To cultivate a connected and flourishing university community, our work is driven by core guiding values. These values reinforce fairness, inclusion, and access across all levels of the institution and foster an environment where individuals can flourish and their ideas can thrive.
Access ensures fair and equal opportunities for all members of the university community. It involves reducing barriers to participation in teaching, learning, research, and work, and promoting equitable access to resources regardless of one’s abilities. True access is achieved through clear processes and systems designed to support success across all facets of the institution.
Engagement reflects active participation and contribution to academic, professional, and community life. It encompasses collaboration, shared responsibility, and a sense of ownership in advancing NYU Abu Dhabi’s mission and vision. An engaged community is one in which all community members exchange ideas, encourage one another’s growth, and participate meaningfully in initiatives that strengthen collective achievement and institutional vitality.
Belonging is generally a feeling or sensation of connectedness, and the experience of mattering or feeling cared about, accepted, respected, valued by, and integral to a group such as the campus community. Belonging develops through relationships grounded in trust, fairness, and mutual respect, and is operationalized when individuals are considered part of the constitutional foundation of an organization or institution. Belonging is achieved when individuals feel comfort, connection, and contribution.
Guiding principles serve as the necessary bridge, translating our guiding values of access, engagement, and belonging into concrete, actionable standards. They ensure these commitments are systematically applied and consistently measured, preventing them from remaining mere abstract aspirations. These principles foster a fair and accessible environment that allows every individual to flourish and belong at NYUAD.
Global intercultural leadership is the ability to guide, collaborate, and communicate effectively across cultural, linguistic, and disciplinary boundaries. It requires self-awareness, empathy, adaptability, and ethical decision-making in diverse contexts. Individuals who practice global intercultural leadership model fairness, transparency, and curiosity while creating environments that enable high performance, shared learning, and constructive dialogue across differences.
Well-being and culture reflect the overall health, trust, and sense of fulfillment experienced by individuals and groups within the university community. A healthy culture promotes respect, openness, and psychological safety, enabling people to address challenges, including intercultural misunderstandings, constructively. It emphasizes balance, mutual support, and continuous growth across personal, professional, and academic dimensions. By fostering empathy, learning, and collaboration, a strong culture enhances the well-being of all stakeholders and strengthens the collective capacity to thrive together.
Conflict Transformation (CT) is a dynamic and innovative program designed to equip faculty and staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to address and resolve conflicts in a constructive and sustainable manner. Conflict transformation constitutes the methods, systems, and processes involved in facilitating the transformation of conflict and disputes through building institutional conflict competence.
Conflict Competence is the ability to develop and use cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills that enhance productive outcomes of conflict while reducing the likelihood of escalation or harm. The focus of CT is on increasing organizational capacity for preventative and proactive conflict transformation. Restorative practices are approaches that build and strengthen relationships, foster trust, and create a culture of accountability and respect in the workplace. The goal is to repair harm, restore relationships, and promote a positive, inclusive work environment where everyone feels heard and valued.
