Job Discussion Forums

[Bindair Dundat]

[Saffron]

OMG!

Thank you so much BD - that's another spin-off of ADU, i.e. the warehouse really does attempt to shatter one's sanity and affect one's linguistic abilities!

Saffron

(who promises to keep the cool - linguistically as well

[Justice_Seeker]

And in all of this (as usual) it is the recipients of the wonderful ADU educational experience that are forgotten.

National and expat students alike are outraged at the pathetic administration of the warehouse (sorry Saffron - but I need to borrow this term). However, they feel they are powerless to do anything about it. In this they are probably right.

One thing that ADU did do correctly - they identified a lucrative market for expat Arab University Education in the UAE. Unfortunately the "Iraqi forced labor camp" model is not conducive to retaining faculty or students.
You can't change a leopard's spots but you certainly can shoot the leopard! Too bad the owner's are too stupid to understand this.

[veiledsentiments]

It would seem that the Arab expat market is better served by AUS. Are these Abu Dhabi residents only? Or is this place significantly cheaper? Or perhaps it has lower standards?

I feel sorry for these students too.

VS

[Justice_Seeker]

Basically they take what they can get. Students would be better served by AUS but ADU has captured the market in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain for students whose parents work in these cities. They are certainly no cheaper than AUS. The parents of these students (who pay the tuition), prefer ADU because it is local and they do not have to pay for accommodation costs in another city. A sound rationale if you presume that the Ministry of Education (responsible for accreditation) is on the ball.

The real problem stems from one individual: the now VP of ADU. He has linkages to the former Ba�ath party in Iraq and manages the place along the lines of a Sadam Hussein Gulag. Originally ADU was sold to students as a western style university staffed by Americans. There are few westerners left now, mainly due to the lies and deceit that this Iraqi spreads throughout his reign in order to consolidate his position. Apparently this is how it worked in Iraq. These tactics have no place in the UAE.

[elazigspor]

Hello all
I will be getting my PhD (in USA), and have an interview with the ADU for a teaching position. It will be towards the end of this Feb.
I have read horrible things about this school, and want to have an update. Please (anyone who has been there, or currently is) let me know how the environment is now there.
Pelase provide as many details as you can...

[Sir Gawain]

THose above places are decent enough to work in as long as you swallow their prescription pills. There is always a measure of give and take from upper management and below. The skill lies in how much to give of your own soul.

[Saffron]

Greetings,

I just happened to have a look at this board and can't help commenting on the required silence to work at ADU. If anyone is still interested in working at that den of liars, well, then perhaps they do deserve to be ripped off and lose as much money as ADU can make them to (and this is easy.....months to get residency visa, lies, lies lies and more lies about school fees, offering dirty hovels to live in or keeping your money when you pay extra money for accomodation - ufff! the list is endless

As for "management" .... well, that is a joke.

There simply is none.

Prescription pills anyone?

[mxolisi]

This place seems to be terrible!.

[sevig2]

Things had really been looking up. The English Language Institute was really starting to come together well with a promising new curriculum and a group of highly committed teachers, but there has recently been another rash of firings wielded from the top (president? vice president?), most without any apparent cause. Those who remain are in shock and fear for their jobs. It looks like the curriculum is going to be changed again, this time away from a pragmatic university-prep towards a how-to-buy-a-cup-of-coffee-in-Sydney approach, which won't get the students very far. I would say that if you are considering a job with Abu Dhabi Univeristy, please research it thoroughly before you come, for your own sake. Good luck.

[mxolisi]

The irony is that they have been advertising in the Classifieds section of the Gulf News without giving the name of the "private insititution!!" .

[skeptic]

[elazigspor]

I did not go to the interview. It was in Washington DC, and it was supposed to be reimbursed. They'd pay for the plane ticket, and hotel. I thought, at first, I'll go for the heck of it, at worst I'd have a free trip to DC. Then I feared they would not reimburse the trip either...

Anyway, it was good to learn these. Thank you all...

[veiledsentiments]

I think you made a good decision elazigspor. Even if only a third of these postings are accurate, staying away is the best advice. (and I suspect that the majority are accurate...)

With a PhD, you should be able to get a job at a more reputable institution.

Good Luck

VS

[Justice_Seeker]

I agree with VS. Stay away! Its prime time in the UAE for recruitment. If you have the right quals. and experience - then go for the HCT or UAEU.