Job Discussion Forums

[lburto]

I just got accepted to teach
english at SIAS university in Xinzheng City, Henan,
China and want to find out if this is a reputable
school that treats its teachers well. A friend of
mine warned me that many of the schools in china are
sweat shops that don't live up to the contract. Is anyone familiar with SIAS and can you give a recommendation as to their reputation (I got the
posting originally from Indiana University)?

http://en.sias.edu.cn/aboutsias.html

thx

[Roger]

SIAS???

[tw]

Well it seems like a joint venture between Zhengzhou University and Fort Hays State University. So it is not really a state-run university since it is operated by another university. So the students probably pay double the amount of what they would pay for regular tuition because they flunked the college entrance exam. Therefore, I think it's safe to say that the students' English proficiency is probably very low...

Just my speculation.

[arioch36]

[adorabilly]

I am writing about SIAS International University. It is located in xinzheng City, henan Province in central china.

I will start with the basicis.
there are 15,000 students, 400 chinese faculty, and about 100 foreign "experts." They are a third tier school, and most of the students have "failed" teh college entrance exams. They also have the ability to offer an Americna Bachelors of General Studies degree through an arangement with Fort Hays State University in Fort Hays Kansas.
Their salary was pretty low about 3000 RMB a month, but they provide housing (really nice by chinese standards), cable, internet access, and have a built in kitchen where they serve buffet style meals (well until the food runs out). They have an average of 7 weeks off during the holidays starting right before christmas and going until right after chinese new year.

Now comes the bad part. The schools administration has been taken over by individuals from teh "tentmakers" organization, and people from Purpose, plug into yours (website is www.plugintoyours.com). these individuals are extremely zealous christian missionaries, who look at teaching at the school as getting a "foot in the door" of china.

All teachers who were not christian last year (except 1 non practicing jew) were not invited back to teach this year (there were 30 non christians last year... some of them had to be qualified and good teachers, yet not invited back).

So if you want to be a "paid missionary" their words from one of their advertisements, apply at www.plugintoyours.com and they will look over your resume. You have to pay a $50 non refundable fee for them to do ta background check. If they decide to hire you, then you have to pay about $4000 for "ministry training" and possible "ropes courses." And they send you off to china to spread the word.

[tofuman]

I just took a look at the website mentioned above. It appears to be true. Your training will cost you more than you will earn your first year in China.

Leave it to "Christians" to figure out a scam like this. They mention that no overhead or administrative costs are paid from the money you pay. But it sounds like they provide the training that you must have to work for them, so the money is still going into their pocket.

Sounds like they encourage their prospective employees to panhandle from local congregations to raise money for their training and will then give you whatever you get beyond the training cost.

I wonder why these people never seem to follow or take the advice of St. Paul, who, at times eschewed the "beggars" approach to evangelism and made a point of supporting himself.

Particularly in China, where there is plenty of money to pay foreign teachers, there is no reason that local Western congregations should be underwriting these missionary projects.

I worked at a school with a strong "missionary" presence. That particular school was known for its low pay, almost certainly because the organization contracted with them to provide teachers at a low figure. When I scoffed at the low figure I was quoted, they quickly came up to a reasonable salary. So as far as I know, I was making more than the "missionaries." But they needed not worry because they received a stipend in addition to their salary.

Simply as a matter of economics, with no reflection on their missionary program, I'd encourage jobseekers to be wary of schools that employ teachers from these organizations. Your salary will almost certainly be low and you will not be getting a stipend to compensate.

On the other hand, if you are a typical nihilist, atheist, Jew, or agnostic, you might yourself be benefitted by the "missionaries."

[lburto]

adorabilly, (real name is Will Jones) get a grip! I posted the original question before I came to China and have been here at SIAS for 2 years now, and no I did not come over for missionary reasons. Yes, there are a lot of Christians here doing missionary work, but there are still a number of non-Christians who get along just fine. And most of the international students here are non-Christians, and they actually love it.

You conveniently left out the fact that many Christians also did not get invited back to SIAS last year. You also forgot to mention that it was the CHINESE who didn't want you back because you were a troublemaker! (Do you think anyone actually believes you when you claim they fired you because you were a Buddist, when this is a Buddist country?) People simply got tired of your complaining and foul mouthed antics and just plain bad attitude (btw, nice move bringing in an American lawyer in your dispute hearing and threatening to sue the university claiming your civil rights were violated when we are in central China).

SIAS isn't a perfect place by any means, and yes there are a few people who can be overbearing at times, but every place has people like this and by and large Ive had a good experience here. You've been gone a year now and you're still on this soap box ripping the place...might you be the one who is actually prejudiced against the missionaries???

Time to get over it and stop being a wingebag!

[adorabilly]

Hey Lee. (I'm assuming that is you).

I never knew you felt that way towards me. Here I thought your friendship during the time I was at SIAS was genuine. Hey just goes to show you.

1. I have never once said I was fired because I was buddhist. I contend that my contract was not renewed because I was not evangelical christian. Had I been evangelical christian like some older teachers or the UC davis group who are often screwing up it wouldn't have mattered. I mean I could even say thing like, "don't trust non christians they are all liars" or "Don't trust any of the black people here this year, they aren't christians." Or "God flushed the toilet on New Orleans, too bad all the trash ended up in Texas." (those are all quotes from actual teachers there, and returning teachers.) I could drop names, but I don't see the point.. According to my bosses (FHSU and ICED) on three separate occasions I was ranked as the #1 cooperating teacher in China over the first 18 months of my contract.

2. I wasn't causing trouble. I was often blamed by people for things I had nothing to do with. Much in the way that a certain current head of ICED was blamed by the misfits for other problems. In that same situation we were both made scapegoats for different groups.

3. My key word phrase is "has been taken over by individuals from the tentmakers." Is that wrong? I hear you have a new VP who is one of the major backers of the tentmakers. huh? How about this ad that I found on the net?

Employment:
PURPOSE, plug into yours, LLC - exists solely to recruit and equip missionaries to go to China and share the gospel. The opportunity is unique in that the university that the teachers go to is the only American owned university in China and was built with the sole purpose of impacting China's future leaders. Right now, 15,000 students attend SIAS University and it is quickly becoming the top English program in all of China. Last year we hired 40 Americans to teach at SIAS and we are looking for a similar group to go next year. We had smaller teams form at various Christian universities and they all combined for a large training program here in the states before the team of 40 actually left for China. The teachers are paid missionaries because the university gives them a salary, free room and board, and covers the plane ticket costs. Our organization covers all the administrative costs so it is a REALLY unique opportunity!

it says it all doesn't it? this group is the ONLY group recruiting for SIAS. So how many non christians will be there next year Lee? How about the year after?

4. I was wrong:that there is 1 non practicing jew this year, 1 catholic, and a few "non religious" christians.

5. complaining and foul mouthed attitude? Did I complain? yes I did. i complained when I saw something that was WRONG. But I took my complaints to ICED. was I fouled mouthed... I guess... I could be. But then again lee, in the real world you often hear much more objectionable speech than mine. And if it burns your ears, I'm sorry. I tried to keep my "foul mouth" to myself, and succeeded more often than I failed.


6. Lee I was more than happy to leave SIAS behind me in my past. I was happy to leave it there. I had good memories of SIAS except for the last 6 weeks. my family and I made a "home" there. I loved my job. But you see Lee, other people have been bashing me in public (look over the history on the wikipedia page, as well as people at SIAS saying that I was canned because I was all the problems, as well as people ast SIAS questioning my marriage, and bad mouthing me as a teacher.) so yes, I am a bit bitter about that.

as for your dig about being against missionaries... tht would depend on which type of missionaries you are talking about... I adored several older teachers from before you showed up. The missionaries who LIE to students, who use their positions to openly break their contracts and break chinese law. the "missionaries' who badmouth non christians... I have a problem with them. And unfortunatley there are about a dozen, who have risen to power at SIAS.

Once the non practicing jew and the cahtolic are gone, I expect that SIAS will be all white, all missionary christians there to spread the word. But that is just my humble opinion.

[lburto]

I can tell from your immediate 5,000 word reply that you've left it in the past.

Since you can't seem to drop it, I suggest you get more accurate information from your "sources" in the future as there are currently 9 people of African decent here.

AJ

[adorabilly]

the nigerian students?

or do you mean there are 9 african american foreign language experts? If there are 9 african american foreign experts, that is great. Then I was misinformed. if there are latinos, great.

But how many are from any other group besides the tentmakers, and plugintoyours.com? and how many will be next year? And for the forseeable future?


Lee, I have never had a problem with you.

and my 1000 word reply was because I had heard from 4 different people that I needed to read the reply to my post on daveseslscafe. So I came and ready the reply.

and I was floored that you attacked me. If you disagree with me, simple. Say it. If I am wrong, I'd be very happy to have the record set straight. Except NO ONE there seems willing to set the record straight. There are lots of evasions, lies and out right slander against me. You called me a blow hard (I believe it was), someone named JOEL (whom I have never met, nor had interactions with)from purpose use the term (previously fired will, and instigating trouble. How would he know anything about this unless people have been badmouthing me), I have David M putting my name on stuff I didn't write in wikipedia.org. I have heard of several teachers questioning the validity and love of my marriage, and i have heard from about 6 students that certain teachers there are bad mouthing my name.

I'm greatly disappointed that this is happening, and as such I have responded rather roughly. But instead of answering my questions and claims, I get a short "I can see you are over it." reply. Nice. Really designed to open communication.

Who is doing the recruiting? Where are these recruits coming from? What are they told before they get there? How are they behaving while they are there? Are they knowingly breaking chinese law, and misusing their positions as teachers? (I can cite at least a dozen examples from last year, but I tried to let it be. People kept bringing me into it. I have tried to do the same thing since I left, and yet again, people keep saying things about me.)

Those were my problems at the end of last year, and they still bother me. I happen to care a great deal about the students who are there, and I seriously question the abilities of "paid missionaries" who want to use teaching to "get their foot in the door." (those are quotes from plugintoyours.com btw).

Lee do you dispute any of my claims about the tentmakers being in charge of SIAS recruitment? Or about all of the new teachers coming from either the tentmakers, lee university, or UC davis? (and don't try to point to the teachers hired by FHSU, they don't count because Fort Hayes State University hired them directly for their BGS progtram.)

[Snehulak]

Has anything changed at SIAS in the last few years? I'm mostly concerned with the Christian connection (plugintoyours). Since I am not an Evangelical Christian, I am worried about facing discrimination or not being able to renew my contract. Also, does anyone have any detailed information about the faculty apartments (private kitchen or bath?)?

I was hired to teach English comp I/II so am unsure whether I'll be placed in the same housing with the conversation teachers.

Any other info will be greatly appreciated.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

Can't address your concerns directly, but I did find this:

[evaforsure]

[Mister Al]

OP, it sounds just awful, though I'm not familiar with any of it. Make sure it's what you want before you leap.

[englishgibson]

by now， OP might have been promoted there。 have ou noticed this thread was started 4 years back and bounced back twice？

so， SAIS-Sino American International School？ sounds awesome

i think there�re a few around the country with such a name。

cheers and beers to Sino American