Job Discussion Forums

[passionateteacher]

How is everyone?

I am new to this forum. I am a teacher currently residing in the US. My account was just activated and I noticed there was a long thread about Al-Yamamah. I looked on their website and was thinking about appyling for a job there. I have seen photos of the university online and it looks like a very good school. I did not get a chance to post my question on the old thread because for some reason it was locked. Can anyone please clarify what is true about the school and what is just rumors or people venting? I looked at the benefits and it seems like a good opportunity. However I have friends who work in the Kingdom and they tell me sometimes you cannot believe everything a school posts online. My friends have told me that you have to ask the people who currently work there or used to work there. Can you please let me know about the visa process, the pay and other benefits? Also I did not see anything about family benefits posted on the school's website. I am married and have two children. If I am offered a job at the school will they provide visas for my family?

[trustedteacher]

Dear passionateteacher,

I do not have all the answers to your questions, but I can tell you from my experience. As far as I know the family benefits should be mentioned in your contract. As far as what they cover and for how long that you should make clear with them before you leave. I think if you do not have a masters degree then you cannot apply for your family to come here. You should call the Embassy in DC and ask them and tell them that you are thinking about appyling to work at YU before you come. I am not sure if this is just for private schools or this also applies to government schools. You may want to ask people who have also started the process to come here, because things are always changing at KSA every five minutes!!!

[Citizenkane]

I left YU a few years ago, but from what I can gather, both from experience and reports from friends who are still there or have left recently, most of what was said on the locked thread was accurate. YU still offers a decent enough package (but their salaries have actually dropped in the past year or so) but the environment is quite unstable, the college has serious financial and management problems. Many long-time staff members are wondering if they are still going to have a job this time next year.

[passionateteacher]

Thanks citizenkane and trustedteacher, I have question marks in the subject area, because like I said I'm thinking about applying to work there. What I do not understand is that if the university is having serious financial and management problems, then why are they advertising for new teachers to start in February? If the teachers who are currently there are worried about their jobs then why would they advertise that they are in need for new teachers? I sent my CV to them very recently and I am waiting for a response. Do you know why they are having financial problems?From what the website says they are an up and coming school, with a new approach to education. This is what attracted me to apply to work for them in the first place. Can you explain?

[Citizenkane]

[veiledsentiments]

Read the other thread... and believe it... things are very unstable. The most negative posts on there have been written by current and ex-teachers. Student numbers have dropped significantly. As to their "new approach" - most have this response to it. Why are they hiring? Who knows?

And that is exactly why I or any sensible educator would stay far far far away. If you have a related MA and some experience in a US IEP there are plenty of better employers in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf. In fact, IMHO the better employers and lifestyle are in places like the UAE and Oman - even Qatar and Kuwait.

If you are new to overseas and Middle East employment, I would recommend reading all of the country branches in this section.

VS

[scot47]

Better to stay away from this place. In my experience when you see smoke, there is fire.

[Citizenkane]

A friend at YU has just told me that the head honcho from Interlink Colorado has flown in and is spending most of the week in meetings with the YU 'management' - or what is left of it.

That is interesting as he hardly ever comes to Riyadh. You'd have to wonder if he knows the Dean is on the way out and is desperate to salvage Interlink's contract. Word has it that the Dean was the one most closely connected to Interlink - most of the uni staff are very critical of the program, sometimes openly so. The next few weeks could be crucial.

[trustedteacher]

Yes it is true Citizen Kane he met with us. Same old same old. He did not want to hear the truth about what is going on with the program. He only wanted to hear what we were doing in our classrooms and how it relates to the benchmarks. He even had the nerve to say that posting here on Dave's ESL cafe is unproductive. I found out recently that he is friends with Dave and he asked some of the other teachers a long time ago to post only positive things about the program. Ok so if it is positive then it is productive then to post because it suits him. If it is negative then it is unproductive!!!!
The truth is the management team there is only going to kiss up to him while he is there. He is only going to be here for the next few days and then go back to Colorado. No one will be able to tell him the truth about the program and the defieciency in the management team because that is not what he wants to hear.

More later.

[Citizenkane]

[veiledsentiments]

[Citizenkane]

[veiledsentiments]

[bryanlorin]

I worked at YU for a few years and was basically betrayed last spring by the management who had been giving me their full support (for years) in my commitment to the program... right up until the moment I was told I had to leave.

About why they are hiring new teachers when things seem to be going downhill: well, from my experience at YU, especially recent, they are employing a 'revolving door' recruitment policy. There is virtually no respect for 'length of service'. No effort is made to keep experienced staff who do their jobs well and were liked by students. And in the last year, managerial transparency is the opposite of the style that was being employed; and that's where the job security concerns of teachers comes in.

Interestingly, two of the people who got 'let go' last year (I say 'let go' rather than 'non-renewal' because the latter means that the contract is fully respected, which it wasn't in most cases--as has been clearly stated in the previous thread) were in charge of major university functions and program enhancement projects, voluntarily I might add.

The revolving door recruitment rationale, let's call it, keeps on hiring new teachers, whatever the situation, because this rationale also includes doing very little to keep teachers, even getting rid of people who offer constructive criticism.

So, naturally, if you do nothing to keep people, and are even weeding out those who respectfully express themselves, you must keep a steady stream of new hires coming in to have sufficient staff.

To be fair, I gained a lot from my experience there and have a lot of good memories at AYU. I only wish mgmt had been honest with me about why they were having doubts about me, and had given me some constructive feedback (especially since I had asked for it).

However, I believe without a doubt that I was doing what I was hired to do: 'take responsibility for the quality of the program'. In the end, I was let go for the same reason for which I was hired.

Happy New Year!

[trustedteacher]

In response to bryanlorin's post about constructive feedback, the management does not know how to give it!!! The same things they ask you to do they later use against you.
The most "constructive feedback" that I have received, was from the posts about the school right here on Dave's ESL Cafe. Especially from the previous thread that was locked. I wished that before I signed a contract to work for them, I had read these posts very carefully. My advice for any teacher that wants to work there, to read and re-read everything in the contract. If necessary, even have an attorney to go over some of the terms with you in the contract to make sure that what you see is what you are going to get before departing for Riyadh.
My advice also is to believe everything you read about what other teachers have said about the school. We were lied to about why some of the past teachers were fired or why their contracts were not renewed. We were told that the reason why they had to get rid of some of these teachers, because they refused to comply with the standards of the program and many of them were very arrogant with poor attitudes. That may be true for some of the past teachers, but that only pertains to a select few. The truth of the matter is that some of the teachers that currently teach there now have more teaching experience then most of those in management. Those in management have very poor people skills and some of them have never even been inside of a classroom. The "management team", or lack thereof often times abuses their power by asking teachers to do things that they know are impossible or could never do themselves.
Bryanlorin, your situation is a lot similar to many other teachers who used to work there or still work there. In the first term they tell you that they welcome feedback and questions that will help towards the development of the program. That is a bunch of bullshit. They even had a workshop called "Myth Busters" at the beginning of the term. One of the "myth busters", was they heard that if you admit you are not sure of something and you ask for help you will be treated as if you are incompetent. Well that is not a myth, that is true. Especially on the woman's side, some of the management team treats the female teachers like they do not know what they are doing. I think it is funny that they had such a workshop, because they completely contradicted themselves by their actions. Because anyone who dedicates themselves wholeheartedly towards the program, but later has suggestions in how to make it more effective, they then start looking for ways to fire you, because you propose a threat to them by exposing how incompetent they are.
Bryanlorin, please share more of your experiences about the school, but please be careful, because the last thread was locked because some jerk just started disrespecting females.

Any other comments?