Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Higher Colleges of Technology of the United Arab Emirates
The following is the text of the HCT 20th Annual Conference Opening Address by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, United Arab Emirates, in Dubai, August 30, 2007:
Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to the new academic year of the Higher Colleges of Technology and the start of our 20th anniversary year. It is a great pleasure to greet the returning faculty and staff. Welcome back! It is also my special pleasure to greet and welcome the newcomers joining our Colleges. I hope that all of you had a relaxing and enjoyable summer and that you are ready for the excitement and the challenges the new year will bring.
I also take this opportunity to greet our keynote speakers and all of our guests who are with us today. I greatly appreciate your presence and look forward to your contributions to today’s program. I also thank Mr. Pranay Gupte, who has volunteered his time and talent to help us produce an anthology of essays, speeches and reflections to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Higher Colleges of
Technology. Thank you, Pranay.
Looking around me today, I am reminded of the comment made by a prominent scientist named Robert H. Goddard many years ago. He said:
“Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace.”
Twenty years ago, the Higher Colleges of Technology had not yet become a reality. The Colleges were little more than a vision, with few believers, and perhaps no one who could have even imagined what they would become in less than two decades.
You may know the old saying, “Success has many fathers (and mothers); failure is an orphan.” Well, the Higher Colleges of Technology are, by any measure, one of the success stories of the United Arab Emirates. And they are commonly acknowledged as such.
That success is the result of the belief, commitment, hard work, and dedication of many, many people over the past nineteen years. There have been, and continues to be, countless individuals who have embraced the vision and done incredible jobs to create the reality that exists today. Our students and our country have been the beneficiaries of these efforts. For myself, personally, and on behalf of all those who have been served by the Higher Colleges, I want to express appreciation for everything that has gone into shaping this valuable national asset, and to tell you of the pride I feel in your collective accomplishments.
As we begin this twentieth year, I urge each of you to join me in renewing a pledge of our best efforts to provide our students the best possible education. The same spirit that has brought us so far in so short a span of years will give us a future that is virtually without limits.
Friends and colleagues, we begin our twentieth year with much to be proud of.
* We have the largest student enrollment in our history. We are now the largest institution of higher education in the United Arab Emirates.
* We offer high quality learning experiences to students and provide the country with skilled graduates.
* Two new colleges opened last year in Medinat Zayed and two more will open this year in Al-Ruwais. Abu Dhabi Women’s College branch in
Medinat Khalifa will also open this year.
* Both Ras Al-Khaimah Men’s College and the Al-Fujaira Men’s College have moved to their permanent facilities.
* College-based Centers of Excellence are being set up as focal points for the sharing of best practices and resources within our system. These new centers will take the lead in promoting innovation in teaching and learning across the Higher Colleges system.
* Our colleges are also strengthening their international dimension by setting up campuses abroad; the first one will be in Bangalore, India in 2008.
* We saw hallmarks of quality last year when the Business programs were the latest to be accredited and the Nursing and Pharmacy programs received international benchmarking.
* Active planning is underway for the construction of the HCT Innovation City in Abu Dhabi.
* CERT continues to develop its capacity in applied research. It houses the only IBM Blue Gene Supercomputer in the entire region. CERT Telematics, in association with IBM, is progressing well. CERT Soft partners with global technology companies to provide businesses with superior IT solutions.
* Our students compete in national and regional competitions with great success. We continue to host major international conferences. Last year we hosted the HCT/MIT Entrepreneurship Conference as well as the “Education Without Borders Conference.”
* “The Education Without Borders World Forum” was established last year as a permanent think tank.
As we review these accomplishments, we acknowledge with thanks the strong support of our community and our country’s leaders. We appreciate the wise leadership of the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, and thank him for his strong support of all our endeavors. We also offer our thanks and gratitude to the Vice- President and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al- Maktoum, and to Their Highnesses, the rulers of the Emirates. Their continued interest and involvement in the development of the Higher Colleges of Technology have been vital to our success. We also appreciate the support of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. We assure all our country’s leaders and all members of our community that the Higher Colleges of Technology will always be the embodiment of their aspirations for an excellent national institution of higher education.
Ladies and gentlemen:
As we begin this new year, we also face some challenges ahead of us. As it is my custom every year, I take this opportunity to present to you my list of challenges and priorities that I consider important in the coming year:
There are eight issues and priorities I would like to discuss. All these issues and priorities are obviously interrelated:
First: Strategic Planning: Last year, we began updating our strategic plan for the next five years. This is a high priority in view of the requirements of the Federal Government’s strategic plan, which was announced last April. From here forward, the government will link the budgeting process to actual plans. A sound strategic plan will help us define our priorities and make our case to the government and to the country for adequate funding. The plan will explain our strategy for growth without compromising quality. It will address our educational offerings, our role in the community, and our global strategy.
We will also define the strategic priorities for each college and each unit. And of course, the plan will affirm our mission of promoting student learning, of preparing our graduates for success in the global economy, of strengthening our relationship with the community, of improving operational effectiveness, and of using resources efficiently.
A successful planning process is also helpful in accomplishing our goal of accreditation for all our programs and for the institution as a whole. I thank all of you for participating in this important process. I look forward to its
successful completion. I hope it will reflect our ability to understand and adapt to changing circumstances.
Second: Student Success: Student success remains the focus of our work. When classes begin next week, more than 16,000 students will be on our campuses. Our mission is to provide these students with superior education and endow them with the skills they will need in the workplace. It is our responsibility to prepare our students to be capable and productive citizens – bilingual in Arabic and English, proficient in the use of computer technology, skilled in problem solving, global in their professional pursuits, competent in their major field of study, and prepared to become leaders as well as lifelong learners.
I ask you to dedicate yourselves to these goals of education at the Higher Colleges. All our academic programs must remain strong. Student graduation rates and academic performance must continually improve. Students’ transition from secondary school to college must be seamless. We must develop effective strategies for helping students progress from the foundation program to the higher level courses. Our students need a wide range of learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Visits abroad, Web based courses, entrepreneurship training, work placements, and volunteer work are examples. There are significant benefits to be derived from collaboration with both the UAE University and Zayed University. Such collaboration can promote the integration of different fields of knowledge and achieve more effective use of available resources.
We also take seriously our responsibility to help our graduates find employment. To do this, we must be knowledgeable about the national labor market and understand the needs of various jobs, all while building strong relationships with employers. Our graduates must be competitive in their search for employment. We must encourage and support useful initiatives and practices that will contribute to student success at the Colleges.
Third: Future Growth: We have obligations to admit the increasing number of students who graduate from secondary schools, as well as an obligation to serve all population centers of the United Arab Emirates. This is a welcome challenge and an awesome responsibility that the Higher Colleges of Technology stand ready to meet. As we grow to meet the needs of students and the requirements of society, we will remain important to our country’s success. We will preserve our well-deserved reputation for quality, offer excellent education to our students, and always be active participants in national economic development. The extent of our future growth, of course, will be dependent on available financial resources, for we must not sacrifice quality.
Fourth: Competition: Fierce competition is one of the most important factors affecting the Higher Colleges, now and in the future. We are competing with the two public universities for federal funds. We face increasing competition from local and private colleges, from online colleges, and from corporate training programs. Competition is not limited to the Colleges, however. Our graduates also compete for jobs in what is essentially a globally open labor market. This competition inspires us to excellence. Quality in every aspect of our work is the best way to meet the challenge of competition. Our standards must meet the highest requirements of international accreditation. We must recruit the strongest faculty members available. Our quality must be clearly evident in the success of our graduates, both in their life work and in their further studies. Our quality must also be reflected in our involvement in technology transfer and in economic development within the country. We must also be able to explain to our community the great value our colleges add to national progress and prosperity.
Fifth: Globalization: As a successful institution in a knowledge-based society, the Higher Colleges of Technology are poised to play an effective role in this globalized, inter-connected world. The plan to establish international campuses of HCT is a very important development for us. I am optimistic that this development will enhance our commitment to making sure that our students possess global awareness and understanding.
The term “glocalization,” where the words “global” and “local” combine, is an apt term to describe our approach to the operation of the Higher Colleges. It suggests that we must have both local and global outlooks – participate in global developments while responding to local needs. We must link our students and our programs to international developments and progress. And yes, we must also seize our opportunities to establish ourselves among colleges, universities, and research and technology transfer centers of the world.
Sixth: Outreach: This is the local side of “glocalization.” Because of our locations throughout the country, the Higher Colleges of Technology have distinct advantages in providing continuing education programs and technology transfer. I expect the Colleges to continue to build strong alliances with business and industry, with federal and local governments, and with public schools. The success of CERT is a testament to our effectiveness. Our planning process should examine expanding this role in order to better serve society’s needs and enhance our engagement with the community.
Seventh: Accountability: An important part of our quest for excellence and continuous improvement is to have in place a system of accountability in all our operations. We must be able to demonstrate effectively that we are meeting our mission, fulfilling our stated goals and objectives, and using our budgets wisely.
I ask the Vice Chancellor and the Directors to adopt clear performance indicators and to commit to measuring the results of our work as a basis for continuous improvements. We must all understand the fundamental goals of the institution, understand our role in fulfilling these goals, and be accountable in this regard. As an important example, we must have clear learning goals for students, assess their achievement, publish the results, and seek appropriate approaches for improvement.
Accountability will enhance our pride in our work and will help create a culture of effectiveness throughout all our Colleges.
As we deal with the matter of assessment and accountability, however, we must be careful not to let bureaucratic form become more important than program substance. Peter Drucker, for many years, until his death, the world’s prominent management consultant, once observed that he did “…not believe that it is very much of an advance to do the unnecessary three times faster.”
Eighth: Funding and the Endowment: Our biggest challenge continues to be insufficient financial resources. Last year, the Ministry of Presidential Affairs undertook an independent study of funding of higher education in the country, which clearly showed that the Colleges are under-funded. We are grateful to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and are optimistic that this situation will be corrected soon.
Today, I would like to point out that it is time for the Colleges to have an active fundraising campaign. We must look into establishing a financial endowment. Success in raising additional funds will depend on our ability to communicate to community leaders the need for these additional funds. Making our case convincingly will require a thorough plan. I am hopeful that significant progress will be made towards establishing our endowment this year.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
These eight challenges and priorities will stimulate our best efforts in the coming year. I hope that you will also take time to celebrate our 20th year of operation. Let us celebrate this important occasion by renewing our commitment to a successful future for the Higher Colleges of Technology. We greatly appreciate all your initiatives and innovative ideas that will help make this possible.
Thank you for being part of the Higher Colleges family. Together, we can meet our future and realize the great potential of our colleges. My best wishes for a productive and successful year.