Job Discussion Forums

[Sheikh N Bake]

Iamherebecause:

I agree with your philosophy in general. In a similar vein, while I was at the HCT I thought their idea barmy that all the branch campuses were supposed to have the exact same centralized standards and there should be no "flagship" campus. I used to relate to supervisors the example of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, a world-class institution. There are a number of other "satellite" campuses such as UW-Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay, etc., but only Madison is the international star. What would have happened if some centralized politburo had decided all the campuses must be the same, not allowing any of them to think outside the box and excel? You would have had centralized mediocrity. Maybe not as mediocre as the HCT...but you get the gist. Berkeley in California is another example.

[merry_prankster]

I guess many of us are in agreement that there are sound practical and philosophical reasons why this plan is inappropriate and ill-conceived to a large degree then?

[nowasta]

So much agreement in principle might be a first for this board, but the whole thing does seem to be pretty dumb. The more logical approach is to drastically improve the k-12 system and NNEST (non-native/local English speaking) teacher-training programs which would eventually reduce the large need for foundations in the country. While this will obviously take time, if the gov't is serious it can be done. This would eventually create a situation in which a large number of native and non-native teachers would be employed at the k-12 level and others would probably work in higher ed in an ESP support type of role.

With respect to the k-12 situation, another 500 teachers are coming to ADEC this fall with another 500 in Jan-Feb. Add that to the 700 or so from last year and that is a good start, but it needs to continue. All to often, however, the gov't loses interest in these things.

In terms of the UAEU plan, my guess is the provost is gone in a year or two with the old "golden hand-shake" and students will either complain that they can't come to Al Ain or will decide not to at all and the whole thing is scrapped in a couple of years. Unfortunately, many current teachers will get caught up in this ugly business in the meantime and will likely have to drastically alter their lives as a result.

[veiledsentiments]

What nowasta says...

Even without a decent crystal ball, I can see "UGRU light" reappearing in 5-10 years. (if they manage to keep the K-12 improvments moving along)

VS