Job Discussion Forums

[BOBBYSUE]

Hi everyone

I have spent some time reading through the threads on this board and they are very interesting and helpful. However, I am finding it quite difficult to get a good idea of the payscales for managers at HCT. I am thinking specifically of "Chair" and "Dean" positions. I would also like to know what kind of benefits a person coming with a spouse should expect at that level (house/apartment? anything else apart from flights?)

I realise most of these questions have been answered for classroom based positions, but if anyone could shed any light on them with regard to chair or dean roles I'd be very grateful.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

[/b]

[globalnomad2]

Most likely Dh. 20-25,000 per month to start. Everyone gets tickets, housing allowance (managers towards the top of the scale, of course), school allowances, one month's extra pay for every year completed, annual increments.

[BOBBYSUE]

Thanks very much for your reply...much appreciated.

Would it be right to assume that a chair position would be around 20 and a dean around 25 then? Would a couple with no children always get a one bedroomed apartment, or would something slightly bigger be feasible?

Thanks again

[veiledsentiments]

What's a 'Chair'? Is that the new term for "Head"? But I thought "Dean" was the replacement for "Head."? (whenever I heard "head" when I was there, I always thought... toilet...) Or did "Dean" used to be "Director"?

,,, a rose by any other name... but as long as they feel more important I guess that is all that matters.

Bobbysue... we are just lowly teachers here and can only guess what management is paid... and they have never been prone to tell us. GN2 could be right, but perhaps not.

As to the flats, the minimum is normally a 2-bedroom even for a single teacher. Depending on the branch, management may even get a smallish villa. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi, few get villas anymore because of the skyrocketing costs. In the smaller places, it is more likely. But, in general, HCT provides good housing and a nice allowance to furnish it.

VS

[globalnomad2]

Well, my figure of Dh 20-25,000 was more than a guess,since it was well-known at Dubai Women's eight or nine years ago that department supervisors got 18-20,000. Those supervisors are mostly "deans"now. I don't think there are any "department chairs." If you think the HCT is a bona-fide collegial college, then in the words of the Sopranos crew, fuhgeddaboudit.

[NadiaK]

I thought all academic supervisors were now called chairs, and Heads of Instruction were all called deans.

You get to retain your title of Supervisor or Head if you work in College Services as opposed to on the "academic" side of things.

[Afra]

I think NadiaK is correct except that not all academic supervisors are heads. The 'head' supervisor is 'head' and the others are just supervisors. Indeed, 'a rose by any other name. . � And that is this year's nomenclature!

[sandy gallop]

...

[veiledsentiments]

What a hoot!! Nice to know that they are just as pompous as they have always been...

VS

[BOBBYSUE]

Thanks everyone

I only used the term chair because that is what hct is using in its current advertisements for leadership roles. I assume from reading posts here that chair is a new word for supervisor (I think). So I guess if that is correct then chairs must be on 18 to 20 and deans on 20 to 25?

Best wishes to you all

[NadiaK]

That sounds *about* right, although I heard once that the bottom of the supervisor (= chair) 's scale was below the top of the teacher's scale, so it might be a bit lower.

At least one of HCT's current ads uses the term supervisor and chair interchangeably, so I guess not everyone's got used to the new terminology yet .

[colt]

The introduction of the terms "dean" and "chair" was to comply with the SACCs ?? accreditation, as this entity required those names (N. American style). Now that that (external accreditation) has gone "by the boards", it's pretty much moot as to what they call themselves these days.

Perhaps terms like "Obersturmfurher" and "Gruppenfurher" would be more appropriate for some, along with A-kisser and Suck-up for others.

[globalnomad2]

I'm confused. As anyone who is even slightly familiar with the U.S. (including SACS) institutional accreditation knows, for SACS accreditation, content faculty should have the highest degree in their field, i.e., the doctorate. Exceptions must be documented with justifications as to why the instructor has less than a doctorate.

Furthermore, SACS defines a normal teaching load as anywhere between 9 and 15 semester hours, depending on rank. HCT is nowhere close to these standards...most content teachers don't have PhDs and they all teach 18-20 hours as far as I know--at least at Dubai Women's.

Even if SACS allowed greater teaching loads for community college teachers, certain HCT campuses are not community colleges anymore--they are bachelor-degree-granting undergraduate universities.

Moreover, to be US-accredited, an institution must allow professors to choose their own textbooks and teach to the insitutional/departmental goals in their own way. HCT is a centralized wisdom-coming-down-from-Cambridge-or-Abu-Dhabi operation in which all the campuses are supposed to have the same mission.

All this is not to mention other factors such as inadequate campus facilities according to SACS standards.

Under these circumstances, what made HCT think they could apply for SACS accreditation? Did they apply without examining the requirements, or were they merely considering applying? What am I missing?

[BOBBYSUE]

Thanks for all your help everyone.

By the way, from reading some of the threads about HCT, one would imagine that supervisors are not particularly popular, and not particularly happy either. I guess this may be because people who are content with or neutral about their supervisors would be unlikely to feel the urge to post on the subject? Would it really be like jumping into a nest of vipers to accept the offer of a supervisor role? Are there any happy supervisors who stay more than a couple of years? Finally, do any of them get promoted to Dean?

Many thanks again

[bje]