Job Discussion Forums

[Hatcher]

I see ACK recruiting PhDs and they want ones with research records. How many PhDs would go there?

[mashkif]

[ReadyPost]

I worked there for most of the years that the college/university has been open. It once was a decent school. Now, despotic administration has ruined the school. The only teachers who have not left are the ones who can't leave either because of their nationality or job credentials. Though I myself left just recently, one department lost 1/2 of its teachers last summer alone. It is a lunatic asylum at the moment with the unqualified supervising the qualified. They have even stooped to reading teacher's e-mails which may be more common nowadays but who wants to work with folks like this. It never has occurred to the administrators that they are the cause of the issues that some teachers might want to write about. So, ACK should be your last choice in a school. If you absolutely must have a paycheck and don't really mind working with an administration filled with psychopaths, perhaps ACK will work for you. Me, I am happy I returned to teach in France. On a positive note, any job you get after leaving ACK will be a step up.

[revilo]

Yup, I think you speak for every teacher who has worked there-- including me.

[PC Parrot]

Where do these lunatic administrators hail from?

[revilo]

The students also create 50 percent of the misery. Just imagine the laziest, most worthless Gulf Arabs and that will be most of the student body.

My students wanted to get out of class early on a rainy day. Rather than fight it, I let them and a student showed me a Youtube video of Kuwaitis "drifting" on traffic circles. I felt like a bartender who served too many drinks to lowlife customers.

[ReadyPost]

It's a long history. In the very early days, the school was pretty good with everyone pulling together and there was lots of socializing events. The owners included some of the wealthiest families in Kuwait. The President and senior administrators were almost all Australian and the school was run like a western school would. But senior officials started getting axed pretty quickly. Turnover then quickened. The western ways and the Arab ways don't really mix all that well. Then about 5 or 6 years ago, Chairman (an engineer) grabbed one of the engineers in the engineering department and made him president - no experience mind you. This fella did manage to elevate the engineering department to a somewhat respectable level. However, the Marine department went under, the business department declined and the aviation department foundered. The business department in both college and university was supplying most of the revenue and it was diverted to building the engineering department. The engineering department has mostly Arab teachers and they teach in Arabic - every other department teaches in English. After all western administrators were routed, the senior positions were filled with Indians, Pakistanis and Egyptians and some Kuwaitis. Their appointments to run departments were so bad that many of them got axed. The woman who heads HR is a particularly venomous species who lost her soul long ago or never had one. The broom is the corner of her office was not left there by housekeeping. Just recently a Lebanese fella was brought in to replace the Indian president and matters continue to decline. The Chairman's son is a wishy washy sort, can never make a decision and has his Egyptian axe man (another despot) do the heavy lifting. The reason half the business degree teachers left last summer was due to the head of school who is married and fancies the young female students and is not adverse to changing grades for students of wealthy or connected families - the teachers were not able to figure out one word to describe this man. I returned to Europe where schools are not perfect, but far, far better than ACK. Truth is, you can see some of this behavior at many schools but to see it all at one school is just too much. Stay away, far away from this place.

[ReadyPost]

If you do take the misguided step to work for ACK, you should know that the administrators DO read your ACK, internal e-mail, no matter what IT may tell you. Also, both the engineering and Business Degree programs have been through too many overseas partners in the past few years - a real revolving door. The business degree program a few years ago partnered with UTAS and when that partnership went sour, then got together with VU. VU became very alarmed when they discovered that the current HOD would do anything to undermine their policies so that students could get grades they do not deserve, particularly those students who come from wealthy families who might someday benefit him. Now, the relationship with VU has been broken and ACK is looking for Queensland to take over. Like many others, ACK is not very good at marriage but is very comfortable with divorce. This remains a place to stay away from as it is just too unstable for an real teacher to take a chance with.