Location

The main campus of Taif University is currently located in Al-Hawiyya, Taif Governorate, Emirate of Makkah, western region of Saudi Arabia, on the eastern slopes of the Sarawat Mountains at an altitude of 1700 m above sea level in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. TU also has three branch campuses in Taif Governorate: Taraba Branch (approximately 150 km from Taif), Khurma Branch (approximately 200 km from Taif), and Ranya Branch (350 km from Taif).

The City of Taif is about 85 km away from Makkah, about 160 km from Jeddah, and about 800 km from Riyadh. The area of the City of Taif is about 80 km2. The City of Taif is located at the junction of the main roads coming from the south, north, east, and west, thus giving it a tourist, commercial, agricultural, and military reputation since ancient times, not to mention its playing host to delegations and conferences from within and outside Saudi Arabia in recent years.

TU Stages of Development

• Royal Decree No. 115 was issued on 27/2/1400 AH establishing the College of Education in Taif as part of King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah.
• Study began in 1401 AH, and the number of enrolled students was 85 male students and 180 female students in the following disciplines: Islamic studies, Arabic, English, Mathematics, and Biology, in addition to the Department of Educational Sciences as an ancillary department.

• After the establishment of Umm Al-Qura University, Royal Decree No. 24187 was issued on 27/10/1402 AH incorporating the College of Education in Taif into it.
• In 1419 AH, Royal Decree No. 17 was issued establishing the College of Science in Taif. Study was begun in the departments of Mathematics, Biology, Physics, and Computers.
• In the same year, Supreme Directives were issued to grant the King Saud Palace (which has a total area of 380,000 m2),  in Al-Hawiyya to house the two colleges and the branch administration on 18/5/1423 AH.
• Royal Decree No. 22042 was issued on 10/5/1424 AH to turn the Taif branch of Umm Al-Qura University into an independent university. Then Royal Decree No. 20047 was issued on 19/4/1425 AH naming the nascent university as Taif University.
• Since the issuance of the Royal Decree establishing the University, the relevant committees have begun to develop the structure of the university and to establish new colleges: College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, College of Administrative and Financial Sciences, College of Computing and Information Technology, College of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, and Community Service and Continuing Education. Ancillary deanships were also established: Deanship of Admissions and Registration, Deanship of Student Affairs, Deanship of Library Affairs, Deanship of Graduate Studies, Deanship of University Development, and Deanship of Ancillary Studies.
• Construction was completed at the main campus, where 30 administrative and academic establishments were built, including 130 lecture halls, 90 laboratories and a number of research units. His Royal Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud granted TU the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Medical Education Complex.
• Royal Approval No. 6204 okayed the separation of the College of Arts from the College of Education on 18/8/1427 AH. In 1428 AH, the Teachers College and Girls Colleges were incorporated into TU. These colleges were restructured and incorporated within the corresponding departments in the colleges of Education, Arts, and Science.
• Royal Decree No. 1093 was issued on 21/11/1428 AH establishing three new colleges: the College of Applied Medical Sciences in Taraba, the Community College in Khurma, and the College of Science and Arts in Ranya.
• Royal Decree No. 10209 was issued on 30/12/1429 AH approving the University's proposal to establish five new colleges: the College of Sharia and Law, the College of Design and Home Economics, the College of Education and Arts in Taraba, the College of Education and Science in Al-Khurma, the Community College in Ranya.
• After the annexation of health colleges in universities in the academic year 1429/1430 AH, Supreme Decree No. 5088 was issued on 7/8/1432 AH, restructuring the Health College for Boys and the Health College for Girls in Taif to become the College of Applied Medical Sciences and the College of Dentistry.

Organizational Structure

• In 1437 AH, the structure of the university was reconsidered to conform to the orientations of Saudi Vision 2030. In order to be consistent with Directive No. 563 of HE Minister of Education on 5/5/1437 AH regarding the undue enlargement of university councils and the negative impact thereof on their performance, universities were instructed to rethink their roles, slim down their organizational structures, boost their administrative efficiency, and consequently reconsider the previously uncalculated establishment of vice presidencies, deanships, and specialized centers.
• TU has reconsidered its organizational structure and redesigned it as shown on the next page to be more efficient in implementing its roles and contributing to the translation of the future directions and strategic plans of the Kingdom. It has been necessary to restructure deanships, centers, and administrative units and their organizational liaisons so that the minimum organizational structure would allow for rapid flow of information, avoiding overlapping of powers, keeping conflicts away, and reducing costs.