Job Discussion Forums

[KathyK]

Hello All,

I posted a similar message a month or so ago but am now more interested since I've just been invited to an interview with them. I'm in New York right now and the interview is in Washington DC.

The response I got when I last posted suggested that since the university in brand new, I wouldn't be able to interview current/previous employees and that I shouldn't take a job where I can't do that.

Is there anyone on this board currently living in Kuwait (or who knows anyone in Kuwait) who might have heard anything about this new university? I'm really excited at the prospect of this job but am extremely wary of taking a job when I know so little about the school.

Thanks all for your help.

Kathy

[veiledsentiments]

Hi KathyK

I just got a response from someone in Kuwait, so I will share it with all. Dr Ghabra, the president has a good reputation.

On the not-so-positive side, the fancy campus shown on the website is still not there. They are spread around Salmiya at the moment, and the main building looks more like a 'language institute' according to my source. So, that means that the infrastructure is certainly not up to the par of say - KU.

So, it may very well become more attractive in the future, but these are early days at AUK, and that means the usual 'new institution glitches.' Certainly a place where you want to make very sure that you have every promise in writing before you go there. Always good advice, but crucial in a place that has no track record yet.

VS

[ohman]

The campus at AUK is now nearly finished. It is about the size of a pleasant Southern California suburban community college. It has just launched its first semester with a student population of about 500 or 1/3 what it expects to have in a year. The facilities are all in place. IT familiar faculty can properly utilize the resources to compensate for its lack of library stacks and such.
The president and the Dean of Aademic Affairs have impressive CVs and are capable of bringing to AUK what it will need if it truly develops into a quaint liberal arts college modeled on Dartmouth-its mentoring institution.
Having said all of that, the problem there as with some of the other private colleges in this country and others throughout the region where the education ministries have granted permission for private investors to establish the institutions, is that the institutions are viewed as local blue chip investments--not unlike the community colleges" seen in the US during the 1980s.

At that time, the federal government's simple and low interest loan program was replaced with government guarantees to banks. Student loan interest went from 2% (simple) to 7 -10% (compound) and the process of obtaining a loan was streamlined. Not one of the colleges which sprang up overnight and have long since folded, were accredited.

Their recruiters trawled the housing projects. Nobody ever earned a worthwhile education at these colleges built on the fly, and by the time Clinton came into office, the government's debt to the banks had actually become a hot button issue.
The difference here of course is that the students are, to say the least, not from the 'hood. They come from the wealthier families and have no need to nurture a dream of getting off the dole by signing onto a non-accredited degree program, one that will leave them tens of thousands of dollars in debt AND unable to use their "certificates" and 'diplomas" to open doors.
Many--but certainly not all--of these students come well educated by the western schools built here primarily for the western upper-tiered managers and consultants in the oil industry, have family fortunes and businesses to fall back on, are spoilt and use to having things done for them.

AUK is a private college. It has a competent staff in both academic and student affairs. Its faculty seems earnest about contributing to a model liberal arts institution. But they are trapped between a rock and a hard place, or, if you will, Iraq and the deep blue sea (with its residential devil).

What will AUK expect of its students? Will they expect and hold fast to the principles of what university means?

Will there be an emphasis on independent learning or just a veneer of one?
Will it expect its students to learn how to organise themselves and to begin taking responsibility for the minutea of day-to-day life? To learn how to manage their time? To understand what it means to bring fresh ideas to their fields of study and to understand the meaning of freedom of thought and expression?
Will students be expected to do more background reading and to draft presentations which can prove to employers that they are truly devoted to a calling? Or will it remain a place for the western educted locals to hang out, strum guitars, bare a little cleavage and skip class to go shopping and have lunch?

This is where the not-completely faulty analogy of the Reagan era morally bankrupted board of directors and the once-and-future economically bankrupted student bodies can be made.

The bottom line is the bottom line. The board of directors are pointmen for the investors. They want to see arses in seats--full stop. One student complaint about an uncompromising teacher who won't back down from attendance and grade standards even now has the ability to control an entire class and dictate curriculi.

[veiledsentiments]

Thanks, Ohman,

I was wondering if you were still in Kuwait. AUK sounds like a place with possibilities. I expect that much depends on whether or how seriously they are attempting to get US accreditation.

It seems that this point is one of the few things that helps to trump so many students' 'expectations that the education process will be the same as their previous schooling. (ie - we show up whenever and you give us A's)

Do you know whether they are working on accreditation?

VS

[ohman]

VS--you and only other yanks might get the double entendre "green"--for others "Big green" in the US doesn't mean jealous or unschooled, it means a lot of money, like our boring one sized currency.
Naturally they want to earn accred. but the process takes four years. As you know, accreditation doesn't mean much in the land where hiring procedures requires "certificates" of various sorts--human resources in ministries rubber stamp those who have the certificates. If the credits or certificates--diplomas, degrees-whatever they want to refer to them as--are recognized as legit locally, then it won't matter if MIT grad school doesn't. And as you know, four years in inshaillah time means four years of building an "note"worthy institution of higher earning. . .ur, I mean learning.

[veiledsentiments]

Ohman,

Right, of course. But, I have noted in other places that at least attempting to get some sort of legitimate accreditation did mean that they were forced to hire teachers with actual degrees and appropriate experience. And this slowly brought in people who worked to bring in actual standards - shocking concept...

In the end, it all depends on upper management and whether they want the legitmacy or if it is only butts on seats. One would hope that it goes the direction of AUS and AUC... eventually. But, it doesn't have the student base of those two. Only time will tell.

VS

[ohman]

The faculty and staff had been multi tasking, donning several different hats, helping to register, advice, build a curriculum from scratch, throughout August. The person assigned the dual word of writing center coordinator and full time ESP teacher had to work a few 36 hour shifts to meet deadlines.

Dead on his feet in one class--mr. Murphy and his law sat at most of the computers one day, and at least one student didn't have a good go at the pc program.

The man collapsed from exhaustion, saw a doctor who wanted to put the feller in a hospitalo. Three days of full blown bed rest later, the recharged man returned to work on the Ramadan equivelant of boxing day. and greeted his boss.
"Ramadam Kareem" boss. "You're fired" the boss replied.

I'm afraid it's getting off on the same footing as GUST.

The drama unfolds as we speak. Have a look.

[zaytuni]

deleted by author

[annscholl]

I too had an interview with AUK in DC. Has anyone else who interviewed with them heard back from AUK?

[veiledsentiments]

I know of one person who received an offer almost immediately there. Much probably depends on what kind of position you were interviewing for and how many were competing for the same position that you were.

VS

[annscholl]

It is a faculty position in the humanities dept. I was told during the interview to expect an offer in a month, but one knows that what is said in an interview doesn't always turn into reality.

[veiledsentiments]

i suppose that you could email them and ask but one never knows whether that is a good or bad idea.

Unfortunately, so many of these places are not terribly good at telling you if they are not interested

VS

[annscholl]

Thanks for the information, vs. I will email, because I'm now getting offers, requests for further interviews from other places. I suppose there is always a careful way to ask for further information.

Most places aren't great about informing applicants about their status. Even in the US, I frequently don't even receive acknowledgement of my application, only to then receive a request for an interview out of the blue.

[veiledsentiments]

I was also surprised to find that when I came back to the US. Phenomenally inconsiderate I think. How hard is it to acknowledge receipt of emailed information?

It made some sense when it took printing off some form letter, putting it into an envelope and affixing postage... Pure laziness now, in my opinion.

VS

[annscholl]

I agree. How difficult is it? I did send an email a few days ago, but no response. Again, how difficult is a response? Email does not even require putting something in the mail. Still, I realize that they interviewed numerous people for many positions, which means they are more swamped than the usual search commitees. Should I call? I have been given some looming deadlines for which to respond to other institutions. How impolitic is a phone query?