Sunday 30 June 2013

A recent HCT departure spills all...

I went to HCT with a plan to stay there for about 10 years. After my first week in classes I abandoned that plan, and after a month there I questioned whether I'd make it through the initial 3-year contract.

I found the daily stress there to be untenable. Not only was I on mandatory overtime (22 contact periods per week - ridiculous in a "collegiate" environment – though some colleagues were working up to 25), but they emphasize paperwork/professional development/meetings at the expense of doing a quality job in the classroom.

There were mandatory office hours - 8-5 Sunday to Thursday. In fact, when I arrived the mandatory hours were 8-4, but then we got a new director and assistant director. The ‘Supervisors’ would roam the massive faculty room to ensure all their teachers were at their desks until 5.

All faculty (approx. 70 at FWC) are relegated to one huge room in which they are assigned a workstation with absolutely no privacy. It was noisy as well. Administration insisted that such an environment promoted communication, collaboration, and coordination (the infamous 3 C's of HCT). They push "teamwork" ad nauseam.

Some students were OK, while many others were nightmares in abayas. Basically, HCT focuses on increasing the student population (thus bringing in more money from the government), resulting in "students" who shouldn't be there, young ladies who view college as a means of providing a social network. Often classes were out of control - several teachers walked out of their classes during my last semester there, including me (twice).

The curriculum went from bad the first year I was there to ludicrous the second year. They switched from an integrated skills curriculum to strands, requiring us to teach language skills in separate classes. That curriculum proved to be a debacle.

If you like meetings, then HCT is the place for you. As a rule, I hate them. I believe that, with few exceptions, meetings are a waste of time. At a previous college in Saudi Arabia we had one mandatory meeting per month, and I found that marginally acceptable. At HCT I had two mandatory meetings per week. That was simply insane.

And the conferences - mandatory, mandatory, mandatory. And they would punish you if you didn't attend them.

They pushed professional development ad nauseam as well - PEP, goals, meetings, seminars, etc. They even went so far as to hire a PD company from the USA to impose PD activities on us. At the first staff meeting for the new year we found ourselves playing in "teams" with pieces of rope for about 30 minutes. Again, it was insane, and a colossal waste of time considering the formidable teaching schedule and new curriculum for which we needed to prepare our lessons.

My first week in the classroom I was observed by my supervisor - and get this, it was also my first time with one of the classes. Insanity again!

I got little relief from the stress as work when I went home to my apartment. An Emirati family with two small children lived directly above me, and the noise would extend into the early morning hours. I complained to them, the apartment manager, and HCT for nine months with NO relief.

When you arrive they "give" you 30,000 dirhams and one week to buy all the stuff for your dwelling. You have to buy everything, including kitchen appliances, washer, etc. Keep in mind that this is a LOAN, and it's amortized over the course of your 3-year contract. If you resign early, you pay back part of that loan. It's not so easy to sell your stuff, either, unless you happen to be there when new teachers arrive.

I will give them credit for paying me on time every month and for providing me with a decent annual travel allowance (for me about $2800). They were also generous with the gratuity when I left. But that's all the credit I can give them.

Basically, HCT was a major disappointment for me. I don't consider them a college. The environment there, especially the behaviour of many of the students, reminded me of a middle school setting. With HCT it's all about window dressing, smoke, and mirrors.

Don’t go there.

142 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will that be the former Provost Drummond? Lots of folks leaving and being replaced with Emirates.

Anonymous said...

Is the VC's position going to be Emiratized??

Anonymous said...

Just today I received my offer of employment. I'll not be taking it, though, as I value my sanity and self-esteem!

Anonymous said...

No singing? C'mon, which campus were you at?

Anonymous said...

The culture of fear and paranoia will continue and get much worse now that the whole place is back in the hands of crazy kamali. Good luck to all who stay on.

Anonymous said...

Never in my professional life, as a faculty or a student, have I heard of so many people having a heart attack or stress related complications at an educational institution than that of HCT. The latest victim who died of heart attack last year was a worker at the facilities dept at Abu Dhabi Womens college.

Anonymous said...

Well that settles it then. Now HCT are REALLY going too far in avoiding paying that gratuity!

Anonymous said...

Reading his experience at the HCT, this blogger a ranter, sounds like he was unable to get a proper job in his country. Who else would have the daft idea of staying for 10 years in this Arab country in that desert Sun, and agree to have his life so much restricted? He must have been desperate with no skills except a loose mouth to venture into that desert kingdom. The term, " middle school" indicates that he is an American. What is he ranting about when the Arabs paid for yearly travels, and his gratuity?

Move on man. I suggest you that you should take courses say at Walden University,and re-skill yourself.

Anonymous said...

Hello “Suede Oasis”
Take a look at this conference: http://web.nu.edu.kz/ehelf/Template_Main/program.pdf

Contrary to your dim-witted remarks about Simon Jones as the Provost of the Nazarbayev University located in a country described by you in derogatory terms :“ landlocked and “puppet” regime, which does not mean much but says so much about you as some one considerably short of brain cell count, and that your minimal brain cells are afflicted with malice. You seem to have forgotten that you ventured into a Sheikhdom and into an educational institution where all teachers , including yourself were treated as “puppets” on strings, and this country hot weather “fried your balls off; even here you failed miserably!!
In this “landlocked” country with a “ puppet” regime, this University seems to be doing fine looking at its links to a few good US universities and the University College London (UCL)which is in the top 20 in ranking of international universities. Just see Professor Wharton , the Vice-Provost of UCL taking part as the moderator-he was awarded the legion d'honneur by France, for his services in higher education at the international level as well as his scholarship as a French scholar. You can also see professors from the universities of Cambridge, Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt taking part in this conference. It is hardly the university of backwaters as you want us to believe.
You remind me of Gopalan Nair who rants like you about Singapore in his blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.co.uk/. But unlike you, he studied in a prestigious Singapore school and was called to the bar as an attorney from the prestigious Middle Temple law school in England. One would have thought that he would go a long way in his legal practice in Singapore. But the guy is a loser like you, though better educated and smarter than you, because he got into his head that his native Singapore is also ruled by a “puppet” regime, and got himself into all kinds of trouble when his ample brain cells got infected with malice after he failed in his attempts to get elected to Singapore Parliament. He had to leave the country and seek asylum in USA. But it appears that he is not doing well in his legal practice in Freemont, CA, looking at the plenty of time he wastes in his rants in his blog, delirious of how bad his country has become. In fact, it is thriving very well indeed!

“Suede Oasis” , you are a lackey and a born loser.

Anonymous said...

“I found the daily stress there to be untenable. Not only was I on mandatory overtime (22
contact periods per week - ridiculous in a "collegiate" environment – though some
colleagues were working up to 25), but they emphasize paperwork/professional
development/meetings at the expense of doing a quality job in the classroom.

There were mandatory office hours - 8-5 Sunday to Thursday. In fact, when I arrived the
mandatory hours were 8-4, but then we got a new director and assistant director. The
‘Supervisors’ would roam the massive faculty room to ensure all their teachers were at
their desks until 5.
All faculty (approx. 70 at FWC) are relegated to one huge room in which they are assigned
a workstation with absolutely no privacy. It was noisy as well. Administration insisted that
such an environment promoted communication, collaboration, and coordination (the
infamous 3 C's of HCT). They push "teamwork" ad nauseam”

The above, “Suede Oasis”, says more about your background- your inadequate education as a result of your poor work ethic in your youth and consequently, your inability to get a good job in your own country , and hence your acceptance to work as a “foot soldier” in trenches rather than as an officer above, with a good pay grade- as for example an assistant director.

By the way, do not call yourselves as faculty, and the room as the “faculty room”. It is an insult to the university faculty around the world, who all have PhDs and research papers to their credit. You were mere teachers, employed to teach students to acquire basic educational qualifications.

Yes, they treated you as teachers in “middle school” because of your educational background. In all Western countries the teachers in “middle school” are treated reasonably well.

Blame yourself for not having worked hard in your youth to get into a good university so that you could have come out with a PhD, and research experience. It was a misspent youth for you.

It is not too late now for you. As said above, you could enroll into distance learning courses in universities like Walden and work hard to improve your skills and qualifications.

Delma said...

Oh, I see - so everybody who doesn't have a PhD is a 'loser', according to you?

Such an arrogant wanker, 'Doctor' Drummond!

Anonymous said...

@It appears you too have no PhD, and hence a loser too. Otherwise, you would not be licking the shoes of the Arabs.

Anonymous said...

@Delma, that "wanker Drummond" and Simon Jones had PhDs, and hence they were able to do what they did. You see that is the reward for getting the highest qualifications-they became enior managers managing you-the so called faculty without PhDs as if you were cattle.

Anonymous said...

Some one e-mailed me drawing my attention that I was compared to this guy "Suede Oasis”.

I may be a loser, but I am not as woefully under-qualified in educational terms as this guy "Suede Oasis”. Some one above mentioned my good school, and I may also add that I had a good law degree from the University of Hull in England, and took a further law degree at the prestigious Middle Temple in England- equivalent to the JD degree in USA; this is the place where many legal luminaries in Britain and British Commonwealth studied.

I agree that you should not venture into academia- as a faculty at the university/college level without an earned doctorate. That is what is expected here in the US and in Singapore too.

Reading what this guy has written, he and others were treated the way they were, because these guys took the last resort of kissing the asses of the Arabs, as their low profile educational background would have made them least attractive in their own countries. The solution, if unemployed or under-employed in your country, if you do not have a PhD, is not an Arab Country, where you can be expected to be treated the way you were. Do not blame the Arabs, as you needed jobs without a doctorate. I agree that enrolling to get a PhD is one solution, and the other is, try some other vocation if you have transferable skills.

It was not a college not only because of these dim-witted thick Arab students, but also because the faculty were woefully not well qualified, having arrived without PhDs, and in essence they reduced this college into a middle school.

Anonymous said...

The depravity and perversion of management in the HCT colleges comes from way above the likes of Simon J and Drummond. Think ugly Iranian fellow with mustache running around in a kandoura passing himself off as a UAE national. He makes a nazi concentration camp look like Disneyland. Has nothing to do with doctorates or the ethnic composition of the students. The place is rotted out - a maggot infested corpse. He has everyone by the neck.

Anonymous said...

If you had a PhD, you would not be kissing the asses of the Arabs as teachers at the trench but would have a career a a proper faculty in your own country or like Simon J and Drummond would like to sit high above, ordering you the foot soldiers at the trench, collect the money for a few years and get out with enough Dollars in the kitty. You fail to grasp this truth. Hence,why not enroll in Walden for a PhD?

Anonymous said...

Sorry typos, and some modification!

If you had a PhD, you would not be placed in the situation of kissing the asses of the Arabs as teachers at the trench, but would have a career as a proper faculty in your own country in a good university, or like Simon J and Drummond, would be sitting as managers high above, ordering all- the foot soldiers at the trench, collecting the money for a few years and getting out with enough Dollars in the kitty. You fail to grasp this truth. Hence,why not enroll in Walden for a PhD?

Anonymous said...

A teacher treated as low-life and afflicted with delirium rants:

So, no farewell then
Lingering on as a tropical fever
Simple Mr “Suede Oasis”
With a low brain cell count in a place
Called ADMC

You are kissing you know what
For a long-awaited gratuity
Bur scared of any one with an Arab gear
Looking back with Malarial shiver
What a life it has become

In the middle of no where
But deep set in the camel dung
No welcome party at all
Sans doctorate and sans good education
Got the balls fried in the desert Sun

Gopalan Nair said...

Just to say me-the Anonymous above, at July 21,2:28PM is: Gopalan Nair
I can give you legal advice. My details:Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Delma said...

Hey, I'm lovin' this!

The fact that Suede has got the HCT 'Goon squad' coming out of their lairs and revealing their true colors - what contemptible specimens they are, with even more contempt for their colleaguse in education - means that his arrows have hit more than a few sore spots. Well done, SO!!

As for 'Dumbo' Drummond in particular, he should be wary of coming on here and preening his oily feathers. It's common knowledge that his 'doctorate' was a purchase from a Southern 'university', and he married a former whore in the UAE! What a wonderful guy!!

Anonymous said...

@Delma

I am loving it too, seeing you the teachers with no doctorate are squirming , and a curtain of delusion descending on you.

Pointing to the "Goon Squad", shows you are totally afflicted with Paranoia of the worst kind. Soon, you will be seeing shadows with Arab gear every where!!.

This state of mind is common with those under-qualified teachers,who take Dollars from the Arabs and in return are treated like their "coolies". Did no one warn out that kissing the Arab ass has its own consequences? Try getting a PhD.It means casting aside your laziness and dimwit. Can;t seeing it happening.

Delma said...

Thanks for the advice, Anon (above). I'll stick it where it deserves.

Meanwhile, if you are such a mental giant with your glamorous doctorate (Phoenix Uni?), what are you doing down here with the plebs? Or have your peers rejected you cause you don't quite 'make the grade'?!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Plebs? That says , you are a Brit, and Brits have the notoriety of not recognsing higher education as something valuable, and PhDs in Britain are mostly foreigners. Most Brits have only basic degrees, if they do not want to collect the benefits, and go to a university. Very few in this category.

I guess, you have a basic degree and hence it irritates you when you are treated the way you are treated. Well, think like this: if only you worked hard to get a PhD; but perhaps you were a third class honours graduate, and hence the need to kiss the Arabs ass?

Do not worry about my PhD, which was from a top university University. You seem to know so little about universities around the world, and hence a typical Brit with ignorance.

I am enjoying the ways Arabs have treated you all.

Get a PhD, even from a Pot92 low grade university in Britain.

How is Arab apparition you are seeing ?

Anonymous said...

Hmm, is this scratched record getting just a little annoying? Or is it just me...

Still, it's good the see the caliber of HCT senior management displaying their motivation skills!

Anonymous said...

Another Yankee teacher who has no doctorate. I cannot believe how dim-witted you Yankees can be, if you think the HCT senior management cares about you guys now or then, who could not get jobs in your country, including the loser called "Suede Oasis"

Meanwhile, Simon Jones is moving on, out of the desert, after fleeced the Arabs for quite a few thousands of Dollars, and is a Provost now, while "Suede Oasis" is ranting about his gratuity payment!! Simon Jones has a PhD of course.

Anonymous said...

It is Dr Richard Gibb's turn to fleece the Arabs, a long as he can make sure that these teachers in HCT who landed there desperate for jobs are taken care of with over 22 mandatory office hours, are closetted in a large room with tens of others reminiscent of dogs in a pound and watched by an Arab appointee!

Sure Dr Gibb has his own office. He will collect his tax-free booty at the end of his contract period and go. He has this life because he is well educated and has experience to go with at the university level unlike these teachers.

Anonymous said...

Should be "as long"

Anonymous said...

And whose tune is Rich Gibb dancing to? Ask yourselves that.

Anonymous said...

No need to ask him. He is collecting thousands of Dollars-just Like Simon Jones from the dumb Arabs and will stay for a few years to boss over you guys who came to the Arab land desperate for jobs, and were ready to kiss the Arab ass.

Well, ask yourselves why did you land in the Arab desert, and were ready to be treated as slaves? The simple answer is you all had no PhDs, and hence could not make it in your own countries. Blame yourselves.

Raja Karma said...

Err, I think we've got your point, Mr Motivator.

Anonymous said...

That is your Karma , Indian. You escaped your corrupt country, and hence cannot complain. But cannot understand why Western teachers are there.

Anonymous said...

Karma, yes, you need motivation, given the situation that hundreds of thousands of Indians are in your area escaping from the choking masses of your country.

I suggest you keep your head down if you are milling about in the desert kingdom.

Anonymous said...

And Indians are the only ones desperate enough to hang on in that sick disgusting kingdom run by crazy kamali. The rest of us from the west have the dignity to move on and out.

Anonymous said...

Agree. They will do anything asked by the Arab you name, as otherwise, they have to get out and into their country of 1.2 billion teaming masses, controlled by politicians who in their actions
make your named Arab a saint by comparison!!

Anonymous said...

Well put...except the crazy one is not Arab.. He's an Iranian.

Anonymous said...

If it is Tayeb Al Kamali- the name, his head gear and the look strongly suggest that he is an Arab and a Sunni. Iranians are Shia, very unlikely that an Iranian Shia in a Sunni Arab kingdom's institute like the HCT holding the top position of the Vice-Chancellor (President). Sunni Sheikhs of these oil-rich kingdoms intensely hate the Shia from the Iranian Mullahs' stable.

Anonymous said...

Well described and well written article. All the truth are mentioned. Thanks to the "Anonymous on July 22 and July 23. What they are saying with the indians are true. They are everywhere and they are cheaters as well. Decent professionals will NEVER survive at HCT. DO NOT GO THERE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Anonymous said...

The crazy person in charge of HCT is definitely not Emirati and definitely not Arab. 100% true and a well known fact - regardless of his clothing or headgear. He earned his keep and was rewarded with the position of top dog after years of dedication and service.

Suede Oasis said...

How could they ever find an Emirati to front HCT? They're all far too stupid and lazy!

Anonymous said...

Which begs the question.....when will they Emiratize the VC's position?

Anonymous said...

If Emiratis are far stupid and lazy,these Westerners like "Suede Oasis" who is an American are also far stupid and lazy as they did not get an earned doctorate by working hard and were short of brain cells, ended up in kissing the asses of the Emiratis and the Iranian, and now are ranting here.
Americans are also far stupid in learning from history and are weak in geography. Look at what they did in Iraq, which will become greater Iran as Shias in majority there link up with Iran;they never learned from Vietnam; their recent spying attempts of their allies make them look so wicked and stupid. Their blaming of BP, just to destroy it whilst the real culprits are the American sub-contractors says so much about them. After all, Drummond like "Suede Oasis" is a dodgy Yank. No wonder "Suede Oasis" from this patch of ignoramuses, walked into this desert country as a teacher with no PhD and can't blame any one else for his stupidity.

Anonymous said...


In the above,should be " too stupid", not the American lingua " far too stupid"

Anonymous said...

It is a well known historic fact that Americans who were very reluctant to join the WWII in Europe at the beginning, did so only after Roosevelt saw an opportunity to lift the 1930s generated depression and unemployment situation through the war effort, whilst the Japanese attacked the remote Pearl Harbour.
Now they crow that they liberated Europe then.

In Nazi Germany, the Yanks saw an opportunity to ship hundreds of bright German engineers there to America even without a cursory interrogation. Yanks go out with a big armada, artillery etc.. but their soldiers do not fight hard.
They are too dumb and lazy like Emiratis.

The American universities' tenure system is open to so much abuse that just a few years ago one professor ( they call every university academic a professor!!) shot a few of her colleagues in Alabama for messing up with her tenure-she walked around brandishing her weapons like the Terminator, only in America!! Look at the killings in their universities and schools. The students increasingly carry guns hidden, and it does not help a professor to have a critical discussion, as he/she does not know which student will take a target practice aiming at him/her later. So much about the free country!! Their companies like Google and Apple while claiming free enterprises (Yanks always give pep talks about competition except when it comes to their companies!!) are no better than state-owned monopolies etc.. is their culture which bred Drummond and "Suede Oasis", the two sides of the same Yankie coin!!!

Anonymous said...

Speaking about the Terminator, Arnie, the Austrian who has more muscle than brain became the governor of California- he has brain cell count no better than an Emirati! Only in America! Could we assume that Dubya, the President Bush was better than Kamali? Bush said" if you are not with us, you are against us", the very doctrine Kamali follows.

Just for a moment think about the stupid " Known Unknown" combinatorial utterances of Donald Rumsfeld, the defence ( defense) secretary of Bush, the compatriot of "Suede Oasis"!! You will realise that stupidity is not exclusive to Emiratis alone and is well applicable to Yank like "Suede Oasis".

Anonymous said...

The concept of "known unknown" is actually completely logical. Rumsfeld used to hang out at the University of Chicago so he may have picked up the concept there.

The unknown is some data that one doesn't have one's hands on, but yet knows exists. Like the number of homosexual experiences most Arab males undertake could be a "known unknown". We know about the widespread existence of these relationships, but the actual number is "unknown" due to secrecy arising from repression and shame. Same for the "ladies" of the Gulf as is chronicled on this and other websites.

The concept quite handily applies to the HCT as well. For example, for a future victim who is considering joining the HCT organization, one set of known unknowns might be the ACTUAL brutal tactics, schemes, swindles and other evil events that will be applied or experienced by the new joinee. This poor soul knows that evil will certainly abound, but the actual scenario of how such evil will enter their lives remain unknown. So we have a "known unknown".

By the way, Simon you have been very busy the last couple of weeks! My god man, 44 postings! Don't you have anything to do this summer?

Anonymous said...

What a Dumb Ass! What are you smoking? You and others are indeed hallucinating about Simon, Drummond and Kamali. I am indeed Dubya, the younger Bush , the last Prez of USA.

Oh, I forgot, "Suede Oasis" is indeed an American , a middle class democrat-voting liberal yob. All of you who are complaining about my friends in Emirates sound like Alqueda agents or even Saddam's agents.

A short stay in our penitentiary, a course of water boarding and a fortnight at Guantanamo Bay will cure your hallucinations!

Anonymous said...

I am from VC Dr Kamali's office. Reading the Whinging episodes of the guy "Sue Oasis" who sounds like a lackey complaining about 22 hours per week, whilst in Singapore where I come from, the faculty work much more than 22 hours per week. Mind you, these teachers-I would not call them faculty, do no research, and as some one rightly pointed out, "Suede Oasis", we know who this guy is, did not get a proper job in his native country, the others as well, and hence they ventured into Emirates. It was their choice. Yes, they are not well qualified, particularly this "Suede Oasis" and hence deserved what he got.

VC Dr Kamali often says, these teachers are dime -a-dozen given their qualifications. Look at their nerves situation. They sound so deranged. Grow up guys, we can always replace you, as Dr Gibb often says.

Anonymous said...

It is called Freedom of Speech for your information "Dr VC Kamali's" office spy. We are from the West. Not scared slaves in crazy kamali-land.

Anonymous said...

There is one total friggin a-hole guy from Singapore down in Central Services, which may well be Dr. VC Kamali's office. He was pushing a bunch of online garbage to us teachers, a total sycophant. Wonder if this last poster is that guy? I don't think he had a doctorate either.

Anonymous said...

Hey singapore spy...TK should remember that he too can be replaced.....by a real Emirati.....tick tock. As for deranged individuals - TK and his pet snake Senthil are 2 of the biggest psychos I have ever met. Senthil the Indian is going to hang on for his life. Where else is this Indian going to find a job in a country which is giving priority to Nationals and Westerners?

Anonymous said...

I thought this was a blog about how HCT sucks. Why all these badmouthing Americans? You people better open a seperate blog about Yankees.I am not an American, but the fact is that HCT still sucks, mostly due to bad management and incompetent supervisors. Ah yeah they call them these days chairs (like American Universities), but still think they are supervisors. Chairs in the US at least give the faculty the freedom of expression and thought.

Anonymous said...

"...HCT still sucks, mostly due to bad management and incompetent supervisors," who are corrupt people regardless of nationality. And not due to well intentioned faculty who may or may not have a Ph.D. Or whether they could find jobs in their respective countries.
By the way HCT does not treat their PhDs any better, or even allow them to apply what they have learnt during their hard and long years in universities. I know this because I have a PhD, and I made a career mistake by leaving my well respected position in the West to come and work at HCT, thinking I would have opportunities to duplicate or refute generally accepted research results in an Arab country. HCT misrepresented itself to attract me as a faculty, I might add.

Anonymous said...

"I know this because I have a PhD, and I made a career mistake by leaving my well respected position in the West to come and work at HCT"

There you are, you were looking for a tax free pay packet, but should have known about Arabs and their country better.

Anonymous said...

The VC Dr Kamali and the deputy VC Dr Senthil Nathan are working hard to create an environment where opportunities are available for professionals to come and work in HCT at all levels from faculty and right up to the level of the Director of ADMC so that the following mission in the words of our VC:

"The HCT are leaders in innovative, creative and advanced teaching and learning techniques that are at the forefront of education and technology. Our highly skilled educators, innovative online learning courses and our internationally accredited programs ensure that our graduates have the skills they need to make a valuable contribution to the UAE’s future" becomes a reality.

Dr Kamali assisted ably by Dr Senthil Nathan are working hard to deliver this mission.
From the office of the VC Dr Kamali

Anonymous said...

It is really pathetic that TK's office is actually participating in this discussion. Btw, a well-placed source has it that TK himself will be out soon...after the new Chancellor is done making him clean up various problems.

Anonymous said...

First they have to work hard to change their crooked ways.

Anonymous said...

HCT likes to hire PhDs just to show off. The middle management and chairs, most of whom do not have PhDs, feel so uncomfortable and threatened when a need arises for them to work with PhD faculty.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to rat on the rat from TK's office for writing on this blog and acting as TK's mouthpiece. He hates that.

And I've also heard from a very reliable source in an office far above Crazy Kamali that soon he is going to be advised he is no longer needed at HCT. And as an added bonus the always charming Senthil will be sent back to India as well. What will become of the crazy iranian's minions who are infecting every corner of the workplace (and this blog)??

Anonymous said...

...since TK skimmed millions off the top of all 'special' budgets (Festival of Wankers, Education without Budgets) including those 'Black Ops' contracts at CERT he is likely to have to fall back on the steady income from his old faithful "Emirates driving school' ... a nice little earner if there ever was.

Anonymous said...

As long as he is out of the field of academia -a place he never had any business being in the first place...let's see how well he fares trying to tyranize, enslave and torture real Emiratis. He's not going to last 5 mins outside of HCT. He will piss off the wrong National and he will be isolated to some dark dusty closet. Much like how he locked his pet dog up in a shed at central services for months in the blistering heat. Payback time TK....

Anonymous said...

Our VC Dr Kamali and Deputy VC Dr Senthil Natathan have the
confidence of our Chancellor in the very good work they are doing in continually improving the HCT in many many ways. They will serve the HCT for many years to come.

We also realize that we need to hire more PhDs in our faculty. I recommended to them the Singapore NUS model with all the faculty having PhDs.

We always wish luck to those who left us like "Suede Oasis" and Dr Simon Jones.

From the office of the VC Dr Kamali.

Anonymous said...

Who exactly is this "we" you are referring to?

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha the replies (supposedly from TK's office) get more and more hilarious! "serve for many years to come"?! Yeah right....

Anonymous said...

Given the negative publicity TK gets here, is it not reasonable to assume that his office is trying to correct
what they think are wrongful accusations and false rumors?

Anonymous said...

I like how the office of crazy kamali is submitting feedback onto a blog called "HCT sucks" Is that even appropriate? Does it have the Chancellor's approval? What about the Ministry of Higher Ed? What would they think of the VC's office subscribing to this blog?

Anonymous said...

True...since this blog is still banned/blocked in the UAE... So TK's office is accessing blocked internet content. Let's hope they're doing it with HCT supplied laptops!

Anonymous said...

It would be excellent if the Chancellor just "happened" to get a copy of the postings sent "From the Office of VC Dr kamali". TK would have some explaining to do!!!

Anonymous said...

I am not an American and I am not choosing sides. This blog is about HCT sucks. Therefore, please keep the topic about HCT rather than attacking this nationality or that nationality. I agree with someone above mentioned that keep the topic to HCT. Rattling on other topics would derail the main intension of having this blog. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Who needs PhD to teach at HCT? You do not even need a master's degree to teach at HCT, let alone PhD. You are asked to teach any subjects beyond your expertise and they expect you to do well. It is a total waste of energy and mind, let alone your knowledge. The place is an absolute waste. If you are interested in learning the gulf culture and what people do, it might be a reason or to earn something. However, if you are looking for professionalism at HCT, forget it. Definitely a wrong place to get in.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to anony on July 28 and July 29. Many people got betrayed by the way HCT presented and left their well respected jobs. By the end of the day, HCT or arab culture does not value education at all. It is very obvious. Go and observe the classrooms how the students behave. They take things for granted when teachers are working hard to educate them. Look at third world countries where the students are working so hard to get into the education system. Or even the parents are working hard to put their kids to school.

So it is an absolute waste to go in with PhD. Not only they do not respect you, they will not even realize the value of PhD.

Anonymous said...

May I add .. the administration is so corrupt, what's the use of having PhD to teach at HCT. It is not an academic institution at all. Faculties are expected to baby sit the students and stroke the egos of useless, corrupted and insane administration. HCT is the most unstable, unpredicatable, unfriendly, humiliating place to work for.

Central office is another one where people got highly paid and corrupted as ever. They are lazy buggers who kiss the asses and dictates what the faculties should teach in the classrooms. You should question them how much they know and test their level of knowledge. Are they familiar with educational leadership? curriculum development? effective teaching and learning? All they know is crab and they call themselves professionals. Shame on you ........

Anonymous said...

HCT SHINES!

HCT is led by two of the distinguished leaders in education- VC Dr Kamali and Deputy VC Dr Senthilnathan. Under their leadership HCT has grown from strength to strength and now, is in a position to recruit more PhDs, make a splendid mark in the HE Sector like the NUS in Singapore. The future of HCT is very bright indeed.

Anonymous said...

You can't have an NUS in the UAE since the students of the UAE are retards compared to the Singaporeans!

Buildings, projectors and tablets do not a university make. Thinking is required!

Anonymous said...

To August 3 above, did you mean to say "recruit more PhDs and destroy more careers"?
Start recruiting real educators, with PhDs, to run your departments. Current non PhD chairs feel inferior, and will make sure newly hired PhDs have worst time of their career, if not their lives.

Anonymous said...

HCT does not shine. Kamali and Senthil are horrible people and don't have a professional bone in their miserable bodies. Once they are fired, the whole atmosphere will change. They are poison to the entire system. I have been reading this blog and cannot sit quietly any longer. Unfortunately everything is true. HCT is the most unethical and unstable place to work. Furthermore, there is a plan in motion to replace the VC. He is not liked by those much higher than him and they are fully aware of his corruption and lack of basic human morals. Once he is gone, it is hoped that directors will be able to focus on running their colleges. Not fear mongering while under the most twisted and degenerate duress from kamali.

Anonymous said...

HCT DOES INDEED SHINE!!

I worked in HCT for a few years ( now at a top German university) and if you give to your responsibilities due respect, and have joined HCT with a PhD, both true in my case, The VC Dr Kamali and the Deputy VC Dr Senthinathan treat you well as they respect your education and experience.

The majority of those who post here including the blog owner seemed to have assumed that since
UAE is a Bedouin land, HCT is a
Bedouin Tent and the Bedouins with
their oil wealth should be happy
with their mediocre educational qualifications and experience and hence, should indeed appreciate their less than satisfactory performance and just pay up; after all these teachers had the misconception of accumulating earning with tax fee Dollars for years and which made them come
to UAE. It was a pure delusion.

UAE is not a Western democracy, it is a Sheikdom, and their moral framework is different. Yet, I have seen men with less morals than the two above Senior members of the management of HCT in our own Western universities and colleges. One should have told these teachers that they needed get their PhDs, and get their experience right before venturing into countries like UAE.

Mere commenting that their education and experience should be suffice for the thick Emirati students, shows how bad they got it wrong.

Anonymous said...

To August 3, 2013 at 10:14 PM poster.

Your comments shows an alloyed delusion, and it is not surprising at all.
"HCT is the most unethical and unstable place to work" No one forced you to come to HCT. You needed a job desperately which suggests that you did not a proper job in your country.

"He is not liked by those much higher than him and they are fully aware of his corruption and lack of basic human morals. Once he is gone, it is hoped that directors will be able to focus on running their colleges. Not fear mongering while under the most twisted and degenerate duress from kamali"

I nearly fell from my chair laughing at your sheer ignorance. You have sought job in an Arab country, a dictatorship by Sheikhs, where women are second class citizens, and you can hardly expect them to subscribe UN Human Rights guidelines. Dr Kamali is expected to follow the tenets set by the Sheikhs agreeing to their concept of morality. If he goes, another robed person will take his place, and the history repeats.

Anonymous said...

To HCT DOES INDEED SHINE above:

You seem to be dillusional about those two rats. Can you give me an example of a PhD faculty who came to HCT and was respected and treated well?

I can give you many examples of PhDs who came there and were very unhappy or treated badly, either by those two or by their supervisors, most of whom do not have PhDs.
I am one such example. I was not treated well by my supervisor, who was a good friend of Nathan. In fact, a PhD should be a license to not need a supervisor in the first place. Can HCT, if respectful of our expertise and knowledge, assume that? Impossible! Their fear mongering philosophy can never relinquish any power or freedom to us PhDs.

Suede Oasis said...

See what happens when I turn my back for a few weeks? The whole place runs riot!

I'm loving this. Please keep more of the same coming, it's doing HCT's reputation no end of good!

Oh, and do they have ANY new hires starting later this month?!?

Anonymous said...

Dr Senthlnathan says:
Let us remind ourselves:
“Suede Oasis”, a Yank, a chaff in a land where they separate chaff and grains and chuck out the former as wastrel and they do not get jobs. He was desperate for a job, a sign of misspent youth.
I did very well in US, the land of opportunities, with education at Harvard and a PhD, and that is the reason I am here as a Deputy VC, where as “Suede Oasis”, a lackey Yank assumed that he could simply get a teacher’s job for 10 years in UAE with his accent and superiority air; he imagined that by blustering alone he could stay for 10 year collecting tax free Dollars. He should have known-did he ,as Yanks are short of brain cells when it comes to geography, that Emirati students are not as smart as their US counterparts. May be he knew they are dumb and hence he assumed that they will accept a dumber lazier Yank!!
He was fired as he was bad in every respect. Wastrels like him have no future anywhere.

Anonymous said...

I too had a PhD and worked for a few years in the HCT. My experience is opposite to those of many posters here. The senior management treated me with respect and they responded to promptly to my concern. I had no problems either with the HCT establishment or with it senior management.
The 22/23 hours of work per week for a PhD with research experience and needing to contribute is much less than what would you expect in countries like Sweden, where I am a professor. Teachers here put in 25 hour average per week, and in colleges it is more. I can only imagine that those posters who paint such dismal pictures about the people in HCT-particularly they have an axe to grind when it comes to senior management, do so as they were found to be wanting. They have assumed an easy life in UAE, teaching the students in HCT who are not the brightest, and collecting their pay checks with no questions asked. If HCT students are bright , why do they need these teachers who at best have a poor graduate degree, and have not much experience to show. Hence they are placed in a lower cadre.
Move on guys. Blame yourselves and a some suggested get proper degrees ,higher the degrees the better and you will find many opportunities open up for you.

Anonymous said...

Dr Senthilnathan says;
I agree with the above poster. He is spot on. UAE is just less than 3 hour flight to Mumbai, and with it tax free pay packets I can see attractions for those from the Indian subcontinent. But to travel to the UK or the UK it takes more flight hours. Why come here? The answer lies in their resumes. when I see Yanks applying for teacher’ jobs, I read their resumes and I soon realise that these apply to HCT assuming that because UAE is not a Western country, their poor qualifications should be more than adequate, which is where they go wrong. This region has a presence of many US and UK universities, and better qualified Westerners with PhDs and years of experience go there. We too offer better positions for them in the HCT. The problem arises with those who having failed in their career in their own countries, not accepting that it is they who are responsible for the failure, come here to have easy life with plenty of years of tax-free Dollars. They fail miserably and “Sued Oasis” is a very good example.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Deputy VC for your illuminating words. In the NUS, where they carefully pick faculty after rigorous short-listing, many-these are PhDs with years of experience do work hard to make it to the second year and slowly build their career at NUS working diligently. PhD does give an edge as it takes years to earn it with sheer hard work. The teachers I see in HCT are anything but pedestrian, almost all of them having failed in their attempts to hold on to jobs in their countries, arrive here having not learned any lessons.
They cannot blame the VC and the Deputy VC for their dismal failure in their own countries. Singapore will not tolerate the likes of them even a month., and deport them immediately. No use in collecting the “chaff” the Deputy VC elegantly puts it. Grow up guys, get PhD; the Deputy VC is so right here.
The trick for the faculty is to arrive with a higher pay grade-that goes with a PhD and years of diligence, work for only a few years, collect the pay checks for a better future back in their on countries. So many have done it.
As for the PhD faculty above, who says he suffered under chairs who have no PhDs, why not apply to other universities, which the Deputy VC mentions, if he was that good?

Anonymous said...

I hope copies of these comments which are supposedly from TK's office are sent to the new Chancellor...along with IP addresses. Soon the Iranian and Indian will be gone ... Add some more fuel to the fire please;-)

Anonymous said...

To August 4, 2013 at v2:10PM:

So you are going to send these copies emanating from a website which is blocked in the UAE because it is set up to: ridicule and accuse the HCT, mimic its leadership to show how stupid they are, passing very negative comments at the HCT students etc.. etc.., and attach the IP addresses and expect that the HCT Chancellor should take them seriously and fire the VC and Deputy VC?

Which planet you are inhabiting and what are you smoking? Based on your post alone, one could figure out why you have to go to UAE and to HCT of all the places!! You will have instead a better chance of winning a US /a UK lottery!!!

Suede Oasis said...

Ah, so you DON'T have any new hires starting this month, hence your policy of engagement, whereas before you have never even acknowledged my existence. Right?

Desperate measures, I see.

And what a charmer you are, 'Dr' Nathen!

Raja said...

f HCT does indeed 'shine', as a commenter above claims, then it is only from its own anal orifice. And the 'enlightenment' that is provides is of equally dubious utility, suitable only for idle Emiratis. Or perhaps our PhD poster above is yet to realise that?

Anonymous said...

Oh, the Indian! Careful guys, he appears to support you, but is a an Indian and a plant by Senthil? Indians support each other.

Anonymous said...

Senthil=Tamil name
Raja= Tamil name.

There you have it!!

Anonymous said...

Why any well-educated westerner would be interested in educating the Emiratis, who are a dangerous enough breed, is beyond my comprehension. Why not leave these people to ferment in their ignorance but unable to spread their message? Do you really want to give them the tools of modernity so that they can apply their beliefs and culture more effectively to the world?

Had a westerner never shown them the internet, they would still be using pigeons!

Anonymous said...

To August5, 2013 at 3:48AM
"Why any well-educated westerner would be interested in educating the Emiratis, who are a dangerous enough breed, is beyond my comprehension"

These Westerners wanted jobs desperately as posters above say that they were not qualified enough to hold onto jobs in their own countries. You could easily profile these people in every Western countries and will find that their educational qualifications are not good enough to teach in a college, their low performance made them to be unfit as teachers in their own countries, and they are often lazy and low -skilled and wanted easy money thinking that they could get it from the Emiratis.

If you want to know get a list from the HCT and it is easy to profile them.

I know a very few well qualified faculty, they worked for short 3 years made some money and got out.

Anonymous said...

To August 5, at 1:01 pm.
"I know a very few well qualified faculty, they worked for short 3 years made some money and got out."
I was one of them. Why did I get out? Because HCT SUCKS. That's no brainer.
So all the people above please, do not try to slice this any different. You know better than that. Claim the truth, unless you are part of the corruption and love money more than educating people.

Anonymous said...

To August 5, 2013 at 7:47 PM

That was your choice and you exercised it well. The posters including the blog owner should put their HCT experience in the past, and move on.

Anonymous said...

To August 5, 2013 at 7:47 PM
Did it take you 3 long year to know the truth? Obviously you loved money!! That is no brainer too!

Anonymous said...

To August 5, 2013 at 11:22PM
and 11.13PM
Folks, "August 5, 2013 at 7:47 PM" is "Suede Oasis", the perennial ranter, he did not get out, but WAS KICKED OUT!!

Anonymous said...

No, it did not take me 3 years to know the truth. I wanted to get out as soon as I was assigned my last supervisor. But you are a fool to think and suggest that getting out was easy. Thus, your remark is selfish and ignorant.

HCT is pretty much like the song Hotel California says. You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave. So, do not blame the faculty who chose to "check out" while still staying at HCT against their will.

Anonymous said...

And yes, you are damn wrong by suggesting that I loved money. Everyone needs money, but money is not my priority in life before happiness and well being. And don't go on suggesting that I cannot find a job in my own country. I left my respectful position in the west to come to UAE, and I can find a new job there anytime. It is my supervisor who cannot find a job in the west, which is why he is stooping to do and say anything his corrupt superiors want him to.

Anonymous said...

To August 6, 2013 at 1:36 AM

What an excuse from some one who was so desperate that HCT was very inviting then. You thought you could bluster you way around and got your comeuppance.

Anonymous said...

"I can find a new job there anytime. It is my supervisor who cannot find a job in the west, which is why he is stooping to do and say anything his corrupt superiors want him to"

I laughed alound, trying to justify why you landed in HCT. Better to say you are no good and hence the reason to go to HCT.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting that except a lazy few and a few lackeys in UK , US and in the West, others do not want to go to this Arab country and kiss the asses of the Arabs. It says a lot about this desperate bunch.

Anonymous said...

To August 5, 2013 at 11:28 PM.
No, It is not Suede Oasis. No, I was not kicked out. You know how I got out? I relinquished my 6 months salary.

Anonymous said...

Why all this anti-American sentiment.

Go to any American consulate in the world and you'll find people lined up for miles waiting to get a residence visa. Why is that?

The Yanks got to the moon and back 44 years ago, not because they were stupid.

BTW, Which part of Europe do you come from, the part whose ass we kicked, or the part whose ass we saved, (twice). (WWI & WWII)

'nuff said

Anonymous said...

Thank you Anony Aug 7, 2013 at 3:48 AM

I am not an american but I just simply can not take the barking of nonsense here. I come to this web site to learn and educate the people who are planning to go and work in HCT. If they want to put up with the abuse, so be it. It is their choice.

This comment is ridiculous >>> "These Westerners wanted jobs desperately as posters above say that they were not qualified enough to hold onto jobs in their own countries. You could easily profile these people in every Western countries and will find that their educational qualifications are not good enough to teach in a college, their low performance made them to be unfit as teachers in their own countries, and they are often lazy and low -skilled and wanted easy money thinking that they could get it from the Emiratis."

I came across many westerners and asians who want to learn the Gulf culture. There may not be the large percentage but I found many. They worked till the end of their contracts and went back home. Have you ever thought about that? Obviously "not" ...

Suede Oasis .. thank you for keeping up with this web site and the posts. Someone above was making the comparison with the Singaporeans. Please DO NOT INSULT the Singaporeans. They are way smarter than your dumbness and ignorance. I have friends who are Singaporeans. Majority of them are hard working, intelligent and have strong work ethics. Please educate yourself before insulting the other nationalities.

When the majority of people are voicing their bad experiences with HCT, please do not attack them if you disagree with them. Though you may have good experience with HCT, most ethical and professional people do not get the same experience. You may be one of a very few objects who did what to survive your way through at HCT. Therefore, please do not disturb the others. Thank you ....

Anonymous said...

I would not be surprised someone from higher position at HCT is commenting this or stir up the comments. Such a pathetic soul. Wanker stay at your own corner

Anonymous said...

To August 7, 2013 at 3:48 AM

YEAH, YEAH, you sent men to the moon 4 decades ago but why was no moon landing after that? Neil Armstrong hardly spoke about moon landing, no one answered about Van Allen Belt and the flimsy gear they wore. More like they went to Arzona desert and photographed themselves. In moon there will be no shadows and Armstrong shadows appear on the moon!

Yeah, you also went to Vietnam and Iraq and look at what you left there? Shias of Iraq and Iran now will join together. In invading Iraq Dubya created international terrorism where it did not exist before. Yes dumb dubya went to Harvard, but the idiot was convinced Saddam had WMD, and AL QUEDA. Look what he opened up. We all judge you by the standard of Dubya!

BTW, when you Yanks were put into the grinding mill and your balls were crushed , no stealth fighters came, no Seventh Fleet or Seals!! They go only to those countries which cannot fight back. Try China. They do not have to fight, but have to simply threaten to flood the market with the billions of Dollars they hold, and you will start crying.

Saved Europe? More like helping yourselves with those German scientists and engineers because you were dumb then and now with Barry Hussein- a Kenyan in the White House!! Only in America,

Now, let us look at your situation. You went to UAE-I bet you had hard time finding it on a map knowing Yanks who have no sense of history or geography. You assumed, like every Yank does that your bluster, accent and your assumed superiority were enough to mask your poor education and skills. You lackeys could not work 23 hours a week!! That says more about you. Nice profiles you have. Post more and more so that we can enjoy your ignorance, In 25 years you all have to learn to speak and write Spanish in your country when Amigos take over.

Your standards are now reduced to plastic surgery enhanced Kardashians and plastic surgery enhanced children right from they are 6 year old.




August 7, 2013 at 9:13 AM

Anonymous said...

To August 7, 2013 at 2:42 PM
Learning to more about Gulf Culture? That is a good angle, not heard before!!

I never went to UAE and HCT, and I did not want to know about Gulf Culture-even the high school students know that Arabs have no culture, except putting their women folks in a mobile tent, whilst they enjoyed visiting brothels in the West and drinking "firewater" which they ban in their country.

Yeah, you went there to learn about camels and camel dung, and also how humanly you were going to be treated!

Who insulted Singaporeans? Oh, you cannot read and understand English! If it was Singapore, you would have been kicked out within a month of your arrival. Before then, the universities there will screen your resume well, and all of you would have been rejected. I get you were and hence landed in the desert among these barbarians.

As for "Suede Oasis", he" lied with dogs and got up with fleas" !-that is old English saying. But then he had minimal education and skills, which did not give him any tenured job in his country. He wanted to teach the dumb Arabs in HCT, and got metaphorically 50 lashes in return,as he could not work even 23 hours per week.

Anonymous said...

"I would not be surprised someone from higher position at HCT is commenting this or stir up the comments. Such a pathetic soul. Wanker stay at your own corner"

Must be a Brit seeing the way he uses the word-"Wanker", you must know the word well as you were used in that role by the Arabs!! Brit are not known to take education seriously. All PhDs in Britain are foreigners.

Anonymous said...

"No, It is not Suede Oasis. No, I was not kicked out. You know how I got out? I relinquished my 6 months salary"

Good for you, you had some sense, and must have had some good education and skills. Not all posters here are not blesssed with your education and skills, and they assumed that with their poor education and skills, which they thought wa adequate for the thick-headed Arabs. It went badly wrong as the duo- Kamali and Senthil fried their balls in the desert Sun and sent them home packing!!

Anonymous said...

You guys are interesting subjects for study- I reckon you all suffer from a variation of: Münchausen syndrome by proxy, not found before. Keep posting!!

Anonymous said...

"I would not be surprised someone from higher position at HCT is commenting this or stir up the comments"

Those listed in "Suede Oasis"'s "Hall of Fame" must be equivalent to vicious-looking armed guards with dark glasses one sees in the movies showing US Penitentiaries, who must have crushed the balls of these teachers in the HCT. They are seeing their apparitions here, there and every where!! Interesting!!

Suede Oasis said...

Hmm, I do take exception to being called an 'obsessive', or when somebody accuses me of suffering from OCD, but I won't get obsessive about it!

In fact, our semi-resident PhD poster appears to be the one suffering from 'scratched record syndrome'. Care to change your tune, doctor?

So far you seem to be relying on scant evidence for your assertions, 'Doctor', so it's clear you're working off your prejudices here. Or have you actually published a paper on the rag-tag nature of 'under-educated' Western teachers in the Gulf?

Anonymous said...

To all posters who think this blog is about how bad and incompetent HCT is:
Suede Oasis falls in that third party who blames the good and qualified teachers who left HCT for no reason other than that HCT sucks.
He just does not realize that he is beating his own purpose of this blog.

Anonymous said...

I do understand that there were some well qualified people who went to HCT for a taster or driven by a misconception and to earn quick tax-free bucks before they come and settle a a proper faculty in a university in their own country. These people left HCT after finding it not appropriate for them, cut loose their contracts and went back to their countries and since are settled very well.

But the case of "Suede Oasis" and the majority of posters is very different. Their poor educational background, experience and skills meant that they were unable to get into any good college/university as faculty in their own countries, chose HCT for longer term stay assuming that their poor qualifications and poor work ethic were enough in this
desert college and thought they could hoodwink the management through their Western accents,air of superiority and bluster to sustain their existence in HCT for longer periods. Their assumptions went badly wrong. "Suede Oasis" is an example where a Yank is over the edge of equilibrium, and became compulsive denier not accepting his inadequacies were causes of his failure at HCT. He had to be kicked out. He tries to rationalise his inadequacies, and blames HCT for all that went wrong. His mission is obsessive, He is fit as a subject for a psychiatric study.

Anonymous said...

I agree. Why would he otherwise attack the PhD poster who relinquished his 6 months pay to leave that hell?

Anonymous said...

The clue about “Suede Oasis” is here: “ I went to HCT with a plan to stay there for about 10 years”. This guy had a very chequered career in America often due to poor educational background, poor skills and poor work ethic. There are plenty of Yanks in this category and they are looking for foreign countries where they can simply push their way into landing a job for a longer time; the selection of UAE was as a result of HCT advertisements-the senior management of HCT had either American or British education and it was natural for the HCT to advertise in these countries. This guy planned 10 years tenure so that he could collect tax-free Dollars for 10 years with no need to improve his educational qualifications. He knew that on return he will not get job in his native country and the savings of tax-free Dollars would be enough to sustain him the rest of his life. He is angry now when his plan went wrong, and like a typical loser, he has been in constant denial that he is the the author of his own downfall brought about by poor education and poor work ethic. He is trying to gather around losers like him, smear HCT of all wrong doings ( funny, he went there on his own accord and denies any knowledge of HCT practices) and this attempt is his obsession.

Anonymous said...

To August 7, 2013 at 6:38 PM above.

I get your point about Suede Oasis, but please don't use the words of the poster who wanted to share his/her HCT bad experience here. By doing so you too are denying any knowledge of HCT practices.

Anonymous said...

Agree. But a blog like this muddies the issues. It is preventing these well qualified teachers mot of them are back in their countries, and yet who are interested in their attempts to clean up the HCT, and to rid of those who are the pollutants, right from the top A concerted effort with some good analyses and evidences would bear fruit. But "Suede Oasis", a "bad apple" at best in his inimitable cynical way is preventing this to happen. That would help any potential teachers who are repulsed by the HCT reputation and this alone could be used to put enough effort directing at those in higher positions-above the VC and Deputy VC of the necessity
for the clean up of the "Cleaning the Augean stables. This is being slowly realized at the highest level.

Anonymous said...

To August 7, 2013 at 7:09 PM and anyone who is motivated to clean up the HCT.

Is anyone up for administering a new blog called: "Clean Up HCT"?

I would have done it myself, but I am out of there, not able to closely monitor the "bad apples".

Suede Oasis said...

Let me clear up a few inaccuracies here:

Firstly, I did not write the article above, 'A recent HCT departure spills all'. It was submitted to me, and I thought that, as it was clearly not from myself (having left HCT several years back, as the readers of these pages know well), there was no need to preface it with an introductory comments. However, for the sake of the 'doctor' with slim powers of observation (and poor English), I now feel obliged to point it out with total clarity.

Secondly, do you think that only Yanks spell the word 'defense', instead of 'defence'? Check again, dear doctor - and THINK again too!

Finally, my current employment is with a university in Europe that ranks far above HCT in the world rankings - so there goes your 'unemployable' hypothesis!

OK, go on - crank out the same old response again!

Anonymous said...

For the sake of your (SO) slim powers of observation, that doctor you keep attacking was defending your cause, i.e. HCT sucks.

Anonymous said...

SO is a Brit, very easy to detect because, when you plant deliberately errors of English, point to American spelling and keep focusing that person being a Yank, up comes the signature revelation- a Brit invariably attacks some one pointing at his poor English-that is their psyche as most of them are poorly qualified. That is the only way, they can get comfort as being superior. They hate any one with a PhD. You could bet with five Pounds Stirling that SO has no PhD.

Usage of "sacked" is a typical British usage. Very few Brits have PhDs-higher education is not their cup of tea. Most probably SO works in a Post-92 University in Britain= a former polytechnic which though ranks higher than HCT, employs academics (Faculty) who are really teachers with no PhDs, and is not rated well at all.
A post-92 university management is no better than that of HCT, reading about the reported HCT management.

OK, SO enjoy your English, your tea and your Post-92. BTW, I am from a top Russell Group university.

Hope you get your gratuity, but I doubt it!!

PS: leave SO to rant. I am sure he is not in a better place now having made to leave the HCT.
As the Bard puts it:
"from the smoke into the smother,
from tyrant duke unto a tyrant brother"

Anonymous said...

Senthil Nathan is a pathetic Indian ass-licker whose main job is fetching tea and coffee! A glorified chai-wallah who attended some open admission courses for ridiculous fees in the West and now claims he 'graduated' from those unis! Hahaha

Anonymous said...

People ... this blog keeps attacking one another instead of focusing on HCT news and its updates. Sad!!!!

One of my friends suggested me to look it up before signing the contract with HCT. All I see here seems former HCT employees attacking one another. I guess this is what HCT is all about - back stabbing one another.

Anonymous said...

Which HCT campus is better? How are the student behaviors and their english proficiency? How culturally sensitive I have to be when I am in the class? Anyone?

Anonymous said...

"cheering on the streets of Abu Dhabi ... start spreading the word .... TK has been removed .... by the new Chancelor."

April 15, 2013 at 6:51 PM

Wow .. about time. Tell more please!!!

August 12, 2013 at 4:05 PM

Anonymous said...

How about the directors?

Anonymous said...

If that's true.....amen! Senthil the indian servant to follow???

Anonymous said...

None. This place is crap. Save yourself. Unless you enjoy being bullied belittled and tortured

Anonymous said...

Totally agree with the above. HCT is a place where faculty are bullied, belittled and tortured. I am glad I put an end to all that before any serious damage was done to my sanity and health.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree. I should have realised the truth when one of the creeps on my interview panel began to get quite offensive. I thought he was acting, just seeing how I would respond in a situation of confrontation.

But he wasn't acting at all. Confrontation is common at HCT, and is seen as a valid management tool. He wanted to see if I could put up with so much shit, and I showed him I could (unfortunately).

But I never imagined I would have to face it almost every day.

I quit after 18 months of that crap!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow! I had the same exact experience at HCT, starting from the interview up to the point I said to him you are full of crap.

Anonymous said...

You all must be very daft to get whipped by the Arabs!! Must have been desperate for jobs.

Anonymous said...

No Shit Aug 18! Arabs and their "bros" are absolutely vile creatures that are best avoided, regardless of any short-term perceived benefits from dealing with them.

Anonymous said...

To August 21 Hard luck. I could have told you for free that there will be no perceived benefits. But then you were not employable at that time. Not sure now either. You asked for it as you had very poor skills then and I guess even now.

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha! Top-notch skills both then and now and working in a great university in the west at the moment. Being back in a western uni makes the farce and shitty conditions of the UAE crystal clear. Take for example the medical "insurance" offered in the UAE. Sure you can go to the hospital, but the doctors are a bunch of Egyptians that really are not competent at the level of a western doctor. Same with the pension - they are paying some massive sums into my account annually. Way beyond what one could save or earn in the UAE!

Anonymous said...

HCT stands for the Highest Crap of all Time.
I made the worst mistake in my career moving to HCT for a change. What I found is beyond imagination: Though I have a PhD from a renowned UK University,I was bullied, belittled, humiliated and mentally tortured for over a year.Back stabbing, phone tapping, internet and private email monitoring are normal practice.All the HCT supervisors are a bunch of F**ing idiots who have no value in them acting in concerts as ass-leakers.
HCT stands also for High level of Cheating Tertiary institution. Students cheating in exams is beyond belief. I had my exam questions stolen from my bag on many occasions, some from their lockers.During examinations, students simply cheat , cross communicate and open secrets stickers from under their sleeves It's rampant. To sum it up: HCT is the pit toilet of education.
Don't ruin your life taking a job there! It's not worth it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you anonymous above. You described it so well. I can remember vividly how bad it was. Please telling people not to work there. Thank you. Money is not worth it.

Anonymous said...

I for one will never visit this site again. The fact that someone looks in has no bearing on whether they find it useful at all. As you continue to characterize Dr. Kamali rather that objectively account for your experience at HCT, you lose all credibility. Do yourself a favor and move to a more suitable part of the world; and as Spike Lee so famously said, 'get a job'.

Anonymous said...

OK, bye bye Anonymous October 30! Your departure statement was the only thing I understood in your whole posting!

Holborn Harry said...

Keep it up, 'Suede Oasis'! I'm glad to see that there are still teachers out there who care enough to warn others of the perils of certain so-called schools and colleges

And please check out my blog too, while you're about it.

The more we can do to flush out the phoney 'educators' in the world, the better for all of us.

Anonymous said...

I thought this was a reasonable and rational post. The HCT's in the UAE are similar to the Tech Colleges in Oman, perhaps a bit worse due to the fact that the UAE takes even more of the worst from the West than Oman does...the money at these places is NOT worth it. Give it up and work somewhere else. I mean, just look at the idiotic online hiring process!!

Anonymous said...

It's not important whether he is an American or Pakistani it's not important whether he did not get job in his native country. But it is very important for others what hct is.