Sunday 11 November 2012

Spot the Difference!

HCT's cheating ways have been exposed many times on these pages, but the latest scam is truly outstanding. According to a recently received email, HCT is guilty of wilfully misleading its own accreditation board! And just WHO would have thought that, eh?!

*****

According to the ACBSP accreditation standards, faculty teaching loads are supposed to be about half what many HCT lecturers put in. The organisation’s accreditation manual clearly states the following:

Teaching Loads: The appropriate teaching load for a full time faculty member at ACBSP Accredited Baccalaureate Institutions has historically been limited to not more than 12 credit hours per semester, with appropriate release time granted for administrative duties or for graduate teaching. Overload teaching has been prohibited as a business unit policy, and has been accepted by ACBSP only under emergency circumstances. 

However, those who were teaching last year at Dubai Women's College, Higher College of Technology in the United Arab Emirates, faced a permanent (not overload) teaching load of 20 credit hours per semester. A faculty member there can typically expect to handle five four-credit courses. All of the full-time business faculty members taught 20 hours per semester, and some instructors taught even more.  This was not an emergency circumstance, but was ‘business as usual’ – i.e., they were bullied into taking on more hours and courses.  Nor was this an isolated event, as almost all of the other HCT campuses follow suit

At the Business Department of DWC, for the two semesters of the 2011-2012 school year, the following instructors taught 20 or more credits during one semester: Sanaa, Russell, Selvan, Sudip, Ces, Gareth, Neil, Ross, Debby, Graham, Indrani, Sudipa, Karl, Sita, Tamir. For this teaching load, all instructors are paid the base salary - for 20 credits. However, some instructors taught 24 credits in one semester: Humayan, Ces, Jihad, Patrick.

One thing to note when looking at the Business Department schedule is that some faculty members also taught in other departments. For example, there was one instructor who taught a microeconomics course to Information Technology students. The Business Department schedule does not, therefore, include every course that Business Faculty teach, - another way that HCT can mislead its accreditors.

Of course, it’s common knowledge that DWC violates more standards than this. And yet, while that accreditation has been granted, HCT continues to assign 20 hours.  In fact, some faculty members teach 24 and 28 hours to fill in for faculty shortages – especially when faculty get fired.

In short, HCT was awarded a ten-year ACBSP accreditation in 2008, yet they still continue to assign a twenty credit load in 2012 - in clear contravention of ACBSP rules.

 So well done to the 'ethical' HCT - and to more dodgy business exposed by Suede Oasis!!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is hardly 'news', but it is noteworthy (and deplorable).
In our Bus Dep almost everybody is working extra hours for no extra pay, and nobody's allowed to make a gripe.

Kader said...

Yes this is common practice and it is also evident at the palace of the evil one, Mad Freddy Ohan.

Anonymous said...

At the Sharjah Colleges, they are working on defining four hour face-to-veil classes as three hour classes. They will then just add up the 3's to get the total of 15 instead of 20 hours. Voila!

Anonymous said...

With the stasi like suppression that is commonplace at HCT I find it difficult for anyone to comment that this is 'hardly news'.

It was always clear though that teaching loads were always going to be an issue in this accreditation procedure.

And of course also clear that a bunch of colleges in one of the world's richest countries was going to take a very unsubtle approach to 'solving' the problem.

Anonymous said...

Quite similar to the HCT being accredited and then flaunting the rules (without penalty) is the fact that the UAE was recently censored by the EU for human rights violations, and then last week they were elected to the UN Human Rights panel! The fox is in charge of the hen house! It's like Alice in Wonderland!

Anonymous said...

Someone mentioned on another post that the new "Head of Business" at the SHCT was being erected on stage like a Roman Candle. Funny thing is, she can't speak a lick of English! She is completely clueless with probably an IELTS 4.5! So that is either highly attractive to Evil Freddie or it will be her downfall. Not sure which it will be!

Anonymous said...

do you mean to say that hct is so tough, their students so smart, so they can handle so many credit courses?
lol

Suede Oasis said...

Teaching loads at HCT are high because they can't attract enough good staff.
And the reason they can't attract decent teachers is because this blog is warning them all off.
'Mission accomplished', I guess!

Anonymous said...

Well, yes and no. Although there are fewer Brits and Yanks, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But the (cheaper) Indians and Philipinos who are filling the gaps left by the departing Westerners and are not always up to scratch, so the result is a decline in standards.

Is this what TK wants? Perhaps it is!

Anonymous said...

Good news, good news!! Kilgour is to leave soon, along with Gallant. HCT have apparently had enough of them and their underhand ways (which is quite odd, really, HCT being the most underhand education organisation in the Emirates!), and have served notice on them.

Make mine a large one, PLEASE!!

Anonymous said...

Wow are you sure that the decisions to terminate the employment relationships with that pair were made by Team Evil as opposed to the named individuals?

What is really happening is a opening up space action (and you need a lot of space) for Emiratis to take these positions. Why on earth would HCT pay the foreigners instead of locals? Quality means nothing, so this strategy is a no-brainer (no pun intended).

Anonymous said...

Wow, this new "pubic accounting" must be on the cutting edge of the field of accounting - glad to see UAE U is up there with the big boys!

Source: http://www.uaeu.ac.ae/about/news/2013/03/aacsb/

UAEU Launches the First AACSB Accredited Master in Professional Accounting

The Accounting Department at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) is delighted to announce the launch of the first AACSB-Accounting Accredited Master in Professional Accounting (MPA) program in the region, which was established to meet local demands for practitioners and managers alike. The MPA curriculum was developed in line with the established Master Program of Pubic Accounting currently offered at the top 10 universities in USA and will be delivered by world-class faculty from the University.

Professor Radebaugh, Brigham Young University, USA, who was one of the MPA external reviewers stated that, “As one of the first Universities in the MENA region to receive this accreditation and the tenth worldwide outside of North America, this implies that as a University you are recognized as being on par with the best practices worldwide.”

Dr. David Graf, Dean of College of Business and Economics, UAEU, highlighted that, “The MPA program is designed to provide students with rigorous and inter-disciplinary training in accounting, complimented by a wide range of electives, to prepare them for professional careers related to accounting and business. The program will enable graduates to have a high level of functional and technical competence in accounting that surpasses market-offered competencies. It also covers much wider areas of accounting than any of the other professional accounting certifications that tend to be narrowly specialized. In addition, the program develops personal and business competencies (technical and non-technical) of graduates and provides them with an excellent foundation for successful professional careers. The degree will also be a natural route to a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA).”

Prof. Mohamed Yousif Baniyas, UAEU Provost & Chief Academic Officer, commented, “This programs fulfils the university’s vision in making graduate programs practical and related directly to the needs of society. As the professional accounting field is highly needed in the country, this program is considered to attract top businesses and companies from around the world. It also serves Abu Dhabi and the Federal Government mandate of making accounting the backbone of business and government practices in the UAE. The fact that the program is offered in Abu Dhabi and under consideration to be offered in Dubai, provides an added dimension to the UAEU of offering graduate programs around the cities of the Emirates. The College of Business and Economics is already recognized as a leader in accounting education in the region, and this reputation is further enhanced by the recent awarding of external AACSB Accounting accreditation, which is the hallmark of excellence in business education.”

The program is catered to suit the needs of busy working professional and can be completed over three semesters with classes offered in the evening.




Anonymous said...

Dude, this Masters of Pubic Accounting should certainly assist the UAE with its very serious human trafficking / sexual slavery problems!

Anonymous said...

Especially funny since "accounting" in the Gulf states consists of the sheikh boss keeping a bag of cash in a safe in his office and doling it out as he sees fit.