The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, after 2003, witnessed a broad scientific revival in the fields of science and knowledge, represented by the construction of new universities, colleges, and scientific and research centers by choosing specializations that would serve society, as well as solving a small part of the unemployment problem and appointing specialized scientific staff to these universities and colleges to prepare a new generation enforced with education and knowledge and take responsibility. Among these universities is Al-Qasim Green University, which was established after the separation of the Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine from the University of Babylon (the mother university) and the construction of several colleges, including (the College of Biotechnology, the College of Food Sciences, the College of Environmental Sciences, the College of Water Resources Engineering, the College of Science, and the College of Physical Education and Sports Sciences). This university was established through the efforts of sincere people who believed in the educational process and laid the first building block for the edifices of science and creativity. The idea of establishing Al-Qasim Green University came after the discussion of constructing a group of new universities that cover wide areas in Iraq to be specialized according to the geographical location of each university. Specialized committees were formed to establish the university. Including the Land Acquisition, Planning, and Projects Committee, which accelerates the completion process. Al-Qasim district was chosen because it is located in the middle of the Middle Euphrates governorates, which contributes to creating a research environment that supports creativity and innovation.
The university’s strategic objective is to prepare the university and its formations to excel in the present and the future, and to create a qualitative shift in its strategic performance by international standards and leadership in its various cognitive, educational, and research roles, as well as serving and upgrading the community, and enhancing the university’s position within the framework of international classifications. From this standpoint, several strategic objectives can be identified, including:
Al-Qasim Green University includes colleges specializing in agricultural and human sciences, and large areas of agricultural land in Al-Hashimia District were allocated for it to be a scientific edifice that undertakes to invest all the energies available in the southern region and the Middle Euphrates, develop the economic reality and advance the individual’s standard of living. The idea of establishing the university emerged from the region needs an institution interested in agricultural sciences and animal production development through faculties of veterinary medicine, agriculture, geology, and irrigation techniques. However, the comprehensive vision of the Ministry of Higher Education ensured that the university was not specialized and could include humanities and scientific faculties to attract students from the Middle Euphrates governorates after the great momentum which the University of Babylon faces annually.
A unified site was allocated to the university, with an area estimated at approximately 400,000 square meters, in addition to expropriations in the city of Al-Qasim, with an area of 267, 000, to establish laboratories, research centers, and animal and agricultural fields. The university president, Prof. Dr. Hassan Kateh Al-Awadi, also explained that the university, at the beginning of its establishment, included faculties of biotechnology and veterinary medicine. And agricultural, and then it is followed by colleges in various scientific and human specializations. Currently, the College of Agriculture is located in its location in the center of the city of Hilla until the completion of its buildings, the colleges of Al-Qasim Green University, within the Ministry of Higher Education’s acceptance plan next year.
The university has other plans, such as establishing research centers in which advanced scientific equipment is available, as well as fields for raising animals, including livestock, cows, and poultry, and establishing a factory for milk, tomatoes, and date canning. Consulting offices affiliated with the university will contribute to building these institutions, in which professors and experts work with research centers for serum and vaccines for the development of livestock. In addition to research centers for health and environment. All regions of the middle Euphrates and the southern region benefit from this scientific edifice, and there are studies on how to exploit raw materials in some regions.
The university seeks to obtain an international accreditation certificate for the quality of education and strives to obtain a prestigious position among international universities. The university also seeks to achieve leadership in focusing on the specializations and skills required for graduates by linking undergraduate and graduate programs in quantity and quality to the requirements and needs of the labor market, in a way that increases their competitiveness and Excellence in research programs that work to develop participation and cooperation with educational and research institutions and centers and community institutions at the local and international levels. To achieve the aforementioned goals, the university must gain the trust of society and its institutions with its current and future outputs and move to a new level of effective contribution to the efforts made to protect the environment. And its sustainability locally and internationally.
The university should be a pioneer in terms of optimal investment of its resources and capabilities by doubling expenditures on basic and applied scientific research projects, especially those that keep pace with agricultural, veterinary, and biotechnology developments and contribute to encouraging creativity, innovation, and excellence, as well as increasing revenues and controlling expenses in all fields and achieving complete self-reliance.
Al-Qasim Green University is concerned with modern sciences and other scientific specializations to provide the best services to society because its specializations are related to human and animal health, food safety, and the environment. Joint dealing with educational institutions contributes to opening a future that aims to have an advanced scientific base through which modern methods and systems can be applied in the above-specialized fields.
Preparing specialized scientific competencies in various fields of science and knowledge, capable of competing in the labor market by providing an educational environment that stimulates creativity and innovation, providing distinguished education of high quality, and producing pioneering scientific research, many of which directly address issues of environmental sustainability, and contribute to building the knowledge economy and participates in building a sustainable professional community.
Al-Qasim Green University aspires to be a pioneering scientific institution in building a knowledge society, distinguished in the quality of education and educational service in line with the requirements of the labor market, and to be one of the most environmentally sustainable universities in Iraq.
