Job Discussion Forums

[adorabilly]

So there used to be a "don't work here forum" to check when you got a job offer. I can't seem to find it.

I am writing about SIAS International University. It is located in xinzheng City, henan Province in central china.

I will start with the basicis.
there are 15,000 students, 400 chinese faculty, and about 100 foreign "experts." They are a third tier school, and most of the students have "failed" teh college entrance exams. They also have the ability to offer an Americna Bachelors of General Studies degree through an arangement with Fort Hays State University in Fort Hays Kansas.
Their salary was pretty low about 3000 RMB a month, but they provide housing (really nice by chinese standards), cable, internet access, and have a built in kitchen where they serve buffet style meals (well until the food runs out). They have an average of 7 weeks off during the holidays starting right before christmas and going until right after chinese new year.

Now comes the bad part. The schools administration has been taken over by individuals from teh "tentmakers" organization, and people from Purpose, plug into yours (website is www.plugintoyours.com). these individuals are extremely zealous christian missionaries, who look at teaching at the school as getting a "foot in the door" of china.

All teachers who were not christian last year (except 1 non practicing jew) were not invited back to teach this year (there were 30 non christians last year... some of them had to be qualified and good teachers, yet not invited back).

So if you want to be a "paid missionary" their words from one of their advertisements, apply at www.plugintoyours.com and they will look over your resume. You have to pay a $50 non refundable fee for them to do ta background check. If they decide to hire you, then you have to pay about $4000 for "ministry training" and possible "ropes courses." And they send you off to china to spread the word.

As a school, the level of academics has dropped dramatically, their speech team which was one of the top 3 in the province has dropped out of the top 10.

[abusalam4]

Well, I consider myself a Christinan but I would not approve of such methods they are obviously using. Second, if they do Christian Missionary work, collect the details and report them to the authorities! As foreigners, they are NOT allowed to make "religious propaganda" and if they do, it may be a reason to deport them or to ask them to leave the country.

I would not have any mercy with them because this is obviously something China does not need.

I myself run a Far Distance School in Christian Ministry and I am going to China this year for teaching but I would never, never offer any Christian ministry courses over there.

It would be intersting to have more details regarding them: Where do they come from, what church is behind them, what is their legal status as a school in the USA? If they are a theologial school, they may fall under the religion exempt status for state-recognised accreditation as my school does) which means: they may have a state license to confer degrees of a religious nature but are not state-reognised by way of their accreditation they may hold or nor not hold. In such case, it could be illegal if they offer a non-religious degree (BA in General Studies seems to be one in this respect). Research them, and if you find all these criteria positively confirmed, report them to the authorities in China and to the US Embassy/Consulate. They, in such case, may violate both relevant US and Chinese law.

Above all, Henan seems to be a place where such "universities" can esaily go. Some years ago, I heard of another, similar setup there, and the guys in the education market in that part of China seem easily to be fooled by foreign this kind of "foreign experts".

Get them out!

[Sgt Killjoy]

I see that as a major issue, whenever teachers are forced out for religious reasons. I guess the school will wake up when they see how they are failing and the students start leaving. It takes just one missionary messing things up to get them all tossed out.

[cj750]

many christian orgs are approved by the Chinese government for operation with in the mainland...it seems that many run their missionary agenda without interference....

[tw]

Hope this is related to the topic. I was told by one of my first-year classes that the FT they had last term (who left when his wife/colleague got pregnant) told Bible stories in class, then asked questions about those stories. How do forum members feel about that? IMO that is a sneaky way of preaching in the classroom.

[Shan-Shan]

Some myths from the Bible are entertaining -- jonah and the whale, for one -- and could be used in a literature class. However, in an Oral English class, just sitting around "talking about" any kind of story is directionless, and does little to improve students' speaking abilities (aside from the one or two students who can participate in sustained, and rather free, conversation).

As for preaching, most Chinese students are probably immune thanks to Big Guy Mao and all the chatter they've had to endure about the miracles performed by The Great Helmsman.

[jwbhomer]

I agree with TW. I saw these "born-again Christian" types in action at Shenzhen U, passing off religious ed as ESL/EFL. I'm not sure the Chinese students are "immune". I heard the missionaries made some converts. One of them who migrated into one of my classes started out trying to convert me! All this missionary work IS forbidden according to the standard university contract, but whether the letter of the contract is enforced seems to depend on which school you're at. No-one at SZU seemed to care.

[tw]

Sadly, my two former Texan colleagues did manage to baptize two students here before going home.

[cj750]

[Shan-Shan]

I found this hidden at the back of a student's English textbook. After several beatings and whippings, the student finally confessed that it was from her Christian Missionary teacher's Oral English class:


Lesson XI

At the main JC Base back in the US:


Mark: "Hey John, how many connies did you drown in China?

John: "I got around fifteen baps in my first semester, but only three in the second. Some unbevs talked to the administration, and I was threatened with deportation. Still, I managed to drench a few before my contract was finished.

Mark: "I'm hoping to get in the Salve Book this year, and set a new record of connies for a recent JC grad.

John: "Look out, I'm right there behind you. But hey, a little bit of spreading the word competition never hurt anyone, right?"

(both laugh heartily)


Saintly Cool Vocab


1. connie - 改变信仰的人, a convert

2. drown - 洗礼, to baptize

3. baps - 洗礼 (名字） baptism

4. unbev(s) - 不信上帝，耶稣的人 someone who doesn't believe in Him

5. drench - 洗礼, to baptize

6. Salve Book - 传教士们用的记录册。里面写的谁让最多原来不信宗教的人发现只有耶稣能救他们的灵魂, a record book used by missionaries to keep a tally of who has converted the most heathens to the ways of cool JC.





The student had memorized this and other dialogues perfectly, even managing to add a tinge of un-Chinese student like enthusiasm to the letters JC. Too bad I had to throw her to the lions.