Job Discussion Forums

[a.anas]

check out the edited Wikipedia article on University of Buraimi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Buraimi

[Dr.K.]

A.Anas made a post with the title "University of Buraimi: An Academic Dystopia", a few months back, in July 2014. I was impressed with the post for it was written in an illustrative, mostly well-organized, and concise manner. It did not sound like many of the other posts about UoB from previous years--it was not the rant of a disgruntled employee who got screwed out of a paycheck, or a ticket home, or any such things. A.anas wrote up a reasonably objective piece, relaying facts about the status quo at UoB, observed by him, other employees, and students.

Today, a small victory has been won over the lies and pretenses that the University of Buraimi publicizes in order to make itself appear legitimate in they eyes of students, the MoHE, and in the eyes of future employees--which it desperately needs because of the high turnover rate the reality at that place induces. Over the course of the last four months, a.anas and I launched visits to the Buraimi Labor Office, the Buraimi Governor's Office, the Ministry of Higher Education, and wrote several emails to the European Universities with which UoB claimed affiliation. FINALLY, UoB has been forced to remove any and all mention of its non-existent affiliations with these universities from its website. This happened despite the fact that, as recently as September 4th, the International Office of the University of Vienna issued the following statement:

Dear Prof. K,

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

The University of Vienna has had a Service Contract with Buraimi University, which has expired. Currently the University of Vienna has no agreements or other contractual activities with Buraimi University.

It is at the discretion of Buraimi University to publish information on its website.

Sincerely yours,

Dr. L. M.
Head of the International Office

Needless to say, I was stunned by this indifference towards the abuse of their name by an unaccredited diploma mill.

In the end, for me, the big question is: has anything relevant changed, as far as the horrid teaching, working, and studying conditions at UoB are concerned? The answer is a resounding "NO!", sadly. But what we have here is an indication that small victories are possible. For those serious about education, and serious about their professional integrity, Dylan Thomas's line "Do not go gentle into that good night" has borne fruit right here.

The fight is not over yet: soon, AlJazeera will receive a DVD with data documenting over 15 violations of Omani Law committed by UoB--with a pitch for an investigative report into corruption in the Higher Education system throughout the region (anyone who has proof they are willing to provide, incriminating other institutions, please PM me). Said DVD will also include evidence of copyright violations worth hundreds of thousands of OR in book sales--and this DVD will find its way to the head offices of 8 publishers whose books I have identified as being copied illegally by the recently created "CopyCenter" at UoB.

Something tells me that I should wait with these steps until AFTER I have left the country.

[omanoman]

good luck with your one man / one woman crusade. My spidey sense tells me that this thread has been created and then endorsed by the same person, a common enough tactic in the digital world.

Not defending UoB but I know that there are plenty of people there teaching quite well and working within the limits and conditions imposed upon them by administration and student demographics. Despite the smooth prose, in my opinion, this is exactly just another disgruntled ex-employee who has too much time on their hands and is reveling in the assumed nobility of their cause.

let us know how the book police raid goes.

[a.anas]

[madrileno]

UoB continues to churn out the drama and horrible experiences.

Prospective teachers should think twice before applying there.

[CVN-76]

I've read in other places in cyberia about a choker who used to work at UoB. A guy who was promoted by his agency to the position of HOD after several acts of violent criminal acts.

[madrileno]

[nomad soul]

[a.anas]

While I certainly find it highly commendable that Wikipedia follows strict rules when it comes to editing articles, there is nothing in the edited article that is factually incorrect: UOB has removed its unsubstantiated claims of having affiliations with five European universities from its website.

[nomad soul]

[a.anas]

[Dr.K.]

Interesting assumptions displayed in the responses.
Although we may think alike when it comes to professional integrity, I can guarantee you that we are two very different people. A closer look at our syntatical patterns and morpholigcal choices alone would easily establish as much. One of us is African, the other European.

You are correct when you assert that there are quite a few good, dedicated teachers at UoB. And they are amazing at what they do--suffering through the incompetence of randomly established administrative frameworks and short-sighted, profit-driven decisions, doing the best they can to help the 5-10%, maybe 15% of the students in each of their classes who care about learning something. I did the same for a semester, doing EXACTLY what my (illegal) contract states, and following ethical and professional guidelines developed and internalized for the last two decades, across three continents.

The limitations imposed on teachers and students alike--for those who see them as limitations--go as far as attempting to force educators to pass students who do not deserve to be passed, cheated on exams, plagiarized multiple assignments. Should someone not bend the knee, administrators will alter student records, and student final grades. And potentially fire the educator. Whatever "good" one may be able to do at UoB is constantly at risk of being nullified or reversed by the conditions. Incentivising learning as a process with intrinsic value does usually not work when most all extrinsic factors scream at you (i.e., the students) that learning is irrelevant, and that you shall pass and graduate without having acquired much of the knowledge or skills you were "supposed" to acquire.

The other statement you, omanoman, are correct about, is that I am an ex-employee. However, this case isn't about assumed nobility; it's about doing what is right. And despite the display of your cynicism, I imagine you know the difference between right and wrong. No one has paid me or will pay me for going to the MoHE to file a complaint and present evidence against UoB and its unethical practices; no one has paid me or will pay me for going to the OAAA and reporting on the same topic. I have done these things, and many others, because they are the right thing to do--for the 5-15% of the students who deserve a better learning environment, for the xx% of students who could learn more under the right circumstances, for the XX% who could end up NOT driving a taxi but provide a more specialized service to their community. I do this for the teachers who deserve to work and live under legal conditions, with legal contracts. I do this because it is the right thing to do what you say, and say what you do--and UoB does none of that.

Nomad, thank you for your advice; I will gladly consider it. You have to understand, however, that the edit of the UoB wikipedia post was a narrative based on facts. IT is a FACT that UoB presented all of its programs as affiliated with one European university or another. It is a FACT that those affiliations did not exist for an extended period of time when UoB insisted they do--some of these affiliations may never have existed. It is a FACT that, since I started provided information and evidence to all of these European universities and an employee of the MoHE, the references to those non-existent affiliations have been removed one after another. I tried to make sure I include nothing in my edited post that was not verifiable through the data I have available. If the option of directly attaching files of any kind existed, I would have done it to support the narrative. Alas, to the best of my knowledge, that is not possible. For now, I am awaiting a response from the reviewer of my post who undid my edit, to determine how I can provide proof of the factuality of my statements.

[Tazz]

Such verbose pomposity....'A closer look at our syntatical patterns and morpholigcal choices alone would easily establish as much. One of us is African, the other European.'-why not simply state, we think and write differently, reflecting our different views?

[omanoman]

For someone with such apparently high standards ( although the bar is very low at UoB) and the desire to enforce them, live by them and promote them in such a long-winded manner, how did you manage to land in UoB in the first place?Shouldn't you be enlightening the unwashed masses at an Ivy League school?

20 years of experience and you chose to come to a fledgling Uni in Oman with mediocre packages and a trail of online opinions, mostly negative?

bad luck or what?

[veiledsentiments]

I feel like this is a Don Quixote and Sancho Panza situation. Many (most?) of the complaints are true of all - or at least the majority - of the private universities in the Gulf. And often even the government universities...

Of course the government and ministries are aware of the situation. My attitude is that it is their country and their problem... and theirs to fix if/when they wish to do so. Our opinions, be we African, European, or North American, are really irrelevant. Our choice, if we don't like it, is to resign and go elsewhere.

Other than informing the international universities of the false claims on the website (which was successful), sending off your opinions to the Ministry is sufficient. One thread here is enough... and if one really must keep ranting about it, create your own blog.

VS