Job Discussion Forums

[kurious]

Can anyone offer some specific examples (preferably pedagogical) of what constitues a good HCT campus and what makes a bad one?

I'm interested to learn what exactly makes one HCT college a positive teaching environment as opposed to what happens (or doesn't as the case may be) at those colleges where teachers are apperntly so dissatisfied.

Kurious

[veiledsentiments]

What makes the bad ones bad has almost never been anything pedagogical. Mostly it is the personality of the poster and his/her ability to work with the other teachers and the management. Pretty much the same as everywhere else. Some people are able to make the best of any situation and some would be unable to make a good situation out of perfection. (whatever that is...)

HCT has an interview process that has meant that every college has some very professional and hard-working teachers. They are teaching the same majors and courses with mainly the same texts. Compared to many places they have plenty of resources.

Thus is all comes down to personalities... and how well the managers are able to manage...

VS

[Odilo]

Pegagogy?? My dear.. it is not part of the equation. It's a word that teaching institutions, and especially HCT, simply does not understand... and that's sad..

[globalnomad2]

VS enjoyed her sojourn at HCT and she makes it appear as if any negative aspects are always the result of the instructor not being able to fit in. I disagree in part. Half the time it is appalling management. Read all the HCT threads and you'll plenty of posts from plenty of people to back me on this one. I am not saying my five years at HCT were all bad. It was a mix.

[veiledsentiments]

If you read my posts, you will also find that my comments are mixed as to my experience. And my complaints were also related to the management... and most of our management individuals were certainly not the worst of their breed. The whole system is over-managed and bureaucratic to the max... But even at the places with the worst management reputations, there were always many people who lasted a contract or two. (you for example... and I know others at infamous SMC/SWC)

But, I do feel that ability to conform to/deal with poor management is almost a crucial trait for working in any Gulf educational institution. What HCT had that I liked was a group of very professional teachers who worked well together. And I loved the students who made all my complaints tolerable. The pay and benefits made it worth putting up with the bad for a contract or two...

How many places in the Gulf have people coming on here and bragging about their great management? Any? AUS has been pretty good so far... any others come to mind? SQU is pretty predictable, but has it moments. ummm... I think I've run through my list...

VS

[globalnomad2]

Fair enough, young lady! Of course, I was at one of the more notorious campuses.

[redsoxman]

I've accepted an offer at HCT mainly because I want a place where I feel I have management support. One other place I had an offer from seems to keep having its threads disappear which really bugged me. I haven't seen any of that on the HCT boards - which is why I figured there might be more transparency and managment support there. Now I read that there are major problems going on. I hope I haven't made the wrong decision. Which colleges have the worst management peopel? Are you backed or pushed out?

Anyhoo, I have my rock climbing hobby to help me make it through the bad patches. Are things really deteriorating there. I guess I have to just turn and see how it goes. Wish me luck.

[helenl]

Just do your job, keep your records up to date (attendance in particular is a big issue at some colleges), keep copies of your graded assessments for the course file and don't ask too many probing questions to start with.

Worst college in the system right now - Sharjah Colleges. The main reasons for that is director level micro managing, too many useless meetings, and some personality and style conflicts (a common hazard in any work environment).

Contribute to your particular program's materials, resources, assist your colleagues (without allowing yourself to be taken advantage of - again a hazard in any workplace environment) and basically, don't make waves.

You'll be fine.

As for the deterioration overall of HCT - mainly that's griping about the overall package being less attractive than it has been in the past. This is primarily due to inflation + increasing values of most currencies except, of course for the US dollar. The real "dollar" compensation has been reduced between 40 - 60% as a result if you're not American (or sending USD to the states) and perhaps 30% overall because of inflation alone in the past 4 years.

Is it still a good package? - yes, but it is subject to arbitrary and sudden changes at the Policy Council level even if you are in the middle of a contract - which engenders a certain amount of uncertainty. However this is the norm here in the Middle East anyways.

Another level of uncertainty has been added with recent changes to and policy council discussions about housing allowances and across the board spiralling rent increases. What this will mean in future in particular for HCT employees, especially in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai who knows?

If you are able to put up with a certain amount of job security uncertainty (which is also normal for the Middle East - perhaps less so at HCT, ZU and UAEU so long as you don't rock the boat and get on with your job) it should be a smooth, perhaps even enjoyable ride - especially as you have extra-curricular activities to keep your mind and body busy.

If you've never worked in the Gulf before, listen to those who've been here several years. Some will have weirder stories than others, take them all with a grain of salt and adopt a wait and see attitude. It can be quite a culture shock the first year or so as you learn how things "work" in the Gulf.

[veiledsentiments]

Spot on advice from helen1. So good that it should have a 'sticky' at the top of the UAE section.

I did hear a rumor (from a better than average source) that there was soon to be a change at the very top in Sharjah which would have been a cure to its management issues. Not yet, I guess? I suspect that it is coming soon though...

VS

[Greenfingers]

This is not well written and I write in haste

In my five years with HCT at Fujairah Women's College, I have worked within many teams. Many of them show characteristics which are the antitheses of common traits of effective teams. I have been dwelling on why that may be; Around 75% of the teams I have been in show symptoms of non-effectiveness. Part of this issue is the 'Fujairah effect'. Americans working with Canadians, Australians, Brits, etc in a goldfish bowl environment where some felt the need to know the business of others. Personal lives and grievances brought into the workplace.

Recently, I was part of a team called the Year 1 Gen Ed team at Fujairah Women's and I believe that there was great dissatisfaction within the group for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, I have not conducted a scientific study of this and have only anecdotal evidence. I believe that one particular member of the team was leading to growing dissatisfaction amongst members; several members of the team had asked to be moved to another part of the college after experiencing workplace bullying such as Chinese whispers, ganging up at meetings, etc. over the previous 4 years. All of the previous 3 Heads of the Dept were aware of the problem; the individual who appeared to cause many of the problems appeared to have a deep seated insecurity which manifested itself in discrete bullying and in time spent in attempting to groom the supervisor of the Dept. The current supervisor does appear susceptible to this. Up to this point I am not aware of the supervisor's knowledge of any of this.

I might add that previous to Fujiarah Women's, I had worked in two other schools and experienced great satisfaction in being part of two excellent teams.

I have listed some of the traits of effective teams below and a brief description of some of the problems within the Gen Ed team.

Individuals are self starters;
experienced teachers don't need supervising; it has a negative affect when they are asked to perform tasks that are an innate aspect of a teachers role. They don't, for example need to be told to provide revision materials for students at the end of a block of teaching and approaching examinations; this is typical of the emails received by those teachers in the ?Gen Ed group. The huge number of emails sent by managers at the college are seen as something of a joke by the faculty.

Leadership within the team is shared;
autocratic, micromanagers don't appear to function well in an education setting; one reason that teachers enter teaching because they desire autonomy. It is unclear whether the supervisor of the Gen Ed team is leaned on from above to manage in this manner; at times the leader appears very human whereas on occasion, curt and bossy. The point is, leadership is not shared.

Team members are mutually supportive;
missing at Fujairah women's since the individual described earlier promoted bullying herself and by those in her clique.

Member's value diversity and take pride in each other's contributions;
it seems strange to me that the same individual did not take any pride nor give credit to the contributions of others within the team; this gave rise to feelings of low self esteem to some of those within the group and silence withing meetings for fear of workplace bullying and or criticisms later. Many of those within the group have experienced workplace bullying from the faction led by the individual described above. I myself have experienced it, but not within the past year. When I experienced it, I informed my supervisor and it was stopped. The supervisor told me that others had complained about similar practices, but the bullying remains years later. It manifests itself in subtle and unpleasant ways, such as ignoring, whispering in the tearoom, rambunctious behaviour such as kissing and hugging, grooming and touching within the faction when alone with the person they sought to intimidate; shouting down of good ideas at meetings by one or more of the faction. Emails sent by the faction in support of one another's ideas or in criticism of someone's ideas from outside of the faction. Recently a colleague called an important meeting at 8:00 am and the individual arrived late and then asked why the meeting was at this time; the individual seems to relish disruption of the good ideas of others.

Loyalty is taken for granted;
there is a deep seated lack of trust within the team and this has formed and been strengthened over the past 4 years

Is the leader to blame?
No, I think not, but I do believe that the leader may be unaware of the situation. However, I feel unable to share with the leader as I have a lack of trust in many of the people at the college including supervisors - the best way to keep your job is to maintain a low profile at the college.

The pay is good, but many people don't live life to the full at the College and therefore feel a need for gossip and intimidation of others. I write this not to put people off Fujairah and the College, but in the hope that management read it and put a stop to the behaviour of this individual and her clan.

[veiledsentiments]

Check out my response on the other thread where you posted this GF...

VS

[helenl]

Word from the street in Fujairah (and Abu Dhabi) is that the new director is a "straight shooter", does not tolerate fools gladly, and is a get down to business, decison making, what's the next problem? pragmatic type of fellow.

This is a real change from the previous director from what I understand. It also doesn't bode well for the bullies and bootlickers mentioned in Greenfingers' post. (However, to be fair, you'll find both these entities in varying quantities and ability to influence others in all colleges).

[Iman]

Looks like HCT might pull through for us afterall! They are looking at a September / October start.

What I'm wondering is how does this work in terms of contract finish dates? Normally one starts at the beginning of a semester, so after the final semester in the 3rd year of the contract you don't have to return after the break. In other words, you can take up new employment somewhere else at the beginning of the next semester.

If the contract started in October, then does that mean you have to return for a month or two? Or would the contract only run until the end of the August or whatever, like it does for most people? So really it would only be 2.8 year contract?

Any other late / mid-semester hires able to advise on this? Any potential problems with starting mid-semester in terms of benefits, housing, contracts, payment etc that we should be aware of?

Will check it out with HCT once the contract comes through, but just trying to get a heads-up as to what to expect. Thanks all!

[helenl]

What has happened in the past (and at HCT, this does not necessarily accurately reflect the future) is that your contract will end on July 200X - just shy of the 3 year mark. For your end of service benefits, you will be "pro-rated" based on your tenure. So, having only served 2.x years, your EOS benefits will be adjusted accordingly - this will not only have affect on the actual cash (1 month's bonus per year served) but also possibly on your furniture allowance - which HCT may claw back another pro rated amount.

Also, inquire closely as to how the bonus is calculated - some people have had unpleasant surprises as HCT has calculated on days worked for some reason and in some circumstances rather than total time served.

Also, if possible - request these details be explained to you in writing. Having it on paper may not help in case of a future dispute, but it sure couldn't hurt (good advice anywhere in the world).

[veiledsentiments]

So, let's see if I understand... classes don't start this year (and/or for the next few years) until after Ramadhan? Or are we just referring to continuing to bring in new teachers well into Sept and Oct?

This could save them a lot of money for the next few years by paying 1+ less month salary + related benefits for the newbies.

Ramadhan is certainly going to make the beginning of the academic year a mess for the next few years. And then for the next many years, there will be one less holiday for everyone because Eid will be in the summer.

VS