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

Academic Affairs

The Academic function headed by the Chief Academic Officer 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 function contains six academic faculty divisions and five academic support departments.

• 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

The Faculty Executive Deans provide academic leadership to ensure the quality of content and currency 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. 

The academic support departments include the system registrar and the following headed by the Vice President Academic Affairs who manages the provision of consistent and effective academic support in a timely manner to the Faculties. The academic support divisions are:

• General Academic Requirements Division 
• Institutional and Program Accreditation Department
• Programs and Curriculum
• Faculty Affairs and Scholarly Activities

General Academic Requirements Division

The General Academic Requirements is headed by the General Academic Requirements Division Director who promotes student success in acquiring essential 21st century practical skills and competencies in the areas of effective oral and written communication in Arabic and English, creative and critical thinking and problem solving through common courses across Faculties.

Institutional and Program Accreditation Department

The institutional and program accreditation is headed by the Institutional & Program Accreditation Dean who assures the HCT programs comply with and maintain accredited status nationally and internationally. The Deanship also oversees the accreditation of new academic programs, continuous quality improvement for the established programs, and external quality reviews.  National and international institutional licensure and accreditation also fall 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).

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.

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.

Education Technologies Division

Key responsibilities include:

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

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 & Excellence Division

The Strategy and Excellence Division headed by the Vice President Strategy and Excellence comprises of three main areas including (1) Strategy & Future, (2) Government Excellence, and (3) Institutional Research.

The division is responsible for facilitating the development and execution of the institutional strategic plan, the formulation of HCT policies, management of strategic and operational performance and development of risk and operational plans that are robust and future proof, ensuring strategic alignment to national strategies. Monitoring and reporting institutional performance, managing policy development and quality standards, managing institutional risks, conducting institutional research, managing government excellence initiatives and international relations with higher educational institutions globally are also all included within the mandate of the division.