Job Discussion Forums

[AmericanAmina]

Is anyone working at either of these universities? Both of these appeal to me, mostly for the locations. Working at Umm al-Qura would mean living in Makkah, which holds a spiritual appeal. Working at Effat would mean living in Jeddah, which has better school options for my kids (I'm a mom to 6).

I know Umm al-Qura by reputation, and I have heard nice things about it. All I know about Effat is that the website looks more professional than some others, so that gave me hope for the level of professionalism.

My husband still has ties in Taif, where he taught previously, but I would like to explore other options, too.

[bigdurian]

[nomad soul]

I don't know about Umm al-Qura, but Effat U. requires a related MA or doctorate.

[FrenchConnexion]

I have a friend who works at Ummul Quraa and apparently, she never got her overtime pay, and I think there was also an issue with the school fees. Bear in mind that things are changing pretty fast in government unis, and not for the best. Rumor has it that we might not get the housing allowance from next year onward, and that we might have to take pay cuts if we want to renew our contracts. They are also saudizing the ESL sector in Gov. universities, and as a matter of fact, in my university, we welcomed 8 Saudi female teachers last year. Consequently, they sent away 5 expat teachers to our satellite campuses (to teach in small cities).
We also didn't get the school allowance last year. Without any warning. Just poof, gone.
Effat pays really well from what I heard, and they also treat you very well.
AFAIK, you need an MA is both places.

[AmericanAmina]

[hash]

I'm a little confused. Is your husband going to be with you or are you returning to KSA independent of him? I'm asking because usually the wife follows the husband and the children go to school wherever the husband has his job.

[AmericanAmina]

We'd like to find a university where we can both teach (English department for me and engineering department for him), or a city with more than one university where we could find jobs separately. Only one of the kids will be old enough to go to school wherever we find work, because we aren't aiming to teach K-12.

[nomad soul]

[AmericanAmina]

Three years ago when we were in Saudi, my husband's university job did cover school fees for three of our kids, which is why I had the expectation that it still would. Things change, though, so that may not be the case now. He left his school on good terms and with assurance that he was welcome to return, and I had hoped the same type of package would still be available. His school had offered to hire me for their foundation program with my BA at that time, but I had a newborn and didn't want to work then. We have zero wasta just the benefit of previous networking.

And there's no need for the jabs at my poor little online MA. It wasn't completely done online, just some of the coursework. That was the best option I had for getting finished with it while we're living abroad, so that's what I went with. I still have to go back in the spring to do final exams, etc. in person.

I have a Canadian friend living in Egypt, married to a local, and working at a school there. She's trying to get out. It's politically unstable right now. She doesn't have running water a lot of the time (in a nice apartment in a bigger city). And they just put limits on some basic food items, like sugar, which she hasn't been able to get for a couple of weeks. Think twice before heading to Egypt these days. Five years ago it was a decent gig. Now, maybe not.