Arab Educational Information Network

The present study aimed at identifying the role of Saudi universities in servicing the charitable sector from the point of view of the charitable sectors' employees. To achieve the objective of the study, the researcher has prepared as its tool, a questionnaire that comprised 28 statements applied to 115 male and female affiliates of charitable sectors in the second semester of the academic year 1437 - 1438 AH. Among the most important findings are: The levels of the role played by the Saudi universities in servicing the charitable sector as revealed by the dimensions and the tool came out as moderate for the first two dimensions and low for the last one, as the following: The dimension of community partnership and the provision of consultation and expertise came first It is followed by the dimension of the training, development and continuing education, whereas, the dimension of research and scientific studies came at last. Results showed no statistically significant differences in the degree of the role of Saudi universities in servicing the charitable sector from the point of view of its employees that could be attributed to the variables of the study (type - location of the charitable sector - years of service in the charitable sector - number of years the charitable sector has been providing service). Some of the most important recommendations of the study are: the universities should revise their objectives and their three strategic dimensions. What concern the researcher are the third function of the universities, and the setting of indicators and standards for its follow-up and evaluation, the setting of corrective plans for the universities to carry out their leading role in the effective societal responsibility. The universities should be keen to strengthen their relations with the institutions of the third sector, namely the charitable sector, in the most outstanding tracks that the axes of the study include, as for the societal partnership, the provision of consultation and expertise, training and development, continual education, and research and scientific studies. (Published abstract)