Job Discussion Forums

[Cleopatra]

[Sheikh N Bake]

It may well be meaningless in the Gulf environment. I don't think it's feasible to transplant American accreditation norms to the Middle East, generally speaking. The system does work fairly well in the U.S., however, and it is the only system we have in the US for evaluating universities and individual degree programs, as neither the federal nor state governments get involved in approving the academic aspects of colleges/universities--not even state-owned ones. Given the international rankings, resources, power and influence of the US higher education system, it's not surprising that education officials in some developing countries wish to adopt the system. Perhaps it works for institutions such as semi-autonomous American Univ of Sharjah. But in the KSA?

About "quality of teaching": universities are supposed to be research institutes, not such teaching institutions, if you're talking about academics beyond EFL. And do professors' research efforts find their wayinto the undergraduate classroom? They certainly did at my college.

I don't see any complaints about those centralized Cambridge protocols we all had to follow in the Emirates--not sure about the Tragic Kingdom, however.

[Sheikh N Bake]

[Le Petit Prince]

Noble Sheikh...please go easy on 007. You'd be testy too if your homeland had been under foreign occupation for more than half a century. Indeed ...a foreign occupation largely of their own volition.

[The Lathe of Heaven]

I find it hard to believe this new scheme by the ministry of higher education is going to work out here in Qassim. Next year they are projecting a 100% growth in PYP and they have a hard time getting BA holders here let alone MAs and PhDs.

TLOH

[Cleopatra]

[Sheikh N Bake]

Thanks Cleo. I suppose my mind was still on the UAE, where most of the colleges and universities have been obsessed with US accreditation of the entire institution. I don't work at a univ. in Saudi so...I'll shut up now

[scot47]

Accreditation is deffo one of the buzz-words in the higher echelons. Exactly who will do the accrediting is not clear to me. I suspect that some universities in KSA long for legitimation by their "Friends Across the Sea". If you look at the cv's of Saudi academics most of them did graduate studies in the USofA.

[007]

[Stephen Jones]

What appears to be happening is that Saudi Universities that are accredited with the Saudi Ministry are also seeking some form of validation, often from North American organizations of doubtful pedigree. It gives the Saudi boss something to put on his resume.

[doner]

Imagine what Jubail UNiverstiy college would be accredited with

[Stephen Jones]

Jubail and Yanbu University Colleges are a bit strange as they are university colleges not affiliated to a university. I presume they are accredited with the Saudi Ministry.

It is worth remembering by the way just how crappy some US and UK institutions are before sniggering too much at the Saudis.

[Le Petit Prince]

Hogwash!
That "institution" ...or whatever they call it in Jubai...l is unspeakable. Many of these colleges etc. are just there to keep the local populace off the streets.

[doner]

The unspeakable broken wretches with their fake qualifications and chronic alcohol problems who bow and scrape and backstab each other in order to pander to the saudis in order to keep their desperate job in order to fund their drink problems. The pathetic students who are unemployable unteachable and will never work. They have no idea why they are there and neither does anybody else. The ludicrous facilities that do not work and the atmosphere of desperation. The counting down of days till the next holiday and the arselicking management who can tell you that black is white and that two and two are five right to your face. The staff from craphole Arab poverty countries who delight in shafting westerners and the westerners who hate them with a vengence.

[Asda]