Job Discussion Forums

[Mikana51]

Well, just as I was planning to wander off to Turkey and find a job there, a university in Taiwan tells me they'd like me to work for them. It seems like a good deal except they want me to start in May (?). I've worked in Japanese universities, not always a great experience, and wonder if any of you would care to talk a little about what it's like to work at a Taiwanese university.

Thanks.

[Ki]

Just make sure that it is a full time job and not part time. The difference is about 4 months of salary plus you will have to do all of the marking, preparing, etc in your own time.

[wix]

For an inside look at teaching in a Taiwanese university check out Michael Turton's website.

http://users2.ev1.net/~turton/teach_index.html#college

[kitelophone]

Mikana51,

can you tell me how you got the offer? I have applied to quite a few unis in ROC and tho I often get a response, most say I must already be in the country. I'm currently teaching at a uni in Korea (have M. Ed. and 7 yrs/6 countries ESL experience) and would love to move to Taiwan.

cheers

[Taylor]

Dear Readers,

A PhD is required in order to get a full-time position at most universities.

As far as I know, about 68K NT dollars per month is the going rate of pay...with about 10 hours of class per week, extra month of pay for Chinese New Year, as well as summer & winter vacations. If you only have a Masters degree, the rate of pay is about 55K, I think.

The drawbacks are large classes of students (50+) with mixed abilities. Few classrooms are air-conditioned, by the way.

And just remember, teaching 'college kids' and teaching adults are not the same thing.

All things considered, though, I am planning on getting a PhD at some point over the next few years!

Best wishes,

Taylor

[Miyazaki]

Dear readers,

A Ph.D is not required to teach full-time at most universities in Taiwan.

A Master degree is good enough for most full-time university positions.

However, if you want to teach at a national university, particularly in the city, you'd have to have a Master degree, preferrably a doctoral degree, and at least 2 or 3 refereed publications.

Also, university contracts don't start in May, they begin in August.

What kind of university position you were offered - it doesn't sound like a facutly position.

I'm guessing you were offered a position teaching EFL in a university buxiban.

[Taylor]

Dear Miyazaki,

While you may be technically correct, here is my point (which I did not make clearly): If 15 people apply for an advertised position, and 10 of them have doctoral degrees....then the 5 folks with only Master's degrees will not even be considered for the job.

Meeting the minimum qualifications and actually getting the job are two different things.

You did make a good distinction between "good" national universities in the cities, as opposed to the "run of the mill" private technical colleges/universities sprinkled all over Taiwan.

Taylor

[kitelophone]

Hi Taylor,

Thanx for your info on unis in Taiwan. I'm also planning to do a Ph. D. in the not-too-distant future to secure job prospects such as those in Taiwan. I've researched a few unis for online degrees (U. of Phoenix, Walden, USQ) but i've read many times on these forums that Taiwan won't accept these. Also, these are fairly expensive, around $30,000 USD minimum but of course attending on-campus and not being able to work will run much higher.

Have you any info you'd like to share on any good programs/institutions? (If this is getting too off-topic for this thread, you can PM me if you like.)

Cheers
John

[Horizontal Hero]

Kitelophone, I have just submitted a PhD (last Friday actually). I began it when I was in Taiwan, worked like a *beep* on it in mainland China, and got it to examination in Hong Kong. Technically I'm on campus, but I barely stepped foot in the place in nearly four years. I chose a topic that required no field work, just analysis of a particular body of knowledge. Now my uni is in Australia, so maybe we are special and nobody else will permit an "on-campus" thesis to be done off-campus. But I doubt it. In the age of the internet and databases it is perfectly possible to do a thesis on the road. Certain types of fieldwork are also very possible on the road. Use your imagination.

You can publish on the road too. I managed to clock up 11 or 12 publication credits, all during the PhD period. Some were published twice - as article and book chapters, which is why the number is so high. Most of the publication was done through Tamkang University in Taipei. They have also offered me a tenured job for next year, but I won't be able to accept it. My wife is mainland Chinese and can't get a visa.

There are drawbacks though. The first is loneliness, and not being able to bounce ideas off people face to face. The phone and internet help enormously though. You may meet some resistance from some academics, as I did from a couple. Being absent makes it difficult to defend yourself. Another problem was my uni library - refused to send me books by mail - really pissed me off big time. That's why I moved to HK - some great libraries here. The last �problem� is the enormous self-discipline required. I have to chuckle at a few posters here who say �I�m gonna get me one of those PhDs.� Not disrespectfully, or anything! But it�s a damn hard slog. It really does take a lot out of you. There is a big price to pay in so many ways.

Probably after I get the PhD I�ll feel it was all worth it. I�m sure I will, in fact!

Or, just move to the mainland, enroll in a Chinese uni, plagiarize the Phd (surveys show 60% of Phds in China are plagiarized), pay a journal to publish something (again, 60% of academics in China have admitted to paying to have stuff published) and sit back and relax.

[773]

Kitelphone, you can work up to 20 hours a week on a student visa in Australia. Of course, if you're doing a PhD you probably won't have much time to work, but that's the rule anyhow.

[Horizontal Hero]

[kitelophone]

Thanx for the info guys!

HH, wow, incredibly descriptive account, kudos and congrats on the successful completion. Sounds like much more work than the 10 hours per week i didi for my M. Ed. I suppose keeping my 'visiting professor' position here in korea where i only teach 10 hours per week might be worth it. but the salary is pathetic, can't really afford to pay for a terminal degree on it, unless i take on craploads of privates which would of course cut into time for study. Ah, but then life could be sooooo much worse...

HH, where/what did u study, and approximately how much was it?

cheers
john

[Horizontal Hero]

Kitelophone,

Yeah, it has been a lot of work, and it is not over yet. The thesis has been submitted for examination, so there will likely be some changes required, hopefully only minor - but you never know. I'm Australian, and have been enrolled at the University of the Sunshine Coast in southern(ish) Queensland. It's a fairly new uni, and as the name suggests, fairly laid back. I was more interested in finding someone who could help manage my project, than getting a "name" university. I chose the thesis topic, then went searching for the right supervisor. My supervisor has been great. I was really lucky as he is easy-going, and there are not too many people with knowledge in the area that I studied. He also works at Tamkang Uni in Taipei, which is how I first contacted him and got the connection with Tamkang. It's a pity I won't be able to work there, as it�s a great uni (but I was offered a job in the new Lanyang campus, not Taipei).

I had a second supervisor who was a be-atch. Which was good, because she only ever saw my stuff once a year - and ripped it to shreds. You need strong critics. I have heard of people failing PhDs after many years of work (you get a masters, not PhD). The more critics you get, the less likely you�ll fall at the last hurdle. Publishing is good for that purpose too, as the peer-review process offers good feedback. You learn more from the negative reviews than the positive. For one paper I wrote the first reviewer called it �an amazing tour de force�. The second reviewer said it was crap, and that it should only be published if there was nothing else going on that edition. I learnt a lot more from the critic.

The cost? Pretty cheap, really. The fees went up last year, but I never paid more than A$2400 a year for part-time status. So, considering I have almost finished in less than eight semesters (fees were cheaper a couple of years ago), I have paid about A$9 000, or US$6700 (I was on a 50% scholarship). They get that because the uni is new and they want to attract researchers. But the process was no different from any other uni. My thesis will be examined by three professionals from other universities. I�ve got a fair idea who they will be, because there are not too many people with expertise in my area!

[Miyazaki]

First, how is your advisor able to work at the university in QLD and the university in Taipei at the same time? I just re-read your post and you never said your advisor was in Australai. Am I to understand he works for 2 universities but doesn't need to be in Australia advising?

Second, it sounds like your degree was done at distance / on-line. There is no way the MoE here would recognize your PhD if that were the case. You would need at least 16 months of on-campus study for the degree to be recognized in Taiwan.

If you ever secure a faculty position with such a degree in Taiwan, let me know. Because I'll be pleasantly surprised if you do.

[Horizontal Hero]