Job Discussion Forums

[squareandfair]

Has anybody got up to date information about U of Sharjah?

What is the current pay scale?
Holidays?
Housing?
Contact hours?

Thank you.

[ShaikhRattleandRoll]

On good authority:
English department pays 12K or so for an MA and 5+ years of experience. Holidays are good - they follow Zayed and UAEU's. There is no technology in the classrooms. I don't know about housing or contact hours. I heard classes are large (30 students) and that Intensive English Program pays better than the English department. Can anyone confirm that?

[kiefer]

I can speak only for the Intensive English Program's Foundation year.

The current pay scale at the University of Sharjah is adjusted according to years of experience. An MA is required, one in TESOL is preferred, but a related field like composition, literature, rhetoric, linguistics etc. (with ESL/FL experience or a certificate in ESL/FL plus some specialization in another area like testing or IT) is acceptable.

The average lecturer's salary is around 15K AED monthly. There is a one month per annum indemnity which is paid not at the end of service but annually.

R/T tickets to point of origin for you and yours are part of the package.

There is a health insurance scheme which has a 20% co-pay, no maternity nor out-of-country coverage.

Look at their academic year calendar to get an idea about holidays: https://www.sharjah.ac.ae/English/Academics/AcademicCalender/Pages/default.aspx

There seems to be more personal time available because one lives on campus and on days when students leave early due to morning general testing or some such, lecturers don't have to mind a time clock though most put in 7 - 8 hours a day unless they have to pick up kids from school or take care of personal business. Nobody seems to mind if you take committee work home with you.

I believe there are 7 sick days per year.

The housing is on campus in 2, 3 or 4 bedroom flats blocks or attached villas depending upon family status. The housing is part of the package as is a 30K furniture allowance and 2K AED shipping allowance. Internet service is provided through the university's server and is free.

One draw back is the location of the campus--in Sharjah's University City. Track it on Google Earth and you'll see it is surrounded by desert and little else. There are however backroads into many of Dubai's best malls (Uptown Mirdif is 20 minutes away, Festival City is 30 minutes away) and although these are farther from U.C. than Sharjah's city center they can be reached in half the time because all roads into Sharjah are clogged with traffic most of the time.

Ajman is also more accessible than downtown Sharjah.

By the way, the latter is also the destination for non-Muslim teachers who wish to procur potent potables (Sharjah is dry; Dubai requires a license and the stores are very strict about enforcing this law; Ajman is not dry and does not require a license).

The contact hours are 20 per week with at least one office hour per day plus committee work and, of course, the odd coordinators' or full faculty meeting.

The students are a mix of nationals and ex-pats. The percentage of students in each category who come to learn and students who do not, i.e. probably come for the cheap shwarmas is about 50/50.

In order to get out of taking Foundation year courses students have two options: IELTS or TOEFL.

IELTS requires an overall score of 5.5 & minimum of a 5.0 in each skill area.

A minimum score of 500 on the International TOEFL is required or 173 on the International TOEFL (computer based test) or 61 on the International TOEFL (Internet based Test).

These exams are administered frequently on campus throughout the year and if students pass either IELTS or TOEFL, most will not be required to continue in the Foundation program. Scholarship students, however, have some sort of obligation to maintain a certain GPA which prevents them from dropping out of the program.

The average class size is too many, between 25 - 30. Since students must not exceed over 20% absences in total, it�s not likely that attrition will reduce this size until very near the end of the term.

A lot of students seem to be more concerned with playing the numbers game and are constantly hectoring teachers about absences. Sadly, far fewer come to your office to ask for help with their course work. It's probably fair to say that this is not uniquely a Univ. of Sharjah quandary.

There are two computer labs on each campus--men and women's--with Internet connectivity; however, these labs have at this time only 20 computers in each, with typically two or three on the blink, so until class sizes dwindle, students have to share and IT lessons have to be designed for peer work.

Blackboard courses can be arranged. A Moodle may be in the works. A couple of teachers have already introduced their own Moodles with some success.

The working environment is one the best I've experienced in my 11 years in the Gulf. Inner office brouhahas are kept to a minimum as most teachers seem to be too busy to rake muck.

[veiledsentiments]

Thanks for the great analysis Keifer. As I recall, the University of Sharjah is segregated like most other institutions in the UAE, but is it like HCT where the teachers move freely between the sections and may teach either sex?

I had assumed that they had got their act together as it has been some years since we have had the annual purges that would push people in here to complain. It is good to have another employer that is decent, if not employment nirvana. (classes of 25-30 are a bit scary to me)

VS

[kiefer]

VS,
Yes male or female teachers do move between the campuses freely; in fact, all of the faculty meetings take place on the women's campus (more students/more teachers/majority rule). However, teachers are assigned to teach on one or the either campus at least for the duration of a semester, i.e. nobody teaches on both campuses simultaneously. When the grass appears greener, teachers can request transfers for an upcoming semester.

"Decent" is perhaps the best way to describe working conditions--"Great" would be pushing it. We have our jobworths, the odd rhetorically challenged depreciator, the occasional inner office maligner; or my personal favorite, the nutter who fears the collapse of civilization if we forget to add "u" to words like "favourite" or "colour" or spell civilization with a "zed"--welcome to reality.

The class sizes do require one to remain hyper aware lest mini-diwaniyas break out during a lesson. I've found assigned seating and forbidding students to congregate in the back of the class helps to reduce the chatter clatter. If a student nods off in class, let him or her sleep, managers here won't impale a teacher who allows this. It's that kind of "decent" place.

Perhaps in the near future more faculty will be hired to reduce these mega-classes, so job seekers might want to toss their CVs on the pile during the upcoming conference or bookmark the website's position vacancies page.

[veiledsentiments]

Mini-diwaniyas Thanks for the nearly perfect description of the average faculty and class in the Gulf. It gave me a good laugh. (I think I worked with the fellow or one of his clones with the 'u' obsession and enjoyed bursting his particular language prejudice bubble regularly...)

I hope there is talk of adding a few more teachers to reduce class size.

VS

[crocus]

This is a brilliant overview of teaching here in the ELC. Only a few things I would comment on.

"The average lecturer's salary is around 15K AED monthly." No, the TOP salary for a common or garden classroom teacher is just over 14k AED.

"There is a health insurance scheme which has a 20% co-pay, no maternity nor out-of-country coverage." The co-pay is only if you want to go to the American Hospital in Dubai; otherwise it seems that most is paid for. I believe that some hospitals charge 50 AED each time you visit (to open the file??) If you become really ill, then it is possible to max out the insurance.

"By the way, the latter (Ajman) is also the destination for non-Muslim teachers who wish to procur potent potables (Sharjah is dry; Dubai requires a license and the stores are very strict about enforcing this law; Ajman is not dry and does not require a license)." This is true, but you are still running a risk if you transport the stuff back over the border to Sharjah - do NOT have a traffic accident, or you could be in big trouble. Also heard that some con-artists are targeting people leaving the hole-in-the-wall, hitting the back of their car, and then virtually blackmailing them into paying up "to mend the car" by threatening to call the police and report - with support from their friends - that a great deal of liquor was in the car when it was hit.

But yes, it's a reasonable place to work. I do hope I'm not one of "the jobworths, the odd rhetorically challenged depreciator, the occasional inner office maligner; or the nutter"

[helenl]

Getting potent potables from Ajman or the Barracuda if you want to go that far afield is doable legally - you just need a license. You go to the main police station in Sharjah with all the correct documents and a couple of pictures and pay an annual fee (can range from 800 - 1200AED but that may have changed) and you can obtain a liquor license for Sharjah which allows you to purchase anywhere in the country so long as you are transporting the hooch directly back to your residence.

[crocus]

Heleni, what are the correct documents - do you know? Thanks.

[veiledsentiments]

Crocus, your employer should be able to provide them as they are normally part of the process.

VS

[kiefer]

Thanks for clarifying the insurance scheme Crocus and for the wise forewarnings about transporting "the grape".

I've always thought theatre spelled B.E. was cooler than the A.E. -er. More Beatly.

[mishmumkin]

On a booze-note, Sharjah Wanderers is the one place in Sharjah that you can drink. It requires membership, but they used to allow paid day passes for people who wanted to try it out. It's got a decent pool, and if you like English pub grub, it's your place. The compant gets old, but it's a welcome break for newbies. Also good if you're into playing rugby, football/soccer and diving.
http://www.sharjahwanderers.com/site/contact.htm

[squareandfair]

kiefer and crocus - thanks!!

I intend to apply as I need a sea change.

Your information has been very helpful. Just one more thing - how long is the contract? Do they offer a three year contract? What about age limit?
Do they take teachers over 60?

[kiefer]

Mishmumkin: Right. I forgot about "The Wanderers" which is about 10 - 15 minutes from campus (or 2 hours depending upon traffic diversions). They also have live music once a month during an open mike night called "Fifteen Minutes of Fame", a weekly quiz night and a nothing-to-write-home-about health club.

Which reminds me, the U o Sharjah also has health club facilities for both men and women, each has Olympic sized pools, hardly used stationary bikes, treadmills, Nautilus and such.

The women's campus health club facilities are not as available to staff members because after 7 PM, spiked wrought iron gates slam shut, cloistering the female students from contact with U of S roving males--who are no doubt "in pursuit" at the nearby AUS' Starbucks afterdark.

The chastity police also lock out female faculty from the health club.

Squareandfair: Good questions about the contract.

The initial contract is for 2 years though your probationary period is technically one year. I say technically because after your first evaluation during the first semester, the director will make a recommendation to the Dean which tentatively lifts your probationary status. Then you continue till the end of the first year until the probation period officially ends and the second year of your contract kicks in sans any form of probation, tentative, technical or otherwise.

The contract itself doesn't say much; it looks like someone jotted down bullet points on a bar napkin then passed the napkin along to a secretary to be typed and sent to the printers. It's one page long, carrying over to page two only for signatures.

I haven't figured out yet if its ambiguties are by cabalistic design or Khaleeji aloofness.

I don't know about the 60-year old Logan's Run clause.

I'll try to find out because I'm single digit years away from that birthday and would like to stay here beyond it.

[Longton]

I think if you're a non-Muslim and buying quantities of booze for personal consumption you shouldn't worry about crossing from Ajman to Sharjah. Even if you are unlucky enough to have a car accident it's unlikely the police will want to look inside the boot / trunk of the car unless of course you are driving under the influence. They only want to see the registration card and licence. Booze is available for both departing and arriving passengers at Sharjah airport which seems strange given that Sharjah is 'dry'. I often buy my booze in Ajman and then go to Spinneys and stock up on pork products.