Governance

The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) constitute a federal independent academic corporate body for higher education established under Federal law no. 2 of 1988 and later reorganized under Federal law no. 17 of 1998. HCT confers degrees at the Bachelor, Higher Diploma and Diploma levels. The HCT operates as a system of 16 campuses for male and female students in urban and rural locations in five emirates. The headquarters are located in the city of Abu Dhabi.

The HCT is governed by a Board of Trustees which includes the Chancellor, H.E. Nasser Thani AlHamli, the President & CEO, Dr Abdullatif Al Shamsi, and other qualified and experienced members from various sectors in the UAE appointed by the Cabinet on the recommendation of the Chancellor. The Chancellor is Chair of the Board of Trustees and the legal representative of the System and is responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Board of Trustees. The President is the Chief Executive Officer and is responsible for the management of the HCT and the implementation of its regulations and resolutions. In addition, the President is responsible for developing an institutional culture of innovation as well as enhancing HCT’s organisational performance.

Organisation

The HCT organisation includes a central administration with three main divisions, namely:

1. Strategy & Future led by the Vice President Strategy & Future, 
2. Academics led by the Chief Academic Officer, and
3. Operations led by the Chief Operating Officer.

Academic Affairs

The Academic Affairs division headed by the Vice President Academic Affairs manages a number of key institutional roles. It provides academic leadership, academic policy and planning guidance, coordination and evaluation of instructional programs and processes, academic standards and assessment, and learning resources in support of the implementation of academic programs. It is also responsible for developing the research plan for HCT and for managing and monitoring faculty members’ activities and building their research capabilities.

The Academic Affairs Division contains six academic faculty divisions and one academic support division:

• Faculty of Business
• Faculty of Computer Information Science and Applied Media
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Engineering Technology and Science
• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Faculty of Military and Security
• General Academic Requirements Division

The Faculty Executive Deans provide academic leadership to ensure the quality of teaching, learning, evaluation and assessment. They manage academic resources to support all HCT campuses, and maintain and enhance the HCT’s learner-centered environment.

Program Accreditation

The program accreditation division headed by the Program Accreditation Dean who assures the HCT programs complies with and maintains accredited status nationally and internationally. The Deanship also oversees the accreditation of new academic programs, continuous improvement to established programs, and external reviews. Institutional accreditation also falls under the remit of the Deanship.

Programs and Curriculum

The Programs and Curriculum Deanship is headed by the Programs & Curriculum Executive Dean and is responsible for ensuring quality in program development, undertaking periodic curriculum reviews and ensuring that they are in accordance with HCT policies and procedures. The Deanship also introduces systematic and standardized procedures for all type of program changes and oversees the change process ensuring compliance and synchronization with the Curriculum Management System (CMS) and Student Information System (SIS).

Industry Sponsored Programs

HCT is dedicated to the delivery of industry sponsored courses and programs to UAE nationals, offering Diploma, Higher Diploma and Bachelor degree credentials aimed at developing the workforce in a constantly changing environment. The objective is to serve the wider community of UAE nationals and expatriates by providing them with high caliber continuing education and to contribute to the development of the country’s workforce, ensuring individual and economic growth and sustainability.

Faculty Affairs and Scholar Activities

This division headed by the Faculty Affairs & Scholar Activities Dean is committed to supporting an active research community at HCT. The Deanship provides leadership in devising, implementing and monitoring the system-wide applied research agenda, thereby developing innovative research approaches towards building partnerships with industry and communities.

Education Technologies Division

The Education Technologies Division headed by the Vice President Education Technologies oversees three key areas: Digital Technologies, Knowledge Management and Intelligent Learning Systems. The Division is responsible for the sustainable provision of core Education Technologies services across all HCT campuses, in order to support academic research, teaching and learning and administrative services.

Key responsibilities include:

• Provide all faculty, staff, and students with needed connectivity and applications
• Provide appropriate technologies to support classroom-based, online, and blended teaching & learning
• Provide 24/7 access to library e-resources
• Promote the adoption and support the effective use of educational technologies to enhance student learning
• Support faculty to design and develop engaging learning experiences and effective digital interactive content
• Support professional development workshops and programs for faculty
• Develop, maintain and support Digital Applications
• Provide platform and tools for knowledge sharing and collaboration
• Provision of data and analysis services for better student outcomes
• Ensure implementation and smooth operations of state-of-the-art integrated digital applications and support business process automation
• Ensure that availability & capacity of digital technologies service assets align with business needs, UAE regulations and international standards    
• Ensure all faculty, staff and students have access to support and services 24/7

The Education Technologies Division works closely with the Faculty Executive Deans to support the HADEF initiative to develop the skills and knowledge of new HCT Emirati faculty.  In addition, the department supports the institutional Learning Management and Course Management Systems, the use of eTextbooks in all academic programmes, and undertakes a variety of initiatives to improve the student learning experience.

Campus Operations

Each campus is headed by an Executive Director who is responsible for providing leadership to his/her campus within the HCT system. The Campus Executive Director is responsible for operations management at HCT campuses which includes student life, student support services, facilities and community relations.

Student Affairs

Student Affairs is responsible for directing, managing and overseeing student life activities across campuses with the aim of providing students with the best environment for success, while maintaining consistency across campuses.

Campus Academic Operations (CAO)

Campus Academic Operations undertake, manage and oversee all facets of academic operations required for the delivery of academic programs and curricula at a campus in order to deliver a quality learning experience for students. This Office has direct oversight of academic services and advising.

Campus Support

Campus Support is responsible for directing the planning, development and implementation of all non-academic support services at the campus related to student life.

Strategy & Future Division

The Strategy and Future Division headed by the Vice President Strategy and Future comprises of three main areas including (1) Strategy Management, (2) Product Management, and (3) Organizational Excellence.
Within the Strategy and Future function, the division is responsible for facilitating the formulation of HCT strategic and operational plans that are robust and future proof, ensuring strategic alignment at all levels, monitoring and reporting institutional performance, managing institutional risks, conducting institutional research, managing system wide strategic initiatives and international relations with peer applied educational institutions globally.
When it comes to Product Management role, the division targets to manage the creation of outputs from any knowledge intensive organisation. This includes creating the discipline and approach for turning activities into products, providing the expertise to support productization across the organization, and ensuring the appropriate funding and commercialization structures are in place (IP, governance, faculty and student ownership rights) to optimize on good ideas.
With the above in place, the division strives to ensure the organization grows and develops in excellence in terms of Strategy Management, Quality Management and Organizational Excellence. Hence the division is also responsible for promoting a culture of governmental excellence and encouraging a systematic approach for service improvements and providing a basis for measuring future improvements to meet national and international requirements. The division also encourages the adoption, application and continuous monitoring and update of HCT policies, processes, procedures, and service level agreements.