report title
 Student's name and number
 Advisor's name
 Report submission date
(2) Summary of the report
(3) Table of contents
(4) List of figures (if any)
(5) List of tables (if any)
(6) Introduction
(7) Information about the Training Company
(8) Description of the work Environment
(9) Assigned tasks
(10) Conclusion and recommendations
(11) References (if any)
(12) Appendices (including copies or weekly progress reports).

A template for Items from (6) to (10) is shown in Appendix A.

15. EVALUATION AND GRADING

The student will be given a PASS or FAIL grade (Pass ³ 70) by the examining
committee for his summer training program based on:

(i) His weekly progress report (will carry a 15% of the total grade)

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(ii) His summer training final report (will carry a 45% of the total grade)
(iii) His presentation (will carry a 25% of the total grade)
(iv) Participating organization's evaluation of the student (will carry a 15% of the total
grade).

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 Appendix A

Template for items (6) to (10) of the Summer Training Report

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 I. Introduction

1. Overall goal/ mission statement for the training activity

<<A simple, clear, brief, positive, and correctly written statement, that describes the
"big-picture" idea of why the student is interested to have training, what he wants to
focus on, and what he needs to accomplish.>>
2. Expected Learning objectives
<<Three or more correctly written learning objectives that describe specific, measurable,
and realistic achievements to accomplish during the training experience. They relate to
the job, represent the job functions and duties, assist in professional growth and
development, relate to the student's course of study or major, and help to reach the
overall goal of student's training experience.>>

II. The Company

1. Historical Background
<<Correctly written short description of the company/ establishment history.>>

2. Organizational Structure

<<The organizational structure is presented in a clear way and suitable format.>>

3. Products/ services
<<The products/ services of the company are clearly described and compared to similar
products/ services in the market.>>

4. Customers
<<Products/ services are associated to their customers and their expected needs.>>

5. Engineering Units
<<Engineering units are described in details with their functions and organizational
structure.>>

6. Environmental and social impact

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 <<The environmental and social impact of the company, its products, and its by-products
are fully described including immediate and long-term issues involved on users and non-
users locally and globally.>>

7. Quality System
<<The quality system is fully described with sufficient photos, figures, or graphical
representations.>>

III. The Training Environment

1. Work environment
<<The nature of the activities carried out by the department(s) or unit(s) where the
major part of the training experience took place, is clearly described. Whether the
function of the department is design, maintenance, R&D, project management, or
anything else, the student is able to relate it to the activities of the whole company/
establishment.>>

2. Standards, Regulations, and documentations

<<Paper work is clearly described with reference to applicable standards and
regulations.>>

3. Timeline
<<A time plan of the whole training activity is presented using standard project planning
techniques such as Gant charts, deployment charts, and critical path analysis.>>

IV. Assigned Tasks

For each training task prepare the following:

1. Task definition

<<The problem to be solved is clearly stated. Objectives are complete, specific, and concise.
Customer needs are correctly identified and transformed into project requirements. All
potential customers are identified and their needs are taken into consideration.>>

2. Literature review and data collection

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<<All pertaining information (including regulations, standards, and operational experiences)
are identified and collected from a variety of credible sources. Information are reviewed and
assessed with respect to their quality, validity and accuracy and presented using a standard
and ethically referenced literature review format.>>

3. Knowledge integration with course work

<<The problem to be solved is logically formulated. Prior knowledge of mathematics,

science and engineering principles as well as discipline related courses and collected
information are successfully integrated to address the problem.>>

4. Safety and environmental issues

<<Measures to deal responsibly with both safety issues and environmental hazards are
presented.>>

5. Work plan

<<An effective work strategy is developed, including a plan of attack, decomposition of work
into subtasks, balanced responsibilities of team members, an executable timetable and a
justified project budget. Standard project planning techniques such as Gant charts,
deployment charts, and critical path analysis are used.>>

6. Implementation
<<The work carried out represents an engineering contribution similar to that carried by a
professional engineer in the field and is well described.>>

7. Impact analysis
<<Related environmental, social, health and safety issues as well as anticipated hazards are
deeply evaluated. Local and global, long term as well as short term benefits and risks on
users and non users are analyzed and how they might impact the general acceptance of the
results of the work done.>>

8. Evaluation

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 <<Performance of the final work compares favorably to customer requirements, pre-set
objectives, operational constraints, and existing products if any.>>

V. Conclusions & Recommendations

1. Achievement of expected learning objectives

<<The student is able to present convincing evidences that all of his Learning Objectives
were achieved by the end of the training period.>>

2. Recommendations to enhance future training in this company

<<Analysis of the achievement of the student's learning objectives are used to develop
specific rational recommendations to enhance the future student's training experience in
this company.>>

3. Recommendations to enhance future training of KAU engineering

students
<<The student's training experience is used to develop a set of rational, clear and precise
recommendations to KAU in order to enhance the future training of the engineering
students.>>

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