The research aimed to present a proposed program for developing the functional competencies of academic leaders in Saudi universities in light of Human Capacity Development Program objectives. It used the descriptive survey method and a questionnaire consisting of (38) items distributed over (leadership competencies - technical competencies - behavioral competencies), applied to a sample of (444) faculty members (King Khalid, King Abdul-Aziz, King Saud, Imam Abd al-Rahman al-Faisal and Tabuk(.The research concluded that the sample agreed on the importance of the proposed functional competencies, provided a list of functional competencies, no statistically significant differences between the sample members regarding the functional competencies in light of (degree - university- experience- administrative position), and presented a proposed program for developing the functional competencies of academic leaders in Saudi universities. It recommended several recommendations, including; Establishing a unit to carry out the necessary studies on the competencies of leaders, Preparing a general framework for functional competencies ,and the periodic review of functional competencies, as well as designing some tools to determine the availability of functional competencies for leadership positions in universities, strengthening the organizational culture that supports the selection and assignment of academic leaders based on functional competencies criteria when selecting and assigning academic leaders and planning their career paths.
Musallat et al. (Sun,) studied this question.