Al Musanna College of Technology (ACT), now named University
of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS-A) is located in Al Bathina South
governorate. In August 2020, the seven colleges of Technology including ACT
which are under the Ministry of Manpower and Colleges of Applied Sciences which
are under the Ministry of Higher of Education are transferred to the University
of Technology and Applied Sciences. (Ref by: Royal Decree 76/2020 –
Establishing the University of Technology and Applied Sciences).
Prior to the recent transfer, UTAS-A was established in 1993
by vocational authority no.131/93 and later was a change from a vocational
training institute to a full-fledged technical College. UTAS-A started its
academic activities in 1993 with Arabic as the language of instruction. The
university registered 102 students for the academic year 1993-1994 with only 12
teaching staff and 17 administrative staff. There were only two courses of
study at that time: Accounting and Management. Despite being a new college, it
was committed to quality education to meet the high technical manpower
requirements of the job market in the Sultanate. The pioneering efforts of the
university staff resulted in the successful completion of its first academic
year and produced 58 graduates in 1995.
In the academic year 1996-1997, the college began to offer
the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ), authorized by the Royal
Society of Arts (RSA), UK, and the language of instruction was changed to
English. At the beginning of academic 2000-2001, the college again introduced a
change and began to offer the Omani National Diploma (OND).
Due to rapid changes in technology, and consequently the
need for additional modes of teaching, the university again implemented new
programs in the academic year 2003-2004 in order to comply with the pace of the
technical world. The following academic years and onwards, the university has
improved tremendously in terms of its facilities and technology as the total
number of students, staff, and administrative and technical staff has largely
increased.
UTAS- Al Musanna has three academic departments:
Engineering, Information Technology (IT), Business Studies (BS).
The university offers more than 25 specializations with
three different exit levels, diploma, advanced diploma and bachelor’s degrees
in the stream of technical education. Each level bestows knowledge,
competencies and skills upon the students, and to progress from one level to
another it is essential for students to meet well-defined criteria. This clearly
defined structure affords UTAS- Al Musanna an edge of competitiveness in
fulfilling Oman’s demand for qualified and skilled human resources. It also
gives students the flexibility to exit the system after completing any level
with a qualification enabling them to enter the job market.
The Engineering Department offers 6 specializations under
its three main sections of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE), Civil
& Architecture Engineering (CAE) and Electrical & Electronic
Engineering (EEE). These are:
- ·
Architectural Engineering
- ·
Quantity Surveying
- ·
Computer Engineering
- ·
Electrical Power
Engineering
- ·
Electronics &
Communications Engineering
- ·
Mechanical Engineering
Information Technology Department offers five
specializations. These are:
- ·
Networking
- ·
Internet & E-security
- ·
Database
- ·
Software Engineering
- ·
Information systems
The Business Studies Department offers the following
specializations:
- ·
Accounting
- ·
Human Resource Management
(HRM)
- ·
E-Business
UTAS- Al Musanna prides itself in its strong partnerships
with international agencies such as Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft and CCA.
UTAS- Al Musanna has dedicated centers and administrative
divisions. The Information System and Educational Technology Center (ISETC) is
the central resource for Information Technology facilities, Educational
Technology resources and library services in the University. The administrative
divisions are the Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, and Administrative and
Financial Affairs departments.