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EF-Beykent University?
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istanbul1000



Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:14 pm    Post subject: EF-Beykent University? Reply with quote

Anyone know what's going on with this organisation? Is it a good place to work?
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just heard through the grapevine that they've halved all their teachers' hours... And salaries...

I think this is a place to stay away from for the time being.
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Listener



Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul

PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The reason that I heard for this is that there has been a decision that students don't have to attend prep school if they will be studying their undergrad degree in Turkish, so hald the students disappeared overnight. Hence the cut. I can't confirrm this, I don't work in a prep school.
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep - that's the reason. Not the uni's fault.

For what it's worth, I met the director and he was a really nice guy. The school's going through some growing pains at the moment, but I think the guy in charge has a good head on his shoulders. It's unfortunate to see this happen to them right now, as they're making a solid effort to improve their program.

Still, their contracts have WAY too many teaching hours and the pay is rubbish.
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istanbul1000



Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Has the teaching hours and salary gone down?
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jamessmart50



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 91
Location: Istanbul, Turkey

PostPosted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They were all called into a meeting a week or so ago and told their hours and pay would be roughly halved. Something to do with, a new change in the law means that not all students have to learn English in order to go onto their preferred courses. Some courses don't need English. So, half the students quit English prep straight away.

This 'new law' seems quite convenient though - it seems odd that it hasn't affected any other universities to my knowledge - what do others think?
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Listener



Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul

PostPosted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It hasn't hit anyone else that I've heard of... yet....
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ossie39



Joined: 18 Jan 2009
Posts: 105

PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It doesn't sound very promising to be honest! Word will get around quick enough and other universities and students are bound to follow suit. This impact will show itself at the start of the next academic year.
I ask you, how stupid can one be? The establishment makes this sudden announcement that English is not a requirement and the natural outcome is that students leave in droves, on the spot. This of course results in loss of wages, loss of revenue, total confusion. Rather than deducting pay and hours (isn't there some labour laws against that?) thus penalising employees why doesn't the employer cover the cost?
In addition, I cannot think of any subject whereby there is a case for not being to be able to communicate in English. The application of skills to the eventual work place, participation in projects and placements on courses, comprehension and discussion of input stated in English which will certainly extend to that in Turkish language. Perhaps a two tier private university system will develop, universities providing 'quality' English teaching to those who don't provide English. The ability to communicate in a second modern language is a certain requirement in the modern day world job market.
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fishmb



Joined: 08 Jul 2009
Posts: 184
Location: Istanbul

PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, but does such a "new law" exist?? If so, I'd like to see a link!
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coffeespoonman



Joined: 04 Feb 2005
Posts: 512
Location: At my computer...

PostPosted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Rather than deducting pay and hours (isn't there some labour laws against that?) thus penalising employees why doesn't the employer cover the cost?


We're assuming that Beykent actually got work permits for their teachers... I don't know, but I'd guess not, given what they just pulled. Can anyone comment?
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Listener



Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul

PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I can comment. Both Beykent and Maltepe Universities are using EF for their Native Speakers in the Prep Dept. This leaves the work permit burden on EF. Now the question is: Is EF getting permits? Last I heard they are not, but this was a year ago last time I actually heard from an EF'er.

The teachers at both institutions are hourly employees there, so the school can do whatever they want. As per the contract with EF, now THAAAAT I don't know.....

I am currently an hourly employee with one of those schools in one of the "fakultes" and they can fire me any time just like a normal company part-time employee, but then again I am also free to leave at any time. It does ensure a certain amount of freedom for both parties. Though it would be pretty stressful if I were the primary wage-earner of the family...
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ossie39



Joined: 18 Jan 2009
Posts: 105

PostPosted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 1:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well if this is the case, there is additional proof that this place is run by incompetent people. A private university has nothing to gain contracting out to a language school, a service that itself offers - and to its own special high fee paying clientale. Language schools are either not willing or are imcompetent to process the work permits. Night running and bad teachers are 2 reasons to be fair to good language schools. The emniyet (education ministry in Ankara) would deal with such affairs and I think this would take 4 or 5 months minimum , along with Ministry of Labour processing. On the other hand 'Yuk' which is the university sector can authorise work permits much faster, perhaps within 8 or 9 weeks.
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istanbul1000



Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does EF provide work permits? I thought it was one of the best English language schools in Istanbul.
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Listener



Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 140
Location: Istanbul

PostPosted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have yet to meet an EF'er with a work permit, though i hear that they do exist...
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atoklas



Joined: 13 Aug 2009
Posts: 24

PostPosted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Being the ever inquisitive guy that I am, I have a hypothesis about all this�

First of all, as far as I know, it takes about 1-2 months to get a work visa working at a private university (such as Dogus, Bilgi, etc), and 5 � 9 months to get the same work visa for a public university job. Why the difference? The private unis must pay bribes of some sort to expedite the process, while the public ones just don�t have that kind of capital.

Secondly, I have a few friends who work at Beykent, and the word on the street is that nobody has a work visa unless a) they�re in management and/or b) they�re married to a Turk. (Often times, those two aren�t mutually exclusive�) EF hasn�t gotten teachers work visas for years. So what�s the advantage for Beykent to contract out to EF? Well, Beykent�s English prep dept is staffed by more than 80% native speakers, while the other private unis range from 10% - 30%. This helps to redeem Beykent�s relatively dismal reputation. It also shields Beykent from paying bribes to get all those work visas, and shields them from the consequences, should those workers be caught working illegally�because technically all the foreigners are employees of EF�NOT Beykent.

In addition, about the salary and hour cuts, and I asked myself, why don�t they just lay half the employees off? Why cut salaries down to an unlivable number. (This is an EXPENSIVE city!) Aside from the classic Turkish fear of direct-speak, my chums tell me it has something to do with the fact that they have to give everybody two weeks� notice before laying them off. (???) That means paying a lot of teachers for two weeks to sit around and do nothing before they�re cut. Why do that when you can cut their hours and hope they quit? And if they quit, you save yourself a lot of money. And if they don�t, you don�t need to worry about recruiting next year�
Am I way off base?
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