Job Discussion Forums

[Sleepwalker]

I was just looking at their website - which universities are they affiliated to?

[madrileno]

[Sleepwalker]

So, the students study for an in-house certificate?

Their OAAA report is troubling.

[lizziebennet]

Dear Sleepwalker,

You appear to be the expert.

Just out of interest? How many 'younger' higher institutions in Oman, or even more established institutions, actually offer an English certificate from outside of their institution to their students i.e an internationally recognized English certificate? I am trying to understand why you find this an issue?

Also, have you read the OAAA reports for all the other programs or even been involved in a full OAAA accreditation process from beginning to the end? Do you even know what you are talking about to make blanket statements such as "their OAAA report is troubling"...

There are a lot of recommendations in UoB's report. However, this is a natural part of the process and as long as improvements are actually being implemented there is really nothing to worry about. Sohar University has been going through the OAAA process for far longer than UoB and they still haven't received accreditation.

Perhaps you are not aware of the situation at UoB, but the previous V.C., whose management practices resulted in a majority of the recommendations (if you look at the portfolio you will see that the majority of recommendations fall under the administration side of things) has since left.

If you were here, which you clearly are not, you would know that we have a new Vice-Chancellor and others who have been literally given up vacation time to work day and night to turn things around before the next audit visit.

I challenge you to read the next OAAA audit report as I am confident that there will be a lot more affirmations than there were in the previous report.

Lizzie

[lizziebennet]

"None. They used to be affiliated with an Austrian university a few years back, but lost the affiliation because the Oman administration consistently failed, or refused to maintain the standards set by the Europeans".

Madrileno, we do actually have signed agreements with other institutions. Off-hand I am only aware of two (directly involving CFS/GFP) but the other colleges may have more that I am not aware of.

I know you worked at UoB many years ago, but by your posts above, it appears you don't have firsthand information anymore. Perhaps you should word things in such a way so as not to be dishonest and mislead others?

Lizzie

[Sleepwalker]

In reply to your remarks, Lizzie:

I was not referring to the foundation but the final certification ie the degree. Madrileno's comments about affiliations appear to be backed up by the wiki entry and there are no academic affiliations on the website.

I do read the OAA reports as do many people I know. It's an indication of the strength of each institution.

I am not an expert, nor do I claim to be.

[lizziebennet]

Dear Sleepwalker (and Madrileno),

I stand to be corrected in terms of Madrileno's comments depending on what he considers an 'affiliation'.

Madileno is right in that we have no 'full affiliations'. I don't even think the university was fully affiliated with IMC Krems (the Austrian affiliation he made mention of).

Affiliations take time and if we have to be honest a tremendous amount of money which the university is currently spending on building projects i.e. they have recently completed a large girls hostel building on campus.

However, what we do have are signed agreements with different institutions which may lead to full affiliations.

There are partnerships with other institutions. Examples of more recently signed agreements would be ones with Rustaq College and WE-Bridge Academy (not a university but an academy that specializes in providing general foundation courses that provide direct entry into many UK universities). The university is looking at possibly offering students the WE-bridge certification which would allow students who complete the GFP to gain direct entry to the universities on their list. That is if our programs are aligned.

But if you consider affiliation as a situation where UoB's programs are also accredited by other international institutions, there are no such affiliations.

Sincerely,

Lizzie

[La Reve]

Dear Readers,

Many people, including colleagues and supervisors, when I was there, had fake credentials, including the head of the Department.

I filed a sexual harassment court case (at the age of 62) against an Arab man (not an Omani) who worked with the department and management. At least his PhD was authentic. I thought I had won the case and he had been fined. Yet somehow, being a sexual offender, he is now even higher up than when I was there. He preys on large women, as I had been when I first met him,

(MOD edit for unsubstantiated personal attack)