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International Exeter
annual report
2013/14
international rankings
United Arab Emirates
Exeter has been teaching an EdD in TESOL in Dubai since
1999. Taking advantage of local regulations, which allow us
to operate from a FreeTrade Zone, the EdD is ‘housed’
in a business incubation unit in Knowledge Village, with
faculty flying out to teach. In local terms, this confers on us
the status of an ‘overseas campus’.
Two developments during the year required
the intervention of the International Office,
working closely with senior staff in the College of
Social Sciences and International Studies (SSIS).
In June 2013 Dubai’s Knowledge & Human
Development Authority, which has oversight of
academic programmes delivered in the Emirate,
announced that it was bringing in the UK’s
Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) to inspect
programmes offered in Dubai by overseas
institutions.
The International Office provided support to
the SSIS College Manager in order to ensure
that the QAA audit proceeded smoothly and
without delay. The Dean of SSIS flew to Dubai
to attend the audit on 7 February 2014, and the
International Office provided substantial guidance
for the College, including participation in a mock
Audit Panel before the event. In April 2014 the
UK’s Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) issued its
report on its findings concerning the delivery of
the University’s EdD in TESOL, and gave a highly
satisfactory evaluation of the programme and
its delivery.
Secondly, in December 2013 the Compliance and
Assurance Department of the Dubai Technology
and Media Free Zone Authority announced that
it was suspending administrative services for the
EdD. (The DTMFZA oversees facilities provided
to campuses.) The International Office worked
closely with the SISS College Manager to resolve
this issue satisfactorily after it was shown that
lines of communication had been less than clear,
and that information held by the authorities in
Dubai had not been completely brought
up to date.
In mid-April the International Office was able to
help effect renewal of the University’s License
to operate in Dubai, the handover of ‘Manager’
status for its operations there (from the Head of
the International Office to the College Manager
of SSIS), and to host an informal visit to the
College’s office in Knowledge Village by the
Regulations & Compliance Commission of
the KHDA.
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