Policy and Procedure Manual 2024-25 > Faculty and Professional Staff > Employment Policies

Employment Policies

Policy

1. Faculty Diversity and Recruiting Strategy

It is UD’s policy to promote diversity in its faculty members through fair and equal treatment in terms of race, religion, nationality, and gender. In addition, UD faculty members should hold PhD and Master degrees from a diverse pool of accredited universities. These degrees should meet the accreditation standards      CAA-MOE . Faculty members with Master degrees are assigned courses at the remedial or freshman levels only. Master degree holders with generally accredited professional business qualifications such as CFA, CPA, CMA etc. and with relevant industry experience of at least 8 years at the managerial level are considered as      PQ and can handle upper level applied courses. Similarly, Master degree holders with at least 8 years of teaching experience with generally accredited professional IT certifications such as  PMP  are considered as PQ and can handle upper level IT courses.

2. Full-Time, Part-Time, and Visiting Faculty
It is the policy of UD that the percentage of full-time faculty members within each program is not less than 75% of the total faculty count-wise. See FP 5.6 for more details on faculty workload. More details on hiring part-time and visiting faculty are discussed in FP 5.15.

3. Planned Faculty Requirements
Planned faculty requirements for the following academic year are developed by the academic departments.      See FP 5.15 Faculty Hiring Plan for more details.

4. Faculty Selection
The faculty selection process is summarized below:

• Upon the receipt of all resumes from the  HRD,  the Dean  forwards the applications to the      FSC  established at the college/department. 

• The FSC is responsible for filtering out irrelevant applications (while stating the reasons for rejection such as inappropriate degree, rank, qualifications, etc.). The FSC also identifies potential resumes of acceptable applicants who meet the job requirements using the appropriate forms (Appendix I). The applications must be sorted according to rank in order to give equal opportunities across all ranks. Fresh graduates will be treated as a separate category and evaluated based on potential rather than established research. Within each category, applicants are ranked based on the criteria established. The recommendations of the committee (including rejected CVs) must then be forwarded to the Dean/Program Director.

• Dean reviews the FSC recommendations (short-listed candidates and rejected CVs) and convenes with the committee to review the short list.

• Interviews either in person or by phone of potential faculty members are conducted by the FSC in the presence of the concerned Dean and Program Director.  

• The Dean forwards the final recommendations to the  VPAA.  

• Once a decision is made on the final selection, the Head of  HR  obtains the President’s approval for processing the application for security clearance (see item 7). 

5. Supporting Documents
The original terminal degree All testimonials and certificates should be translated in Arabic and duly attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UAE Embassy in the country where the document was issued. official transcripts and professional certificates must be provided to HR for each FT/PT faculty. In addition, authenticated copies of the terminal degree as well as an updated  CV are kept in the personnel file.

6. Academic Ranks

• Professor: PhD with at least 5 years as Associate Professor and meeting UD’s promotion requirements to a Professor.

• Associate Professor: PhD with at least 5 years as an Assistant Professor and meeting UD promotion requirements to an Associate.

• Assistant Professor:  PhD holders not meeting the requirements for the higher ranks including recent graduates.

• Visiting Faculty: PhD can be Assistant, Associate or full Professor working full time for UD. Visiting faculty are employed for a short period, not exceeding two academic years. 

• Lecturer: Master degree holder.

• Adjunct/Part-time Faculty: Master’s degree holder or PhD – all Ranks. These are individuals working primarily outside UD in academia or industry, but are hired by UD for a short period to fulfill a certain teaching or research assignment. Adjuncts are often associated with a UD-led research, project or grant. Teaching adjuncts are paid by the course and are hired on a term by term (e.g. semester or year) basis. 

• Emeritus Professor: An honorary title to recognize a distinguished faculty member with an exceptional record of teaching, research, or service during his past service at UD. See FP 5.15 for more details.

• Distinguished Faculty:   PhD – Can be Assistant, Associate or Professor with a distinguished track record of scholarly achievement within one's university and academic discipline. See FP 5.15 Faculty Hiring Plan for more details.

7. Security Clearance
All new faculty and staff will be subject to security clearance by the UAE MOE prior to signing any employment contracts. The HR Department sends the Introductory Statement (Appendix II) completed and signed by the selected candidate along with the appointment letter to the UAE MOE to obtain the required approval. Once approval is received, the HR sends the letter of offer to the candidate.  Upon acceptance by the applicant, all necessary steps including employment contract, visa arrangement, ticketing, etc. will be handled by the HR. A copy of the appointment letter is sent to the finance department to include the new hire on UD payroll.  The employment contract will be effective two weeks before the start of the classes to allow sufficient time for the faculty member to find a house, children’s schooling etc. in the first week and have preparation time during the second week for courses to be taught.

8. Probation Period

The appointment of faculty members is made on the basis of a six-month probation period. An evaluation of faculty members during the probation period is conducted by the Program Director. Confirmation of appointment is based on the Dean or Program Director (where applicable) review of the accomplishments of the faculty member in three major areas; i.e. teaching effectiveness, professional activity and achievement, and community service where the overall rating should be Good or above. The rubric used for the performance evaluation purpose is shown in (Appendix III). 

The Dean or Program Director (where applicable) discusses the evaluation with the faculty member of areas that need to be developed and weaknesses to overcome. The Dean/Director reviews the  Program Director’s evaluation (where applicable) and presents a recommendation to the  VPAA who recommends confirmation and appointment to the President for approval.  During the probation period, failure to reach the required standards of performance or conduct (as in Appendix III) will lead to the termination of the contract without any prior notice. 

During this period, faculty members cannot attend conferences financially supported by UD and cannot get release time or extended leaves. However, such faculty members may attend local UAE conferences for which all related costs must be borne by the concerned faculty member. (See R 4.4 Conference Attendance Policy  for more details). Exceptions must be approved by the President upon recommendation by the  VPAA. If an extended leave is approved, UD will not bear any financial implications.  

9. Service Exclusivity & Conflict of Interest

It is customary for the faculty to share the UD resources for the purpose of external consultancies.  As a result, faculty members are permitted to retain 40% of the consultancy project funds. 

The balance (60%) will be retained by the College and the University to expand UD infrastructure for research and consultancy and to support various developmental and operational expenses. More details are outlined in FP      5.1- Faculty Role Policy and in R 4.1- Research Support Policies.

1. In the first week after joining, the  Dean and Program Director meets individually with each new faculty member to welcome their arrival and to help them to understand UD’s culture. Specifically, the purpose of the meeting is to: 

   1. Ensure that the faculty member understands UD’s vision, mission and objectives. A briefing on UD’s strategic plan is also included.

   2. Explain the college’s annual objectives and review process.

   3. Explain the college’s accreditation status and provide some information related to CAA and other international accreditation standards.

   4. Discuss expectations for teaching, advising, research, and service.

   5. Explains UD’s academic and other policies.

   6. Help the new faculty member become fully integrated into the UD culture.

   7. Answer any questions the new faculty member may have.

2. In addition, the  Dean provides the new faculty member with a copy of the faculty handbook.  

3. The new faculty member is also introduced to senior University officers including the President and  VPAA for a welcome visit.

4. A faculty mentor is assigned to help the new faculty member smoothly integrate in the college.

To ensure continuous improvement, newly-joined faculty members will be asked to assess the quality of their orientation in a relevant survey. 

12. Procedures for Periodic Evaluation
Faculty members’ continuation at UD is based on the Faculty Development & Performance Evaluation described in FP 5.5 Professional Development Policy for Faculty.

13. Notice Period for Contract Renewal or Termination
UD offers faculty members one-year rolling contracts. Resignation/termination of contract from either party requires three months’ prior notification in writing. If the three months’ period ends before the final exams, the faculty member must continue his/her normal duties till the end of the semester and until the completion of the following specific duties: class and lectures preparation, tests/assignment/examination marking, invigilation, office hours, and handing the exams, the grading report and the course files to the Program Director. This condition applies unless otherwise agreed by both parties (faculty members and UD) or in the case of dismissal where no notice may be given dependent upon the reason for dismissal.    

14. Appointment of Academic Administrators

An academic administrator may be appointed at any academic rank. The workload and release time policy for academic administrators is described in FP 5.1 Faculty Role Policy & FP 5.6 Faculty Workload Policy. 

All appointments to administrator’s roles must be approved by the President based on the recommendations of the Dean and the VPAA, where applicable.

The appointment to an academic administrator’s position may be rotated by the President among faculty members whenever  needed. 

15. Retirement Age
Based on Article 119 of the Human Resources Law of the Government of Dubai 2018, UAE nationals and expatriate faculty and staff who passed the retirement age of 60 while working at UD, may obtain an extension from the President to continue their employment at the University. However, the President has the right to end the services of a faculty or a staff member, who passed the retirement age, at any time.