Job Discussion Forums

[Saffron]

Dear Colleagues,

Having worked at ADU, a word of extreme caution has to be given to any potential new-comers to this scandalous place: it is nothing but a re-furbished warehouse (it was previously the warehouse for a furniture shop The One): there is NO management and the degree of lying is rampant. Beware. They DO NOT pay teachers what they owe and fire with no notice. ADU has been operating on an illegal basis as well - hiring teachers with NO qualifications and making part-timers work more than the officially permitted hours. They also demand that teachers work overtime for free.

As for "academic" standards - there are NONE. Students are not allowed to see their exams because not only are grades inflated, but when they fail, teachers are pressured to pass them. Hence their results and the real exam results do NOT match.

This is the most disgraceful institution in the UAE, giving the Gulf (once again) a most traumatising experience for professionals.

All I can say, is BEWARE before accepting their offers - as once here you will NOT be given the job offer which was proposed.

Saffron

[Ka-CHING!]

Saffron,

Well, hmm. Interesting.

May I ask how long you worked with ADU? Are you now out of harm's way? What you're describing sounds awful.

[Sadebugo]

My saga with them began in October as documented in the other ADU thread. As recently as two weeks ago, they called me at home to ask me to come work for them. They did this even though I had made it clear I wasn't interested. Anyway, after they identified themselves and asked for me, I said that "he (meaning me) wasn't here at the moment and could I take a message." They asked me who I was and I told them a friend. Finally, they asked me if I (meaning the friend) would be interested in teaching in the Emirates. I told them that I hadn't gone to college and they sounded disappointed.

Can you believe it?

[manonatrain]

so they called you AFTER you worked for them ?

I am a little confused, did you work for them then quit..and uh..please help me understand the order of what happened.

Where did you live whilst workig for them etc...?

What was your salary...? Was it the same as the other teachers there?


The reason for these questions is to benifit future teachers who may be desperate enough to go there.

Thank you.

[Sadebugo]

No, never worked for them. It's all documented in the other thread, but I'll give you a quick run down. I answered their ad in October and submitted a resume. They offered an interview that I declined after reading about them on Dave's. Between then and now, they have periodically sent me e-mail and called to offer me the job. My posting above was about a call that I received a week ago and about 3 months after turning them down.

[Retro201]

Saffron paints a very bleak - but accurate - picture of ADU.

The rot goes deeper however. The following characters make up the balance of the expert administration team at this University.

The President

This man is not only totally incompetent but has serious behavioural problems preventing him from ever taking up a university presidency again in the USA. As a result, he does not take any interest in running the institution for fear of being discovered for what he really is! Obviously no background checks were conducted on this individual before hiring him. I challenge any one contemplating joining this outfit to find out the president's name and conduct a simple google search on that name. You will find lots of info. on him in the public domain.

The Registrar and her lieutenant

Another Iraqi placed in her position by - guess who? The Iraqi VP! An engineer by professional, this person is the most incompetent registrar I have ever encountered. Her assistant in that other campus in Al Ain, I believe, is possibly even worse. Students absolutely detest these two characters which is understandable as they have no people skills at all.

Human Resourses Manager

What planet did they find him on? Your guaranteed to get the run around from this guy who will do his best to stuff up every aspect of your employment with ADU. One employee was even taken to the immigration court because of this man's incompetence.


Please heed these warnings. ADU is not a decent employer. If only the chairman would take more interest in running the place - and see it for what it is. Then, perhaps, there may be some improvement.

[Saffron]

Dear Colleagues,

Everything which is being said/written about ADU is true - and yet only scratches the surface. It is simply outrageous how professionals have been treated at this joint - for there is no other word to describe the lying and deception that goes on there. No, this is not "bleak" - this is the most disgraceful lie in regional education. Consider the following:

1 - They lie to you to get you to accept an offer and re-locate to Abu Dhabi. Once here, they leave you in limbo - neither taking care your residence visa nor housing situation ( if you are "lucky", they may show you slums to live in - and even should you agree to live in those slums, there will be a way that someone will want some extra money - which is illegal - and you won't be able to rent those dilapidated apartments)

2 - Don't even dream of bringing your family - their residency will never be taken care of

3- And DO NOT ever give in original documets. The HR Managaer - another incompetent baffon - will give his word of honour that all documents will be returned. Another LIE. ADU looses everything.

4 - The Language Institute (Sami Anwar) is a pathological liar. He is well known in local circles for lying - about everything.

5 - The above mentioned person will have teachers (with MAs and PhDs) counting chaird in pairs, have them sitting around looking into "Cutting Edge" and then declare to the President and others - all this in public - that the teaching staff were working on curriculum. Counting classroom chairs has now been considered curriculum work?

6 - If you hate teaching, then this may be the place to join. The above mentioned director - also well known in local circles for his total inability to communicate with colleagues unless in direct conflict mode - will order you to teach in the following manner: ' Say something once, and once only. DO NOT REPEAT.' (end of quotation). May I humbly remind colleagues that we are talking about teaching students who are barely capable of holding a pen or pencil and have trouble with the Roman script - let alone with the English language. So much for pedagogy at ADU.

7 - The so called management are terrified of students, who go complain in mobs, about teachers who tell them not to make noise in exams and to work on their own during exams. On the other hand, teachers are under dire stress about "controlling" these students - who frankly, after 20 years of being involved in education, are the most uncontrolable students I have ever encountered.

8 - Yes, there are serious reasons for this: the warehouse offers no conditions either to students or teachers. The students, being the weakest who were not able to enter state universities, have taken over as they realize that the "management" is terrified of losing them as paying clients.

9 - As a teacher, you will be demanded to work for free; whatever work you do will be disregarded and changed by this Sami Anwar - who has NO clue either of how a department is run nor of learning processes. (he does, however, try to stress his "brillance" by constantly referring to his teaching experience in the early 1950's in Cairo).

10 - Last semester, teachers were constantly presented with "threats" that a large number of native speakers were joining ADU. The existing native speakers and the few well-qualified teachers, were once again surprised at this attitute, but happy that more native speakers were joining - there are sufficient teachers there that either do not speak clear English and/or have no idea of teaching. These threats, have resulted in firing some of the best teachers - may I add, teachers that the students actually understood and attended their classes.

And the list goes on and on. At this point I do apologise if I seem to be going on a rant - I am not. Merely trying to warn colleagues of what I and other professionals have endured. It truly is the most insulting place - at ALL levels - that anyone can work at. And it is equally true for all staff, not only the teaching staff. Hence the degree of frustration at the total lack of direction and achievement of even the smallest of tasks.

Not even the desperate should consider working at ADU - they will NOT pay you for your work.

Saffron

[ineedcaffeine]

It is interesting to read through this. I am wondering if there are any kind of legal contracts that exist to make people stick to their word with honesty and integrity. Also, is this the case with the Abu Dhabi campus or with all HCT campuses?

[veiledsentiments]

ineedcaffeinne

ADU is a new university which seems to be completely out of control. This is more evidence of what I always tell people on this board - be very careful about these new colleges/universities in the gulf.

It has nothing to do with HCT or any other college in the Emirates.

VS

[Kunja]

I had the opportunity to do a little research about some things posted earlier, particularly about the president of ADU. I checked with ADU and learned his name, Owen F. Cargol. As suggested I did a simple Google search for this name and came away with over 50 citations, not counting other links. Interesting fellow, this Cargol. Your statement alluding to his behaviourial problems back in the States are justified. He lost what appears to be his last job in the States, president of Northern Arizona University, due to his sexual misconduct with another male employee. The newspapers (e.g. The Arizona Republic) were rife with the whole sordid mess: uninvited, lockerroom touching by Cargol of another male employee, Cargol grabbed the man's genitals, he did, followed by a whole series of extremely provocative e-mails from Cargol to this poor chap. Seems Cargol fancied himself a "rub your belly, grab your balls [sic], give you a hug, slap your back, pull your dick [sic], squeeze your hand, cheek your face, and pat your thigh kind of guy." [Note: These are actual quotes from Cargol's e-mails which were carried in several US newspapers over several weeks]. The whole affair is documented in a series of articles, including The Arizona Republic 17 November 2001, 19 November 2001, and The Chronicle of Higher Education 23 November 2001. Check out these sources. Cargol was dismissed summarily without pay or severance. He offered no defense and seems to have "vanished" from the US higher ed scene. (I wonder where he's turned up?) The offended employee has a large lawsuit for physical and psychological damage pending against the State of Arizona.

http://www.dadi.org/nau_prez.htm

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/95/64/01_4.html

http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/95/62/01_5.html

http://www.carryabigsticker.com/nau_details.htm

Now, to the point of all this as concerns ADU and the UAE. First question: How in the bloody hell was this kind of character hired as president of a new university in the UAE? Small wonder that ADU is plagued by all sorts of difficulties in its administration and the like. With leadership like this, it's not hard to wonder why there is apparently no moral authority to run the place.

Next question: Did the founders of ADU know who they were hiring in this Cargol character? Did they know of his recent past? Or were they merely uninformed? Come on, guys, a simple Google search turned up this stuff. Makes one wonder what a more thorough background ckeck would reveal. On the other hand, perhaps this is the kind of character the ADU hiring authority sought. Which raises a whole other specter of possibilities.

And another point to ponder: Is the UAE, with all of its talk, and some solid positive actions in the recent past, seriously committed to building a competitive, quality higher ed system? Again, the Cargol appointment would surely call this into question.

What would faculty say if they knew of the moral backruptcy of its president? By implication, perhaps, of its ownership? And how about the students and their supporters, parents and such? Would they be comfortable sending their sons and daughters to a university headed by such a president? If the owners or sponsors knew about Cargol, why was he hired? (We can only assume that they did not know).

I understand that one of the sheiks in the UAE is a solid backer, financial and otherwise, of ADU. Is this person aware of the seriousness of the situation with such a man as president? Implications for faculty, for students and their families, for the moral authority for leadership of the university and in the higher ed community in the UAE?

Some things to ponder.

[Saffron]

A couple of points for colleagues following this thread:

ADU does not belong nor is part of any other institution in the UAE. It has its main "campus" (i.e. the warehouse) in Abu Dhabi and has another branch in Al Ain.

Dr. Owen Cargol has had NO managerial power at all. At most, he is a blonde head, blue-eyed figure head, supposedly there to give some credibility to ADU. Whenever confronted with the serious problems which abound at the level of management and academics, Dr. Owem simply "vanishes" and merely is yet another yes-man to Dr. Muthana (the Iraqi running this appalling place and Sami Anwar). It is interesting to find out some well hidden truths now - especially as in early December they terminated a good teacher (who yes, was homosexual but had had NO contact with any student or colleague). This teacher, who was popular among his female students was fired on the basis of some flimsy letter accusing him of talking about sex, alcohol and pms in class - the author of this note was never known. This teacher has since left the country - the issue at stake not so much the content of this note of lies, but yes, the disgraceful way the management dealt with the whole issue. They first cleared the mentioned teacher - with Dr. Owen's approval and then later, on the first day of class after a week's break, let the teachers sit 8 hours in their cubicles with no acknowledgement of their presence nor indication of what they should be doing (seeing there were no classes taking place at the time). This teacher, like the others, received his schedule for the next coming weeks, 5 minutes before leaving time. The next day, at 8am, he was not on the teaching list - another one was circulated among the teachers. Not only was he not on the list, he was ordered off the premises for 3 days with no explanation at all.

This is yet another example of the prime type of "managment" that goes on at ADU.

I cannot help but keep on stressing - colleagues, no matter how much you are in need of a job, KEEP AWAY. They will make promises that are NOT kept, will let you run into debt (they do NOT pay what they owe teachers) and then, when they owe too much, find any way to get rid of you. Even with the explanation that they have the right to fire for no reason. Another teacher was fired because she told students - who were late for an exam - to keep quiet and switch off their mobiles. The teacher was merely following orders - not to mention the common practice of telling students that examination work is usually individual work.

Unfortunately, it is late now for many teachers who were recuited by these crooks. They have left decent positions, declined other offers and now are in the position of counting days to leave and to erase this experience from the CVs.

And hopefully from their minds.

[manonatrain]

I suggest to someone to go there, work, and write a book about this
place and its characters. You will have to leave the country to publish it and change the names. But it could be FUN if you went with the intention to teach and secretly write about it...

But for all those who have ever worked in the ME at new Universities, I bet this sounds very familiar. The cast of characters are typical in this part of the world in new establishments.

Hey Universities are BIG MONEY for those who set them up.

And BIG MONEY often comes with some nasty characters.

[kaw]

It's not often I agree with manonatrain about anything but in this case he does have a very valid point when it comes to working at 'new' universities (the voice of experience speaks again), things sualyy are far from what is promised/said at interview stage.
As for the book writing - a former colleague of mine did just that though not so much about the Uni but the country in general.

I don't know about more established places in the M.E. but the 'dodgy' ones seem to be run by Iraqis and Jordanians (nothing against them as a nationality but as far as their management skills go when running an 'educational establishment' ).

Despite the horror stories heard from both people who work in these places as well as the students they seem to manage to survive - just shows that money DOES talk.........

[Retro201]

Following on from Saffron�s Post, I would like to add a few comments about this character, Dr. Muthanna. Quite simply, this man is nasty � as well as incompetent � and may eventually cause the disintegration of the university.

His vision for the University is for an institution run along the lines of an Iraqi-Style forced labor camp � not a place of higher learning in the Gulf. He uses other people to do his dirty work (including Dr. Owen) and never takes responsibility for the invariably disastrous consequences of his decisions.

He has in place in the university, a network of spies (friends he appointed to positions way outside their competency limits) who spend most of their time attempting to discredit the work of more �legitimate� employees. A pretty sick place, I think you will agree.

I really do not understand why such people (Muthanna, Owen etc.) are retained by the owners? If only they (the owners) would take the time to become more involved in the university�s administration. Then, perhaps they could see what a disaster the current �management� is.

I concur with Saffron � do not come near this place. It is a nightmare.

[Kunja]

I have been following this ADU saga since my previous posting on the past behavioral problems of ADU president Owen F. Cargol. Other members of the ADU administration have �interesting backgrounds�. The �Dr. Muthanna� who has been mentioned in other postings has, shall we say, a �colorful background�. This Iraqi national apparently goes around the university touting that he is a product of the Suddam Husein School Of Management (this is for real). He acts like a dictator and is proud of it. He lies at every turn, employs an army of spies and operatives on both ADU campuses, and blames everybody but himself for all the bad things that happen. He is a master of withholding payment for services, reimbursement for expenses and the like. He worked for a brief time at Ajman University, the campus in Al Ain, as a deputy dean. He was dismissed after a brief period of service, allegedly for having �inappropriate relationships with female students�. He brought to ADU one of his henchmen from Ajman University, a Yasser Yasin. Yasin was installed by Muthanna as a student services administrator and in-house campus spy fo Muthanna at ADU Al Ain. Yasser goes around with the monicker �Dr. Yasser� although he does not have a doctorate. Yasser was also terminated by Ajman Unievrsity, allegedly for selling exams to students.

Back to Muthanna. This guy�s shady past points to possible political involvement of an unknown nature with the former Iraqi Government and its former Bath Party. On a recruitment trip to the US last Spring for ADU staff, Muthanna was detained by US authorities, and then released on the condition that he report in person to US immigration and intelligence services daily. Apparently he tried to enter the US with a large amount of US cash for indeterminate purposes during the US-Iraqi war last spring.

Muthanna had a significant role in bringing the president Owen F. Cargol to ADU last Summer. At this time it is not known whether Muthanna had knowledge of Cargol�s character flaws that prohibit him from working in the US.