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Change in policy for annual leave air tickets at SQU

 
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lostdegaine



Joined: 16 May 2004
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:49 pm    Post subject: Change in policy for annual leave air tickets at SQU Reply with quote

For those who are considering a position at SQU, be aware that the annual leave ticket policy has changed. Now, the university makes your booking on the airline and with the routing of their choice.

Stopovers are no longer possible. You are not even allowed to book a flight with a stopover and pay the difference between that and the lowest fare.

If you do not want the routing or airline chosen for you, or if you want a stopover, you must take cash in lieu of tickets. This payment is 75% of the lowest economy fare, NOT including taxes. In practice, this works out to closer to 50% of the lowest economy fare.

So as you compare the compensation packages of the various Gulf universities, keep this in mind.
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madrileno



Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 270
Location: Salalah, Oman

PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow! And here I always thought of SQU as being the most desirable position in Oman to aspire to...

Looks like I'll have to look elsewhere once I finally get my MA Sad
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If there is enough of a 'dowsha' over the change, I suspect that it will be adjusted. Every few years they come up with some theory of what will save them money, and it tends to backfire and affect hiring. (they tried dumping education fees for the kids some years back... oops) They are already one of the lowest paying universities in the Gulf, so this will make hiring more difficult for them in the end.

It really is a ludicrous idea. When I was there, the travel people in Admin assigned you to a travel agency who made some ridiculous reservations with 5 plane changes on 3 airlines taking you a day and a half to get to your destination if in North America. Then we would quietly go to the travel agency involved and adjust the ticket as we wished. It wouldn't cost the university a penny more to let people plan their own summer leave and ticket.

This is just another stupid idea that will leave them with egg on their face.

VS
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PattyFlipper



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 572

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

veiledsentiments wrote:
Every few years they come up with some theory of what will save them money, and it tends to backfire and affect hiring.


It is sometimes even a little more insidious than that. Someone in HR decides to use their position to generate a little extra income for themselves, using a particular travel agency to make bookings for all the staff and consequently being suitably rewarded by said grateful travel agency. I'm not saying that is necessarily the case here (though it wouldn't surprise me at all given the levels of corruption in Oman), but it certainly happened at two other Gulf universities at which I worked.

You are right though that the policy could well be revoked if there is sufficient outrage from the faculty (particularly the non-TEFLer academic staff) and when the university administration - eventually - realize that the policy will have a negative impact on staff recruitment and retention.


Last edited by PattyFlipper on Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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veiledsentiments



Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That certainly isn't out of the realm of possibilities in the Gulf, Patty. In the beginning, they had a list of "approved travel agencies" and people were supposed assigned to them randomly and thus fairly. It was a good idea, but I suspect that even this attempt at fairness often got adjusted based on wasta of some sort. The thing is that I don't see how this new tweak to the system funnels any more money to some travel agency with "connections."

This idea does only one thing... screw the teachers.

VS
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PattyFlipper



Joined: 14 Nov 2007
Posts: 572

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If HR are now supposedly booking all the tickets themselves, they may well be using one travel agent exclusively (more than likely, I would think), to the enrichment of all concerned, except of course the teachers.

The 'Personnel Manager' at the University of Bahrain tried something very similar one particular year, suddenly announcing that faculty could only use one (very small, obscure and exceedingly unhelpful) 'travel agent'; the reasons for which were fairly obvious. Cash in lieu was not an option (no 'commissions') and stop-overs or travel to destinations other than one's home country were also prohibited. The ensuing furor, particularly from the Jordanian, Egyptian, and Lebanese professors and lecturers in academic departments, caused a rapid about-face at the last minute, with the President actually calling a full-faculty meeting to issue a very contrite apology. Very Happy
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lostdegaine



Joined: 16 May 2004
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SQU now seems to have relaxed their new ticketing policy somewhat and are allowing teachers to book a stop-over or a different routing if the teacher pays the difference in price between that fare and the cheapest ticket available for the direct flight.
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