Well said beelze.

The last FT I knew here did a flit after getting her one way ticket from australia paid upfront, for all I know she has since flitted back down under. Point is, the agent/recruiter stupidly paid for her ticket in advance (not normal protocol I know!), but if the college or FAO herself had paid for it, they would be left without a FT and not having got the airfare money back they paid for her to get there in the first place. Most would rather outsource all the initial hassle of getting an FT in the classroom, to some company that can deal with it, not saying it is right or wrong, just how it is.

You're right, it's not just a question of what's right or wrong; if the Chinese feel let down and out of pocket by one FT they will take it out on the next one and try and balance their books that way....we may or may not be talking about crooked books, but the point is, your actions will affect FT's who follow you. Did you all sit around under Manchester anguishing over Plato and Aristotle, you seem very wise?