Saturday 22 January 2011

Unapproved use of technology at HCT

The Higher Colleges of Technology, the self-proclaimed 'models of tolerance and progress' in the Gulf, appear to be getting a little uptight about their employees' internet habits. A recent update of HCT's internet policy makes clear threats against anybody who posts anything in cyberspace that HCT doesn't like, or even looks at an 'unapproved' website.

Take a look at these new sanctions, which appeared earlier in the semester...

Conditions of Use
· Users are not permitted to post proprietary or confidential information pertaining to the HCT on the internet, including forums, groups, anonymous FTP servers, or any other such open facility.
· Users are not authorised to make personal statements that could be misconstrued as the official position of the HCT.

In other words, HCT's employees are no longer allowed to discuss their work and employment on open and democratic forums, just in case HCT disapproves. Even merely mentioning a simple fact, such as how many students you have in class, or stating your salary, could be seen as subversive by the HCT Goons in management.

Giving your personal opinion is also a no-go area now, given that some people are apparently so dumb they might think it's an official Goon Squad policy statement. So be careful you don't tell a journalist that you think Kamali is an asshole, as it might get 'misconstrued', and nobody would like that, would they now?!

A couple more restricting points have been made about accessing websites from your work station. These make interesting reading too, especially if you thought you had some sort of right to personal integrity at the workplace.

HCT Rights
· The HCT has the right to enforce URL filtering to restrict access to certain sites that are considered offensive and / or not relevant to the HCT business.
· IT Services Team reserves the right to monitor internet traffic to ensure compliance with HCT policy and procedures. Internet traffic will be logged and any misuse detected can result in disciplinary action.

So, you'll find that several sites have been declared 'off-limits' by Goon Squad Central, as they are apparently irelevant or not deferential enough in their eyes, and you won't be able to access them anymore. I wonder which sites they could be thinking of?! And I wonder if this limitation applies equally to the head honchos at Central Services, or is it just for the classroom plebs?

But perhaps the scariest provision of these new restrictions is the admission that HCT regularly monitor their staff's use of the web. This has always been well known, but not openly stated until now, and the fact that it can result in 'disciplinary action' means that almost everybody stands at risk of dismissal.

And how could anybody defend themselves against such an accusation? If The Goons place a bit of paper in front of you that states you were reading this blog at a certain time on a certain day, how could any faculty member possibly say it's not true?

Once again, Kamali and his sycophantic cronies are bent on making life tougher for HCT's teachers and staff, and plan to make it even easier than it is at present to stitch somebody up and get them sacked.

Well done, King Kamali - another triumph in the plan for 'The Way Forward'!!

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is off-topic, but a list showing the names of people who have bought their academic credentials reveals a few names not unknown in HCT circles!

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/data/diploma-mill/

Anonymous said...

FYI - "the head honchos at Central Services" (at least those below the VC, Provost and Deputy Provost level) are just as vulnerable, if not more so, than faculty because they are high profile and therefore often targeted by the incompetent dickheads running the colleges, if they so much as try to initiate anything new and progressive. 4 key (and quite excellent) people have been fired at ACS in the last year for nothing more than stepping on the wrong toes in their efforts to initiate change. Others have resigned or are resigning in disgust.

Anonymous said...

Off-topic (you need a general whinge blog)...There are so many others deserving of attention in the Hall of Infamy.

1/ The senile, out-of-touch Provost, Mark Drummond, who like Hitler in the bunker moving phantom armies around, moves phantom academic improvements, not to mention new hires around, neither of which have much basis in reality.

2/ Phil Hartley, deputy-provost and 2-dimensional California side-kick of Drummond: big salary, waste of space, doesn't really know where he is.

3/ Jim Pounder - deputy-provost academic, the bloke from Sheffield who's everyone's "best friend", until it doesn't serve his purpose, any longer. Then you're fucked. He's also a terrible leader, when it's most needed. But, hey, his real reason for being here, anyway is as a holy-roller, intent on educating the unwashed heathen of the power of his main geezer in heaven.

4/ Dr. Evil's Mini-me, Jed Ryan, an obsequious moron, who is so far up Farid's ass, he's all but disappeared as a real person

5/ Bejat what's-her-face, the deputy director of DWC: another stupid Emerati woman in a position far beyond her abilities, yet who has enough power to cause real havoc.

6/ Senthil Nathan - Martin Bormann to Tayeb's Hitler. Arguably more powerful than Tayeb as he has Tayeb's ear and often directly influences many a draconian policy.

7/ Paul Mace - corrupt, on-the-take Tayeb henchman and probably one of his main bagmen.

8/ Rudi Young, Capo di tutti capi at HR. Rules his little pile of concrete with a heavy hand: much feared and hated by his employees.

...There are so many more... Anyone care to add to the list?

Anonymous said...

Senthil Nathan; personality of a turnip, thoroughly reprehensible.

Paul Mace:formerly known as "cement head" emasculated by his harridan wife. Had to have special "pedagogical" lessons before they let him enter the classroom.

Tiny Tim Smith,(Al Ain) all around LITTLE sh*t, backstabbing SOB.

Anonymous said...

I worked with Simon Jones in England, and we had no problems with him. He is an intelligent person with good ideas. He moved from a secure job as the head of department at Loughborough University , a distinguished technological university to University of Bath,another excellent university as Dean of Engineering and had he stayed there longer, he would have been a potential vice chancellor. He then moved to MIT Media Lab an American outfit,and any one who knows about American outfits know that firing could come almost when you least expect it. Then he moved to University of Amsterdam, another fine University and did not stay there long.

Why any one of the calibre of Simon Jones should move to Abu Dhabi is beyond us. He should have stayed in the civilsed Western Europe. As for me, Middle East is an uncivilised dump.

Anonymous said...

Guys
Sympathies. But if you go to a barabaric stretch of land called Arab Middle East, which has the only reason to join the pantheon of nations- that it is sitting on a huge tank of dark liquid that idiotic humans use to drive vehcles, you expect barbaric treatment. Not surprsing at all!!

Suede Oasis said...

Interesting comments, Anon (9.42 above). Especially "Why any one of the calibre of Simon Jones should move to Abu Dhabi is beyond us". And who exactly is "us" in this case?!

But the question is entirely rhetorical, I realise. Just why 'SiJo' moved to Abu dhabi is revealed in the potted history offered in accompaniment.

So he moved from secure jobs in UK academia, had the potential to become vice chancellor but didn't, got fired in the US, and only stayed around for a short while in Holland.

Reason? He's a sociopath, pure and simple, and cannot get on with the rest of humanity. People with zero social skills are, of course, well-suited to the rough and tumble of the Gulf States, hence his appearance here now.

But for how long?

Anonymous said...

I have major reasons for hating Simon Jones. But, having said that, I believe that the UAE in general and HCT in particular can make a good person turn bad, or at least bring out the darker aspects of someone's personality that may otherwise remain supressed in civilized, law-abidding, culturally-rich countries.
Simon may well have been ok in the UK, The Netherlands and even the US. But, with all the normal restraints of civilization, and civilized behaviour removed, and with the added corrupting influence of HCT's particular brand of unbridled power, his darker nature took hold, as it has with so many otherwise
"reasonable" expats in the UAE.
It's easy to take Kamali, his minions, ass-kissing sycophants, acolytes and henchmen, as well as the evil HCT empire to task. But, they are merely a reflection of the larger evil of the UAE and it's people and "culture" (such as it is). It is a morally-bankrupt country devoid of any real value, except for the dubious value of polluting oil it provides for the gas-guzzling world.
If the Iranians or someone else nuked it, along with the rest of the gulf (except Oman - it's still a decent place, for the moment), I doubt anyone would miss it.

Anonymous said...

@Suede Oasis. I have the feeling you cannot read properly. "US", is those who know him. The MIT media lab he worked is not in US, but in Dublin. He reflects what is wrong in the whole dump called Arab Middle East.

My argument is that one cannot work in a country with barabaric treatment of humans and expect a decent treatment. This should be as plain as the day light even for you.

No one forced the teachers and academics to go and work in the institutions in that patch where human rights do not exist.

Anonymous said...

@Suede Oasis. I guess you are a local and you try to clutch at anything and twist it to make an argument against Simon Jones. People move in the Western countries from institutions to institutions, if opportunities arrive and see you are unable to understand this. This demonstrates what I said about the Arab Middle East being a strange patch of land. In my opinion, no human being in the West to go to this place.

Anonymous said...

"I have major reasons for hating Simon Jones. But, having said that, I believe that the UAE in general and HCT in particular can make a good person turn bad, or at least bring out the darker aspects of someone's personality that may otherwise remain supressed in civilized, law-abidding, culturally-rich countries
"
"It's easy to take Kamali, his minions, ass-kissing sycophants, acolytes and henchmen, as well as the evil HCT empire to task. But, they are merely a reflection of the larger evil of the UAE and it's people and "culture" (such as it is). It is a morally-bankrupt country devoid of any real value, except for the dubious value of polluting oil it provides for the gas-guzzling world"
@Anon 5;28AM
I agree with you entirely. I or any of us who worked with him saw him as a normal human being. There was the usual jealousy as he moved up the academic hierarchical ladder fast and became a full professor at a relatively young age, which is not usual in Britain. I hasten to add that I was not his colleague in his university. He may have been turned as Darth Vader (of Star Wars) now, and you have ariticulated this well, as to why it is possible.

I come to my core point: No one could call that part of the world, civilised. We have too often here in the West witnessed the execesses of those brutal humans who are natives there in the funny dress. Why go there at all and complain now? I wouldn't even dream of teaching those thickos, having seen enough of them from there in the West.

Raja Karma said...

Ah, the SiJo fanclub is picking up speed - way to go, man!

Anonymous said...

@Rja Karma. You are an Indian and so many Indian expatriates in Abu Dhabi and elsewhere, as India cannot manage its population explosion. You could have stayed in your own country, and would have never heard of SiJo at all.

Anonymous said...

I don't think we should start racist comments about Indians.
I know there's a deep-rooted hostility among many HCT faculty towards Indians because they are so prevalent throughout the system. But, while there are dispicable, hypocrital Indians like Senthil Nathan, the born again, happy clapper, who's as ruthless and evil as his boss Tayeb, not to mention the Kerala mafia that all but run HR and Finance at CS, there are also a lot of really nice Indians, who do crap jobs and keep HCT running.
Pound for pound, there are certainly far more western scumbags at HCT, than any other group.

Anonymous said...

@Anon. Feb 3.
I love it when a racist imperialist brit shows up. It is so normal as to be par for the course. From your attitudes, I'm sure glad you find the Arab Middle East (who calls it that btw? Oh, snobby brits...got it) so barbaric that you would never go there. Bully good for you chap. i'm sure I speak for many of us when I say thank heavens you would never deign to set foot in such a barbaric place. Toodle pip and all.

Though you should probably educate yourself on your own countries human rights abuses in the past in such wonderful countries as india and all of the other EX colonies.

oh dear me... it is tea time. Ta ta.

Anonymous said...

Anon:February 5, 2011 10:30 AM

With people like you, it is no wonder that HCT and similar organisations, and their leadership, have had to resort to the kind of treatment about which you all bleat so much. If you were any good, have had skills, you would have stayed in your own country if you are a foreigner, or have gone to a decent Western country. For ever, your destiny is to serve the Emirati for a fist full of dollars. Simon Jones would say that morons, who arrive at HCT need to be told forcefully at every chance, and the boudaries of civility do not exist with people like you. It says so much about you, and not about the leadership, as you deserve the leadership you have. There are afterall things which are more important like the civilised society than a fist full of Emirate dollars. Selthil Nathan, the canny Indian and the Kerala mafia-they are Indians too, know how to treat a bunch of morons like you. The big Sheikh is smiling. Simon Jones has a whip in his hand!!

Anonymous said...

Hey, who let the trolls out?!

As if we didn't know . . .

Anonymous said...

ROFLMAO.

I love it when pompus, overblown, self inflated egotistical brits show up and get their feathers ruffled. ROFLMAO.

Way to go old boy. Way to go.

Massive argument from ignorance, poor reasoning and laced with racist and classist bleatings. Baaa... baaa.... baaaa....

Snort. Snicker. Does SiJo know you have your nose so far up his ass? I bet he does... does he laugh when you sneeze because it tickles?

Anonymous said...

@ Anon February 7, 2011 6:23 PM.
What a low life living in a miserable country, and looking back and scared about what the Sheikhs could do. Is this life worth it?

Anonymous said...

Touchy touchy touchy.

Apparently the classist racist doesn't like it.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Who has made blanket statements about the nationalities of posters here? Oh you did.
Who is acting like a pompus overblown colonialist? Oh you are.
Your racism, classism and elitism are showing. They have creams for that I think.

Anonymous said...

February 7, 2011 7:30 PM

Looks like you need 20 lashes in a public place there. They are good at it and Simon Jones will gladly arrange for it!!

Anonymous said...

AGain that whole saw about when you point one finger at someone, then you end up pointing the other 4 right back at yourself.

classist. elitist. colonialist. YOU wonder where the Emirati got it from... take a look at their more "advanced" western (ready BRITISH) overlords. Amazing really. Those apples didn't fall far from their trees.

I'm sure SiJo would barely notice little ole me. He is too busy taking all of that oral skills you provide.

Anonymous said...

Anon February 8, 2011 7:25 PM

Only low lives and imbeciles go to places like Abu Dhabi, and deserve the lashes they get. You may rant and rave, but you are still watching out any funnily dressed man coming with a whip!! You deserve all you are getting. We are in a decent society here, and you are at the mercy of these men with whips!! Ha, Ha,... They are treating you as animals, but then if you were any good, you wouldn't have left your country and preapred to teach the towel head thickos. Long this treatment may continue.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather be surrounded by "low lives and imbeciles" in Abu Dhabi than anywhere near "civilized" individuals like you. Any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Your ignorance coupled with your rampant (overblown) sense of self worth (cultural worth?) is truely astounding. And people wonder why everyone laughs at the Brits... hold on to that history card dear... it is the only thing that you are worth anymore.

Your blanked statements, bald assertions and plain bullshit have made this lots of fun.

(p.s. for the record, I don't live in the "arab middle east" nor do I collect a check from any of the "men with whips." Massive ignorant, racist, classist, elitist snobbery. No wonder your "empire" is in such decline.
TTFN)

Anonymous said...

It should be noted that a disproportionate number of western expats who run the disfunctional HCT show at the middle and upper management level are Brits. They seem to follow a common pattern: often working-class in origin, who have re-invented themselves as high mucky-mucks in the cash-corrupted dirt pit, with their membership at The Club, their nannies and maids, their flash cars and extravagant lifestyles.
More than once I've heard fake, poncey accents thinly masking the more humble twang of geezers from Sheffield, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, East-end and South London, or the London 'burbs' like Grays, Luton, Wimbleton, or Staines.

In their behaviour towards the lesser mortals working under them, they have quickly shown the squalid depths of immorality and unethical practices to which they've decended; behaviour they could never get away with in a civilized society.

Those like myself, who recognized this within days of beginning work at HCT, immediately planned their exit strategy.

Those who remain behind, are the whingers and complainers who thrive on and are part and parcel of the whole sick system.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure of I'm following all this, but I'm getting rather sick of its predictability and the author's lack of (English?) writing skills.

I mean, what's the point of it all? And where's Suede when you need him to whip these buggers into line?!?

Anonymous said...

'Suede' and 'Buggers' in the same line?. Not for the first time I am told.

Suede Oasis said...

Tsk-tsk, my cheeky little scandal-monger! I'll have you know I always keep it in my trousers when there are buttocks close by.

Anonymous said...

I just love this site! There is no such thing as HCT, or "Central Services, or "the system," there is only individuals (that is why a sitre like this names names!!) scattered around the UAE, speaking like mice and behaving like tyrants. Cheating teachers and teaching Emirati students. Expose them all and never, ever, live in fear!

Anonymous said...

That last post should've read "cheating teachers AND cheating Emirati students." BTW, if you think education in the Gulf is about education, you are wrong, it is about a social program: read, keeping people off the streets.