You are sharp!! (genuine, not sarcastic comment, if such exist anymore). Actually it’s not even a conscious thing that I do, it’s just the way that things happen when I use Swift typing or Auto correct is turned on when I’m voice typing. For example when I say my University name, National ×× University, with the name deleted, it is not a conscious decision and, under normal circumstances, I would not capitalize the word University.
I’ve worked in cram schools for 12 years. I’ve never been ashamed of this experience. In fact, I use it to guide my in-service teacher trainees. Being a teacher at any school in Taiwan, CRAM school or otherwise, gives you good face.
One can only dream of tenure, in the current climate. Not sure how adorable I am, but I try to be genuine. I’ll take your praise at face value and be glad to have made a new friend
Dream away! But as you must know, there is no formal “tenure” in universities in Taiwan. What you’re aiming for is promotion into the associate professor rank, which functions as a kind of de facto tenure though it is not named as such.
Well, there are 專任 positions open. However, often at poor schools, with very strong competition, or simply hiring project outfits profs under false pretenses.
An associate professor certificate would be attainable, but requires a school/department with the willingness to put you in line for that process.
Yeah, complicated. I do know foreign profs that have proper tenure, but they’re worked like dogs.
I skipped a few dozen posts, so I’m not sure if this has already been addressed or not after the first few posts, but regarding the question of who qualifies for these subsidies, I checked the source of the source:
and they don’t say hourly paid workers are not included who are not included are part-time workers. [I checked their Q&A, and found hourly paid workers are not included]
I’ve recently been told tenure-based contracts exist but also mean accepting local salary levels, so the job security comes with a high financial price compared to a project-based contract (which is what I’m on now). I’m getting this information from an expat trying to make the contract shift for visa-related reasons…
I’ve been on continual annual contract renewal as a full-time instructor for 6 years. At least 3 of those years I’ve had some friendly “encouragement” to enter a PhD program (sometimes taking the form of “an offer you can’t refuse”). And for 2 of those years we’ve been warned about birthrateapocalypse’s effect on our freshmen enrollment numbers and what that means for the future of our programs and retention of staff and instructors. I feel I’m always on a knife’s edge. I just got my latest renewal for yet another year on this merri-go-round. But long term job security doesn’t seem to be in the cards. I stay at it because I enjoy the teaching environment of a university, but if teaching remains online and travel remains a thing of the past then the benefits of lots of vacation, no desk warming, and a fun campus atmosphere kind of become meaningless.
I love everyone speculating on how much a buxiban can make. It is much less than you might think. Around every corner is an expense. When the school starts firing on all cylinders, then you make the big bucks. But it comes at a cost because you sacrifice years of investment and reinvestment followed by years of growing toward maximum profit.
The good part of running a buxiban is that there is a (relatively) low initial investment. I pay for my rent and electricity. My wife and I can run our school by ourselves if the times get tough. Our business can get really lean.
Well, I don’t have the time or passion to pursue a 5-7 year degree that may not even be fully recognized in other countries. If it comes down to pursuing a PhD or leaving academia, I will have to choose the latter.
Can I call them or can I call them? 
