Job Discussion Forums

[GirlfromCanada]

Has anyone heard of this University? I believe it's in Northern Oaxaca. There is a job posting for it on TEFL.net. I replied looking for some info. Apparantly it's a new university and the person who is fielding the job search wasn't able to provide too many details about the school. They don't have a website as yet. What do you think? I have to say she was really great about replying quickly to my email. She has an English name. Is there a way I can find out more info about the school? What would you do? Thanks

[MELEE]

It's Ca�ada btw, not Canada.
It is brand spanking new so you won't find any info on the internet. Except here of course ,
This university is part of a system of regional universities known as SUNEO (sistema de universidades estatales de Oaxaca) It includes the
Universidad Tecnologica de la Mixteca
Universidad del Mar
Universidad del Istmo
Universidad de la Sierra Sur
Universidad de la Sierra Juarez
Universidad del Papoalapan
The system is run in a style that in contrary to most public universities in Mexico. Students submit a finacial report and their ablity to pay tuition is assessed. Students pay either 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, or 0% of the tuition. Students are in classes all day long, and their schedule is very regimented. There are strict rules for the students. All of the professors are full time tenure-track professor who each have an office and are required to be on campus 8 hours a day (hence the amount of time we spend on Dave's ). All the language teachers are native speakers of the language they teach. The oldest university in the system, the Mixteca was opened in 1991. UMAR followed the next year, but the rest are all fairly new.
The Universidad de la Ca�ada has only one English teacher at this time. (The person who you've been in contact with). I believe they have about 75 students at this time, but will have an intake of new students the first of March. You can expect most of the students to know no English so the teaching will be principally with beginners. They will also be primarily poor students, the first in their families to have an opportunity to continue studying. It can be very rewarding work. But some people have found it hard to work under this system. (it's not a libral arts college!) and also some have a hard time adapting to life in the small towns where the schools are located. La Ca�ada is a beautiful area, but Teotitlan de Flores Magon (a.k.a. Teotitlan del Camino) is not a beautiful town and you, and the other English teacher, will likely be the only foreigners in town.

[business2300]

How are you so familiar with it?
Do you live in the region?

[MamaOaxaca]

I've been working at the Universidad Tecnologica de la Mixteca, the flagship school of the system for the past 9 years. Just so no one will think I'm being underhanded or something, I will also let everyone know that I've been envolved in the recruitment of teachers for the new campuses as they have opened over the last six years.

You can find some posts about the system in general by searching Oaxaca Universities on this forum.

[ls650]

I work at one of the campuses (campii) mentioned, and I can second pretty much all of mamaoaxaca's comments.

[foodie555]

Hi,

I noticed that Universidad de la Canada (sorry, I don't have a tilda on my keyboard!) is hiring again. Has anyone worked there recently who could provide some feedback?

Thanks!

[MotherF]

Hi,
I have not worked there, but I wanted to stress that it's a very small school in a very small town. Anyone who goes to work there would be one of only two or three foreigners in town.

[BadBeagleBad]

[ton a bricks]

One thing you might want to know is what the weather is like in this place. Some parts of Oaxaca are very humid and hot, like possible 35 degrees and 90% humidity when it isn`t even the hot time of year. Ca�ada translates to roughly canyon, so it is a deep depression in an area of mountains, and not far from there is Valle Nacional where the Yaqui and other rebels and slaves were sent to work under the Porfirio D�az dictatorship, knowing that they would die before escaping... The book Barbarous Mexico tells about that area... well the general area, maybe not that specific area. But Huautla de Jim�nez is not such a low elevation and has less severe climate. That is where Maria Sabina lived, the mushroom witch who foretold John Lennon his violent early death... I would check the weather first, if you are from Canada the drastic heat might be hard to get used to. Other parts of Oaxaca are hot but not so humid... People used to the climate of Florida or the southern US might not find it that bad in La Ca�ada...

[MotherF]

UNCA is located in Teotitlan de Flores Magon.
I've not had the opportuntity to visit, but I've been told it's dry (unlike the Huatla area). It's about 90 minutes from Tehucan, Puebla and I was under the impression--could be wrong--that the climate was similar to Tehucan's. The university's website has quite a few photos.
http://www.unca.edu.mx/rv_campus.html#

[ton a bricks]

Here's more information about the place in another link, it looks pretty nice also in the photos from Motherf's link. I was thinking it would be similar weather to Chilar, near Cuicatlan which is like a blast furnace, but if the average temperature is 25 degrees, that would probably mean not too hot at the hottest times of the year. I think it would be a good place, better than the coast or Tuxtepec for weather...

http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/oaxaca/municipios/20545a.htm

[reddevil79]

I visited the campus last year and liked it a lot. It�s very new and small at the moment, but there was a nice atmosphere between the professors, everyone knew each other, etc. The Idiomas director is a really nice lady.

The setting itself is pretty spectacular; the campus is surrounded by hills and mountains. It does get hot before the rainy season, though winters are cool and sunny according to the teachers who work there. The town is small though, very small. A lot of the professors live in Teotihuacan and travel in every day, a two hour round trip.

[Isla Guapa]

[reddevil79]

There are many reasons, but basically it is to decentralise and encourage growth in the smaller towns of Oaxaca. The rector argues that, traditionally, universities are located in state capitals and in the larger towns of Mexico, which leads to a brain drain and lack of development in the smaller outer lying towns. That's why there is no campus in Oaxaca city itself.

Some of the SUNEO universities are located in fairly large towns with populations of 200,000 or more, and then much smaller towns of no more than a few thousand. The study programmes are also geared towards the local community (Marine biology on the coast for example), in the hope that locals will stay, start businesses, expand the local economy, etc. SUNEO also tries to promote culture too, with bookshops, cultural fairs, etc.

It�s not a perfect system and it certainly isn�t for everyone, but I do think that it is a force for good for the region.

[foodie555]