Job Discussion Forums

[rocketchild]

the Qatar Foundation.
What have you heard?

It seems a bit impressive, but am always weary of 'this' in the Gulf, in the end it's usually the same-same.

[veiledsentiments]

There was just a special program on Education city on our PBS channel here in the US.

It is a great gig if you can get hired by any of the US universities. They have fancy buildings and all the bells and whistles. Teachers get good pay and nice housing. But, it is the usual smoke and mirrors. Currently they are mostly enforcing high standards, but that means that the majority are female and/or not Qatari. The women that were interviewed spoke flawless accent-less American English... at least one had a native speaker mother. And the others had obviously spent either a lot of time in an English speaking country or the American school there.

But, they tend to bring many of their teachers from their US campuses and their EFL programs are small to begin with. A couple friends of mine have worked in one of the places. I have never seen an ad for teachers for any of these places, but definitely apply if you ever see one.

VS

[lukey]

VS is right on the money here. Education City which is run by the Qatar Foundation is strictly for show. The schools there are tiny satellite campuses of American Universities - the enrollment is small - 50 or so in most. They struggle to attract Qatari nationals of course because most Qataris don't want a career in medicine etc. Employees for these places are seconded from the Universities in the US so you will rarely see postings. The Emir's wife (one of his wives) - Sheika Amosa(probably spelled her name wrong) is the "patron" of QF - she even has an office there. It is very impressive with huge buildings and huge plans - money dripping everywhere. I say "show with no substance" - it is same-same as other such organizations in the Gulf. Expat employees working (not many left) for the QF found it a very difficult place to work because of the way Qataris treat their expat employees - whichi is bad. And with oil prices rising and rising these edifices will just get grander and grander.......

[rocketchild]

yes, the ol smoke and mirrors game

as i suspected...i mean does anyone who is working and living in the Gulf believe there could ever been anything else. As they try to compete with Western standards in a fast changing world, I can see how this evolved.

I was a bit disappointed to hear that Qataris treated their employees badly. You mean worse than Emiratis hahahaha...

Been thru Qatar several times and yes, I can easily spot the arrogant self righteousness millionaires a mile away.

Is Kuwait this bad also?? I know so many wonderfully truly educated Q8eess that I may go there instead. But then I hear horrible stories about life in Q8.

For now, maybe, with the low dollar I will move over to Singapore or somewhere else in Asia. Take a break from the mind numbing pretense.

Still am very very curious about the Qatar Foundation. I have heard it is a wonderful 'concept'. Let's hope they do good by it.
inshallah eh?

[wilberforce]

The best gig is Georgetown. Northwestern is also pretty good. Avoid the ABP. One of my best pals left last May because of the new management style.

[wilberforce]

You need to check out the individual websites by the places that operate there. I know of Texas A & M, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern and Georgetown. There are a couple of others as well. Check the websites. These places do their own hiring and it's mostly people from the States, they don't do too many local or regional hires from what I've heard.

[wilberforce]

http://chronicle.com/news/article/6768/students-at-some-american-branch-campuses-in-qatar-have-lower-sats

Thanks for the link.


July 10, 2009
Students at Some American Branch Campuses in Qatar Have Lower SAT's
Administrators at several branch campuses of American universities in Qatar acknowledge that they accept students with admissions standards that fall below those expected on their home campuses, but that the quality of their programs remains the same, according to an article on Thursday in The National, an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.

The newspaper talked to administrators at several American branch campuses in Education City after it received, anonymously, what were said to be the mean verbal and mathematics SAT scores from business and computer-science students admitted to the Qatar and Pittsburgh campuses of Carnegie Mellon University.

The numbers showed �significantly lower� scores for students on the Qatar campus.

A university spokeswoman could not �confirm the veracity� of the figures, the newspaper said. She told The National that the average SAT scores of students admitted to the Qatar campus were lower than those in Pittsburgh, but explained that test scores were only one part of the admissions equation, which also takes into account high-school activities, TOEFL scores, and �other competency tests.�

�In Qatar and in Pittsburgh, only those students judged to be fully capable of meeting the high standards of the university are offered admission,� the spokeswoman told the newspaper in a written statement.

Northwestern University, which has a branch campus in Education City, declined to provide comparisons. The dean of Georgetown University�s School of Foreign Service in Qatar said SAT scores were lower there.

�Students in the U.S. have more experience of standardized tests so are expected to score more highly on them,� said James Reardon-Anderson, the Georgetown dean.

All university officials who spoke to The National said that their students were capable of handling a rigorous workload and that the program quality is the same as on their American campuses.

�The fact that some, and I want to stress some, students may travel slightly further to reach that during their four years seems to me a tribute to the hard work and dedication of these students and the supportive educational environment that our faculty and staff try to create here in Doha,� said John Margolis, dean and chief executive of Northwestern University in Qatar. �Andrew Mills

[veiledsentiments]

It rather ignores the reality that like most... no... all other exams, the SAT is culture bound, so it would be completely unrealistic to expect non-American, non-native speakers of English to score anywhere near the same.

VS

[wilberforce]

You are absolutely right VS.

[veiledsentiments]

It's time the Gulf developed its own exams... with the advice of the Princeton people and the IELTS people. I found myself completely mystified by bits of the IELTS/PET too because I never lived in the UK.

For what they spend to be able to use these outside exams, they could develop their own for a fraction. Funny how we were making the same complaints in the 80's... and the same cure was obvious then... but still nothing has been done.

VS

[wilberforce]

Doing placement exams in this part of the world is a real nightmare. You almost never get it right, students who can talk well can't write properly or even read and sometimes it's the other way round.

[wilberforce]

[veiledsentiments]

[Stephen Jones]

The point about the TOEFL and IELTS is that they are international and have a long-established standardization.

It is anything but trivial to write your own tests to that kind of standard. People who write these for a living are actually not allowed to write any questions on their own until they've done a year's apprenticeship. And a fair proportion (well over 50% I believe) are junked after trialling. The cost of one multi-choice question on the TEOFL works out at around $200.

[wilberforce]

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WCMC-Qatar welcomes 73 new students

The new students with faculty members

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar has received some 73 new freshmen in its Pre-Medical and Foundation Programme.
The new students, including 17 Qataris, who took part in an orientation programme, come from 18 different countries.
The comprehensive orientation programme allows the students to have some fun as they get to know each other, while introducing them to college life and preparing them for the challenges that lie ahead.
�We are very pleased to welcome our eighth intake of student, who are highly intelligent and engaged individuals and, in being accepted to WCMC-Q, have already distinguished themselves as the best of the bests,� said interim dean Dr Javaid Sheikh.
He added that the college continued to attract some of the most talented medical and pre-medical students from Qatar and the region.�
In addition to a total of 60 students joining the pre-medical programme, 13 took part in the welcoming ceremony as they prepared to enter the year-long foundation programme. Covering the basic sciences, mathematics and English, with an emphasis on critical thinking and problem-solving, the foundation programme gives participants the opportunity to build on their skills in core areas.
Among them was a Qatari national Mohamed Hajji, winner of the first annual WCMC-Q Healing Hands Essay Competition in 2008.
Although excited and nervous on his first day, Mohamed�s prior experience gave him more confidence � one advantage of WCMC-Q�s many outreach programmes such as the essay competition.
�I know what to expect now and I know my potential. I�m looking forward to having a good year,� Mohamed said.
New pre-medical student Hayder al-Mazraqchi said he felt proud of his older brother Yahya who was entering the first year of the medical programme.
Another student, Pierre Halteh said he was motivated to attend the WCMC-Q pre-medical programme by the classes he took in high school.
�I enjoy biology and chemistry and thought that pursuing medicine would allow me to use those skills to benefit other people,� Halteh said.