Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Ph.D. faculty level positions in the ME?
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Middle East Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi YG... I was wondering if you would arrive to fill us in on what ZU might be doing. Interesting program...

But, if tenure is the goal, that would seem to exclude places like HCT, ZU, and also SQU, I would think. Yes, it is very hard to get tenure at AUC. I don't think that they want to give it to 'foreign' hires. And, I must say that I think they have a good point. They are even limiting how many contracts an EFL teacher can have... 4, I think it is.

Though it seems that tenure may be an endangered species in the whole US system. The goal is to make us all adjuncts... Perhaps more incentive for you to stay where you are.

VS
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VS,
You make some good points regarding tenure, but there is only so long one can live in rural Japan and still keep their sanity. I'm sure there are equally unstimulating places in the Gulf too.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
abufletcher



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 779
Location: Shikoku Japan (for now)

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gordon, I'm not sure that Takamatsu -- or even Zentsuji -- really qualify as "rural" Japan. Boring for sure -- but not quite rural.

BTW, we'll need to get together again when I get back and discuss employment options. Smile I'd appreciate having someone to bounce ideas off. This was never a problem in the Gulf with L.C.'s with huge numbers of teachers (SQU has something like 160 language instructors) but in Kagawa EFL professionals in a similar situation can be rather thin on the ground.

The real question is whether tis nobler to have a good/great job in a place you'd rather not be or a so-so job in a place you prefer.

As far as "tenure" well that's always a bit of a relative term. In Japan you are (if lucky) hired in on "life-time employment" status. In the US you need to battle your way into a "tenure-track" position and then work you tail off to get through tenure review some 5-7 years later. In the Middle East you can usually count of renewing your contract as many times as you'd like if you don't make waves. On the other hand, I think as you get older (as in, say, over 50 and definitely over 60) there's definitely a greater chance of getting "cut from the team."

I wouldn't move back to the US just to take up adjunct status. Even making it on an assistant professor's salary would be tight. And for someone with a family it would just be insane. I did teach an upper division linguisitcs/anthropology course entitled Education Across Cultures for Cal State Long Beach during my sabbatical leave and that was a great experience. But you can't live on experience.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
web fishing



Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 95

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know this may not be what you are looking for, but you mentioned Colorado (possible/maybe), and today I received one of many TESOL vacancies. It is an administrative position at a community college, and the salary (you must decide)...


> Director, Center for Second Language Acquisition
> CLOSING DATE: October 13, 2005
> POSITION: Full-time Administrative.
>
> RESPONSIBILITIES: Provide leadership and day to day management
> of credit and noncredit ESL programs. Oversee program budget,
> course and curriculum development and assessment. Create course
> schedules and schedule instructors and classrooms for credit
> and non-credit. Interview, hire and manage instructors. Oversee
> support staff in registration and departmental and operational
> processes. Conduct classroom observations to determine
> appropriateness of curriculum, teaching styles, content level,
> instructor evaluations and student performance. Assess skills
> and experience to determine hourly rate of instructors. Conduct
> instructor meetings to provide a forum to discuss difficulties,
> suggestions and changes in the program. Attend meetings with
> local businesses, community organizations and governmental
> agencies to promote and discuss ESL/Employment related issues.
> Market courses and programs and create awareness of ESL
> related issues within and outside of the college. Assist
> counseling and testing centers with ESL related issues. Serve
> as primary intake center for advising ESL students. Research
> potential funding sources and maintain current grant(s).
> Perform other duties as assigned.
> QUALIFICATIONS: Required: Master's degree in Linguistics,
> Education, Second Language Acquisition or related field and
> three years teaching ESL.
> Preferred: TESL/TEFL certification and previous experience
> in program coordination and/or teaching experience in Adult Ed.
>
> LOCATION: Westminster Campus
>
> STARTING SALARY: Mid $40's
> CLOSING DATE: All application materials must be received by
> 4:00 p.m. on October 13, 2005, in the Human Resources Office.
> STARTING DATE: November, 2005
>
> Contact Information:
> Phone : 303-404-5325
> Office of Human Resources
> Front Range Community College
> 3645 W. 112th Ave.
> Westminster, CO 80031 USA
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
abufletcher



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 779
Location: Shikoku Japan (for now)

PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Web fishing, thanks. Actually I have sent in an application package for a tenure-track assistant professorship at Colorado State. If I make the short list and if I'm called in for an interview (and that's two BIG ifs) I suppose at that point I'll have to make some hard decisions.

I did long ago, however, decide I never wanted to get into the management side of the ESL business. For me the classroom is where it's at.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The thing is that at a place like AUC you can get an equivalent salary to that PLUS get free housing, tickets, and mostly tax free... and it would be a fun program to teach in... at least it was great fun to be a student in it...

Of course Colorado has much purer air than downtown Cairo and is a bit more scenic...

VS
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mli_vet



Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Posts: 99

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 6:55 pm    Post subject: Cairo Reply with quote

Hasn't AUC relocated? Which means cleaner air than downtown Cairo?

MLI Vet
Over and Out
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
web fishing



Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 95

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"The thing is that at a place like AUC you can get an equivalent salary to that PLUS get free housing, tickets, and mostly tax free... and it would be a fun program to teach in... at least it was great fun to be a student in it..."

VS, this is very true. Mid $40's salary in the US even for a young single person just gets you by(especially LA and NY). So for someone who is married with kids, the Gulf and even some African countries give you salary plus great perks.

Japan and HK with a salary of $100,000US is like making $50,000 in the US when you have children. Most of the university ads I saw for these countries never mentioned free housing, free yearly tickets for all members of family, school tuition ...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

web fishing wrote:

Japan and HK with a salary of $100,000US is like making $50,000 in the US when you have children. Most of the university ads I saw for these countries never mentioned free housing, free yearly tickets for all members of family, school tuition ...


This is not true. I am in my 4th year of f/t teaching in a Japanese university. I am taxed at about 5%, have 2/3 of my rent supplemented, get a research budget, monthly travel expenses paid.... The meidical in Japan is quite affordable, even for a Canadian, Americans think they hit the jackpot. The difference is that in Japan the perks are not advertised, it is assumed. Everyone here (in Japan) knows what the perks are. No, you do not get yearly flights, but I had a very generous shipping allowance paid, more than the Gulf unis pay. I also think the cost of living is about on par with Canada, but I live in a smaller city. Tokyo would be a diffeent story. The big cost is if you enroll your child in an int'l school. At $15-20 K US/year, that is where the major expense lies.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
web fishing



Joined: 02 Jun 2005
Posts: 95

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gordan said, "The big cost is if you enroll your child in an int'l school. At $15-20 K US/year, that is where the major expense lies."
(My quote button isn't working today)

Wow!!! $15-20 K US/year. Sorry for the parent who has more than one child who is not home-schooled, or does not attend a Japanese school. Better learn Japanese quickly.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
abufletcher



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 779
Location: Shikoku Japan (for now)

PostPosted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gordon's right about many perks at the university level in Japan going unsaid -- like most of the other "information" at the university. If fact, many employers don't even like to talk about the salary. I accepted my current position without knowing an exact salary. I didn't even realizing at the time that it was a "tenured" position and that in addition to a very generous shipping allowance I would be getting nearly 5 months of additional salary in yearly bonuses. No there is no yearly airfare but the bonuses more than cover that. Added to this is an annual research budget of approx. $4,500 and a free three-bedroom house on campus and that's considerably more generous than most Gulf contracts. Then there are little things like being paid up to $1000 for being on test development committees, receiving a $1000 "congratulations gift" for completing a Ph.D., and other little niceities and it's easy to see why people tend to hang on to these positions.

Health costs are less roughly 10% what they would be in the US even without insurance. I recently had the occasion to spend two nights in the hospital (after two visits to the emergency room) and the total cost (including MRI's, X-rays, and ultra-sound examinations) was $120 with insurance.

The real problem for people with children is schooling. Most expats have no problem sending their kids to Japanese elementary schools. But the school situation becomes increasingly unacceptable for a host of reasons from middle school onward. And unless you're a corporate expat, a diplomat, or a missionary it is extremely unlikely that you'll be able to send your kids to an international school. And unless you live in a MAJOR metropolis you would have to have your kids boarding away from home anyway. Home schooling is really only a option is you have a fully qualified spouse who can do this full time.

The result is that there are almost no foreigners in Japanese HSs. BTW, speaking of "foreigners" I once asked my son if there were any other foreigners in his school. He said: "One. Ikeuchi-sensei's son" Ikeuchi-sensei is one of my Japanese colleagues but his wife is from Taiwan so as far as the kids at school were concerned he was a foreigner.

Of course there is typically a vast difference between those 1-2 year contract positions and full tenured positions.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gordon



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 5309
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Abufletcher is right about the schools here, my daughter is not quite in elementary age and while I don't mind the early school years here, I would never subject her to a Japanese HS. On the other hand, I could not afford to send her to an int'l school.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
abufletcher



Joined: 14 Sep 2005
Posts: 779
Location: Shikoku Japan (for now)

PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:47 am    Post subject: Re: Cairo Reply with quote

[quote="mli_vet"]Hasn't AUC relocated? Which means cleaner air than downtown Cairo?
/quote]

AUC is in the process of finishing a bright new campus that is scheduled to open in 2006.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven't heard if the move is on schedule, but it will still be pretty polluted. I loved the old downtown campus with the garden and the quaint collection of buildings... for now I will gloss over the difficulties that all entails...

VS
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The fact is that most jobs available - including at university level - entail teaching High Beginner or Lower Intermediate English. There is no effective demand for classes that need someone with a Phd !

Freshman Composition maybe.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Middle East Forum All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 2 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China