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[alleyoxenfree]

drstella raises excellent questions, worth asking of any institution.  Far too many, in the U.S. as well, have the kind of problems others raised here.  I appreciated the candor of the deleted posts.  It is far too difficult for most academics to get the kind of truthful information that would impact their teaching and research life and make the job doable or not.  The Chronicle is always running articles that say things like "tap into your network" or "have your dissertation advisor make inquiries."  The sad fact is that most academic bad behavior or simple lack of professionalism happens under the radar and therefore newbies are sitting ducks for walking into bad situations.  This would not be as big a deal if it weren't so colossally hard to find and leave an academic job - it's not like quitting Joe's Bar & Grill and going around the corner to another diner.  Also, most academics I know have dissertation advisors who are retired or not in any way likely to spend time fact-finding.  A letter of recommendation every few years is hard enough to get.  That makes it sadder that the moderators here would deny potential recruits specifics.  The only consolation is that universities who can't get their act together - whether at home or abroad - will continue to face professorial attrition and student dropouts.

[promovenda]

Don't have any experience with said U., but in my (extensive) experience, the Balkans and especially former Yugoslavia are not restful places to live. Having said that, I wish them well. Sarajevo is a beautiful place and deserves a better future. But unless you have a taste for adventure, I would proceed carefully.

Yes. When I said "taste for adventure," I meant something of what drstella says in the above post. Caveat emptor, so to speak.

[witness]

The Chronicles (new?) policy of deleting posts that are critical has turned this thread, which began as a negative critique cum warning to the unwary about what appears to be an institution of highly questionable integrity into a (free) advertising and recruitiment space for the place, which is likely to be highly misleading to any newcomers to the forum who are rendered unable by the deletions to appraise themselves of the back story.  If the appearance of people's names in posts is a potential problem legally, delete the names and leave the rest of the text intact please.  It's called freedom of speech.

[profxfiles]

The Chronicles (new?) policy of deleting posts that are critical has turned this thread, which began as a negative critique cum warning to the unwary about what appears to be an institution of highly questionable integrity into a (free) advertising and recruitiment space for the place, which is likely to be highly misleading to any newcomers to the forum who are rendered unable by the deletions to appraise themselves of the back story.  If the appearance of people's names in posts is a potential problem legally, delete the names and leave the rest of the text intact please.  It's called freedom of speech.

I hate to be the political scientist here, but freedom of speech only means that the state cannot limit your speech--it has no bearing on a private enterprise such as the CHE. When you set up an account and "agreed" to all the fine print that NONE of us read, you effectively agreed to give the CHE moderators the power to delete or edit anything you post.

That said, I agree this thread is now VERY confusing and I, too, would appreciate an effort by the moderators to use a more judicious "line-item" veto on questionable posts rather than the current all-or-nothing approach.

[witness]

Quote: Profxfiles: I hate to be the political scientist here, but freedom of speech only means that the state cannot limit your speech--it has no bearing on a private enterprise such as the CHE. When you set up an account and "agreed" to all the fine print that NONE of us read, you effectively agreed to give the CHE moderators the power to delete or edit anything you post.

That said, I agree this thread is now VERY confusing and I, too, would appreciate an effort by the moderators to use a more judicious "line-item" veto on questionable posts rather than the current all-or-nothing approach.

----------------


Fair point regarding the conditions and contexts of freedom of speech etc. 

More broadly, these CHE forums provide a valuable resource for forum users, and this one on working overseas is invaluable in that it can offer, if used well, a lot of help to unsuspecting and unwary young newly qualified academics just off the PhD and excited and nervous about job opportunities, in deciding where to go and where not to go.  That means that it is essential that the moderators are more judicious in their editing policy, as pforxfiles says, but it is also the responsibility of posters, and especially those with negative appraisals to share, to try to keep it legal and state what they have to say in a appropriate manner.  Ensure that it is not too personal; specifically, don't name names and don't let what could and should be a reasoned and 'objectively' expressed critique of the facts about a place as you see them, turn into what the institution's defenders can all too easily construct and dismiss as the rantings of a serial misfit and malcontent.

This thread attracted my attention because I had seen the AUB was advertising posts and when I read the now deleted contributions, and working in the Turkish university system as I do, it all seemed very, very familiar indeed.  Anyone interested in that is referred to the 'Avoid Fatih University at all costs' thread.  I was there at Fatih for some of the time referred to in various posts on that thread and can vouch for their accuracy and truth.

At the risk of being guilty of what I gather from North American friends and colleagues is called the racism of lowered expectations, anyone leaving North America or Western Europe for places like Turkey, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, and so on, if threads on the CHE are to be believed, needs to lower their expectations and expect shysterism, broken promises and downright skullduggery at every turn. 

Just see the posts on here about institutions in the above named places. The thing is people, they play by different rules out here and the game ain't cricket (or baseball for that matter).   My point is, if you are going to leave the comforts of home, know before you do that you are going to be swimming with sharks in universities in these types of places.  In my years in Turkey, a period which mercifully is going to end soon, of my own volition, I have seen things, which happen on an everyday and unremarked way basis, that from a moral and ethically pont of view, revolted me, both in the university and beyond it.   

I cannot vouch for the truth of the contents of the deleted posts, and had I been the author of any of them I would have tried to express myself in a less generalized and anecdotal way, and given detailed accounts of specific incidents, etc. However, when I read them they rang true, because it all sounded so much like things I have seen in Turkey, and read of on other threads here reporting the misdeeds of institutions outside of North America and Western Europe.  What is so striking is that the lists of unethical activity alway describe the same kind of things, whatever the country.

Conversely, those defending AUB sound to me just like the cheerleaders of Fatih for three years ago who, under some pressure from the guys upstairs, posted on that thread singing the praises of the university.  At the time I refused, and there was a payback.  Two years later, half of them did not have their contracts renewed, and for no good reason, other than perhaps as some sort of poetic justice for playing stooge two years earlier.

As for the post that appears to be from the university admin itself, to use the rhetoric of gender and ethnic equality in response to claims (to me very credible) about AUB students made in the deleted posts is a cynical manipulation of a discourse whose propose is to make the world a better place and should never (though it often is) be used to defend all manner of nefarious private agendas.  The fact that it was used thus only (to me at least who has seen and heard it all in over a decade in Turkey) merely evidence of the sheer shamelessness of these types of rogue institutions, and such institutions are all over the place, it seems.

Anyone considering working abroad shoud be mindful of the difference between public sector and private institutions (you get much more employment protection and better working conditions, etc. in the public sector) and be mindful also of the difference between a private university in the US and one in the world beyond North American and Western Europe.

To quote the advice of a Czech railway worker to the Germans in Bohumil Hrabal's Closely Observed Trains: 'you should have stayed at home and sat on your arse.'  I wish I had.

[lowercase]

Good article in yesterday's NYT's Week in Review section on Bosnia's current, and possible future.

 

[wessex]

If you need a job, then this place will due.  However, I would try to stay out of anywhere on offer except Sarajevo.  If you want more to think about before risking it here, look at the Balkans forum on Dave's ESL Cafe.

[wessex]

I've had a chance to go through this thread, and having been an original poster, before the editing, I've found that it has become truly distorted.  It seems that the AUBIH administration,  and various sycophants, have tried to create the impression that only a malcontent or an idiot wouldn't want to work here.  The opposite is true, pure and simple.  If you're desperate, it's any port in a storm, but otherwise don't.  Most of the positive things you read in this thread contain a kernel of truth, for purposes of distortion, but not the whole truth.  The negative comments are far more honest. 

[deepbluec]

I'm a new professor at AUBiH this semester (thought I've been teaching full time at the university level for almost a decade), and my experience there has been very positive overall.  I agree with the general comments of the other professors, and as someone who taught in 9 colleges and universities in the U.S. as well as two international universities (in Asia) I can't say that AUBiH is much different in student quality or the existence of 'challenges' - though as an international university those challenges may differ somewhat from American Universities.  Still, many are the same.  I can only imagine that anyone looking for a 'problem' free place to work hasn't a very realistic idea of what academia is like (or the world).  All institutions have their problems, issues, challenges.  AUBiH is very 'normal' in that respect, and located in a lovely place, with excellent faculty and staff who, more so than many other places I've worked, seem genuinely concerned about their students and their faculty, and are serious about building a quality institution.  In addition, one feels that one has the chance to make a real contribution working here since the university is small and new, and the first 'American' university in the area.  It is, however, probably not the place for new graduates who lack sufficient experience to handle a classroom effectively, or those who are not comfortable with (or excited by the challenge of) living and working in other cultures. 

[smallchange]

I worked for AUBIH for what was, on balance, the most soul destorying year of my life, despite my fondness for Bosnia. My regret is that I did not leave after semester 1. I now work for International University of Sarajevo. The difference is absolute.  So far it has proved to be a joy-a joy with glitches, but a joy nonetheless. I work with genuine scholars in an atmosphere of caring and mutual respect. The students, while variable in ability, are universally respectful and diligent. The teaching demands, (four courses a semester) are high, as are the demands for scholarship, but the classes are easy to manage, and the scholarship, unlike at  AUBIH, is supported, with one conference a year paid for and a bonus for refereed articles published.
I hear things are better this year At AUBIH, but I do question its long term viability, as there are three private institutions already in Bosnia with better reputations, if less of an advertising budget.

No, Bosnia is in no danger of collapsing, and is a fascinating, if challenging, place to live. Unlike AUBIH, which tends to employ people who could not get jobs elsewhere or who are in need of large money (they pay rather well for the region) IUS is building an international community of serious scholars. If you MUST come to Bosnia (and why wouldn't you) consider our University, which has plans to expand and will be in need of personnel.

[wessex]

I spent a very long year at AUBIH in Tuzla and regretted every day.  That is based on a year of experience not a month.  It seems odd to me that some people claim to be super experienced, but just happen to be new to these forums, and become apologists for someplace where they've been for a month.

[shamu]

They have a dress code:
http://www.aubih.edu.ba/en/academics/documents/AUBiH-DressCode%28en%29.pdf

I especially like the fact that bad teeth or the lack of teeth are not allowed. Must have a good dental plan.

[smallchange]

Oh yes, the dress code-I had a back molar pulled recently, so I guess there is no crawling back for little me. Note that it is very important to keep your desk neat. No stacks of papers, empty coffee cups, etc. Also, though it is not in the dress code, professors are not allowed to ride bicycles because it is not professorial looking.
There is a long approval process for guest lecturers too, as they don't want "someone who used to work here who might damage the University." What does THAT say?
If you are willing to utterly compromise your professional standards for a few bucks and a comfy European lifestyle, then AUBIH is definitely the place for you.

[profxfiles]

They have a dress code:
http://www.aubih.edu.ba/en/academics/documents/AUBiH-DressCode%28en%29.pdf

I especially like the fact that bad teeth or the lack of teeth are not allowed. Must have a good dental plan.

Well, I know they just ruled ME out--I am obsessed with showing my "large cleavage" to my students while wearing "messy footwear" and jeans.

[smallchange]

We have a faculty meeting in a few minutes, so I am searching through my stacks of paper for some strong makeup. If the dress code was the most ridiculous thing about AUBIH, it would be a far better place than it is.