Job Discussion Forums

[veiledsentiments]

[Sheikh N Bake]

That is EXACTLY right. And that MIT administrator who is overseeing MIT's consultancy with the Abu Dhabi Masdar Institute said that American branch campuses in the Gulf Middle East are NOT sustainable.

Meanwhile NYU and Michigan State and maybe others are setting up in the UAE. Yale and MIT have it right. Yale declined altogether to get involved in the Gulf and MIT, as I said, is doing behind-the-scenes work only.

[kiefer]

Long before the Internet (or fax machines for that matter), the University of Maryland's University College set up satellite "campuses" on military bases in Europe and Asia--they still do this today.

These "campuses" are often little more than classroom space procured in advance--often just some room with proximity to the students (soldiers on active duty) desks and a blackboard. Textbooks are sent once a class makes.

Some instructors are full time faculty members sent on temporary assignments, while in many cases, local hires with the proper credentials are hired to give face-to-face classes.

This model overcomes the problem of distant learning and any questions about whether or not the student does the work or outsources it because face-to-face teacher/student conferences help to monitor student progress.

The syllabus is generated by the instructor following departmental guidelines. Departmental standards are monitored between the students' work, the instructor through the main campuses in the US, Germany or Japan, depending on the division.

Classrooms, not campuses, are the only requirement and not that hard to secure once the class has made.

Why this model has not been followed more widely in the Gulf, if for no other reason than to test the waters, rather than jumping in all guns blazing with sparkling new buildings and mini-full fledged campuses is puzzling.

Doesn't the British University of Dubai follow a similar model? That is, there is no "British University"; rather, doesn't the building host a number of UK university programs and provides a centralized classroom area for these satellite classes?

[oncebitten]

Trapezius asked: "What about the American University of RAK?"

In 2005 they claimed to be already in existence and operating. Untrue.
They used a website universitieslink.com and they made false and fraudulent claims that their so-called 'Center for English and Arabic Studies' was a recognised and operating IELTS Centre.
I am/was an IELTS examiner, and I was living and working in RAK, for GMU, in their Foundation Program, at the time.
I queried AURAK's claims with IELTS Australia, who confirmed that they were not a recognised centre.

Look at their website now...www.au.edu.ae And do some follow-up.

They are another Ras al Khaimah scam operating out of the notorious RAK Free Trade Zone. Handle with extreme care. Under FTZ rules, there is no check on the professional credentials of applicants, and normal quality controls go by the board. Don't believe their offers and promises. They are worthless. Human Development Foundation? EDRAK? Don't make me laugh.

[veiledsentiments]

[Sheikh N Bake]

I have mentioned this before, and I hate to diverge too much from the Gulf-based topic, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s up to 40 US universities set up branch campuses in Japan. They're all defunct now as far as I know (I worked at the first of them (except for Temple-Tokyo, which had been long-established): Southern Illinois. And it goes to show two things: (a) one bona-fide US branch campus is probably all that even a major country like Japan can support, and (b) if they can't make it in Japan, I don't see how they expect to make it in the Gulf.

[kiefer]

Why's that S and B?

[Sheikh N Bake]

Well, in the case of Japan (I think you worked there as well, or am I thinking of somebody else?), saturation point had already been reached via the well-established Temple campus in Tokyo...as rigid as the Japanese system is in its relationship between college and work place.

As for the analogy with the Gulf ME, I think because, as others have mentioned, saturation has also been reached, and there simply aren't enough good students in the entire Middle East to sustain bona fide branch campuses, and fantasies of attracting Chinese or American students in any critical mass don't wash because neither of those groups would want to come to the Middle East for their degrees, no matter what the name on the campus gate says.

[kiefer]

???

[Sheikh N Bake]

Yes, and according to a former insider at Woolongong, that institution is run like a pawn shop.

[Rawdata]

Earlier in this thread trapezius (great avatar BTW)asked :

[Sheikh N Bake]

A former colleauge there syas:

As usual, only one or two posters (you and someone else) have any valid data. As is common with all the Dave�s postings that I�ve bothered to read about institutions in this part of the world, after the first round of complaints, at least one poster writes, �I don�t know what these lousy teacher/whiners are complaining about. Yes, we fired some total incompetents, but the remaining competent staff all find the students and administration world class, and if you�re a good teacher and not a total loser, you should apply here at ____ (fill in name of your favourite lousy Middle Eastern institution).�

�The standards were too high.� -- total garbage. Yes, none of the students could have passed a real SAT, but they never used the real SAT, they only paid to use the name; yes, none of the students had a TOEFL of 570, but they never used a real TOEFL. Did they fail to make that clear to prospective students, so all the students thought they should save their money and not waste it taking a test they couldn�t possibly pass? Didn�t the ones who passed tell their friends (in their native language) �It�s great, GMU-RAK gave me the same TOEFL score as a native speaker, and a SAT score that qualifies me for MENSA�?

�GMU-Fairfax found they couldn�t maintain their standards, so they had to close the campus.� -- total garbage, the Sheikh cut off their US$300,000, and GMU-Fairfax immediately said, �So long, farewell, auf wiedersein, Masalama.�

It looks like the teachers might or might not have jobs next year at AUR. At least the Sheikh will have an extra US$300,000 to spend on the campus. But we already know he spent US$10,000,000 on the new PhotoShop campus, so I wouldn�t call him the sharpest knife in the drawer