Assistant Dean for Student Affairs - DXB
Bio
Zia Saunders (Instructor, CIS) is a student development specialist committed to helping students thrive in their academic journey. He received an M.Ed. in multicultural education and leadership from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. As a Robert Evans Jr. minority fellow, he taught an introduction to cultural diversity course and helped coordinate a mentor program for teenage mothers attending college. He organized and coordinated a Mellon-funded Intergroup Dialogue Project while serving as assistant director of residential life at Mount Holyoke College, and in 2001 joined Zayed University as an instructor and academic advisor. In 2007, he helped establish the Department of Advising and Academic Development in a newly created University College and was appointed department chair. He served as assistant dean of University College from 2011 to 2021. Zia also participated in a Prime Minister’s Office initiative with Stanford University in design thinking and began teaching innovation and entrepreneurship in 2016. Zia is currently an instructor at the College of Interdisciplinary Studies and serves as the college’s assistant dean of student affairs.
Office
Dubai Academic City, R-L2-100
Phone:
+971 4 402 1119
