John Mewburn
- 2010-06-11
It is obvious that the writer has no idea about the system for university accreditation in Indonesia, nor about the time frame involved. It takes at least four years for a major to become accredited.
I have been working for President University for more than four years, during that time I have seen three majors accredited, with two more due in July this year. Not bad for a university that is only eight years old.
During the time I have worked for President University, I have had far less problems than I have had working for other colleges and National Plus schools here.
The Indonesian students, who know the regulations about accreditation, are still very happy to come here because they realize that the chances of them getting a good job when they graduate from President University, are far greater than if they graduated from any other university in Indonesia.
The reason being President University's unique internship program, and the fact that they attend classes that are taught entirely in English, although the quality of English from some of the local lecturers leaves a lot to be desired.
Part of my work at President University is to ensure that President University will become a well known university internationally, and I am proud to be part of its success.
John Mewburn
Lecturer
President University
Zorobabel
- 2010-05-05
A few questions:
1) As a point of reference, are you comparing your experience at this 'university' to universities worldwide or to other jobs you have had in Indonesia? Generally speaking, what you have described sounds fairly standard for most foreign teaching jobs in Indonesia, but that may be a misinterpretation on my part.
2) What is the average salary for foreign lecturers at President University? Is it a standard 2-year contract? Do they offer housing?
I guess those are all my questions for now. Thanks.
Poorly managed and poorly operated schools in Indonesia are as common as mosquitoes. The question is: when do ESL teachers draw the line in the sand when accepting positions at these schools. English language centers are commonly poorly managed and operated for the sole purpose of enrollment and not for their educational value to the community they serve.
When a school buys the tag "University" the expectation is that the operation runs professionally, is well managed and upholds the honor and integrity universities worldwide morally and ethically maintain.
President University is NOT one of these universities and the laundry list of shady dealings with lecturers and students would be too much for a basic school review here. It is our recommendation that foreign teachers do some serious studying and verifying before accepting ANY lecturer position at President University.
LOCATION: President University
Wisma Jababeka Jl Cikarang Baru Raya, Bekasi 17550
Telephone: 89109762-63
Fax: 89109768
Website: http://www.presuniv.com
Email: enrollment@presuniv.com
President University seems to enjoy building itself up to students as being a world-class educational institute which is on par with some of the top universities in the world.
EXAMPLE: "President University is a 21st Century Institution of Learning created to train tomorrow's leaders in industry and society.
President University attracts the best and brightest students from Indonesia and abroad by offering innovative internship programs,
an all English learning environment, and extensive scholarship programs. Read more about our world-class academic programs, superb
facilities, and the success stories of our graduates." http://www.president.ac.id/v2/home/
How is a 21st century, world-class academic institute with superb facilities NOT EVEN ACCREDITED IN ITS OWN COUNTRY?
EVIDENCE: Teknik Elektro S-1 3586/D/T/2006 2010-09-25 Belum Terakreditasi (Not Yet Accredited)
Teknik Mesin S-1 1760/D/T/2007 2011-07-12 Belum Terakreditasi
Teknik Industri S-1 3587/D/T/2006 2010-09-25 Belum Terakreditasi
Teknik Informatika S-1 3588/D/T/2006 2010-09-25 Terakreditasi-B 2012-09-07
Sistem Informasi S-1 1761/D/T/2007 2011-07-12 Belum Terakreditasi
Manajemen S-1 2457/D/T/K-IV/2009 2013-06-12 Belum Terakreditasi
Akuntansi S-1 2459/D/T/K-IV/2009 2013-06-12 Belum Terakreditasi
Ilmu Administrasi Niaga S-1 3589/D/T/2006 2010-09-25 Belum Terakreditasi
Ilmu Hubungan Internasional S-1 1762/D/T/2007 2011-07-12 Belum Terakreditasi
Ilmu Komunikasi S-1 3590/D/T/2006 2010-09-25 Belum Terakreditasi
SOURCE: http://www.pts.co.id/?q=profil-pts&kode=041-041
How can a university which is NOT EVEN ACCREDITED by its own country make claims of world-class and international superbness? How can they give out Bachelor Degrees when they have not even achieved National Accreditation by Indonesia itself? What is the post-graduate value of these "NON-Accredited" bachelor degrees? As President University has boldly copied the "3 semester year, 10 semester degree" idea from Bond Institute and Indonesia has roughly 26 holidays per year that eliminate the student from class for roughly 1 semester of the 10 semesters they need to complete a 3 year degree, HOW DO THESE STUDENTS ACHIEVE ENOUGH CLASS HOURS TO EARN THE CREDITS FOR A BACHELORS?
In addition, how is it that marketing can claim international recognition to newly enrolled students when older students are routinely being denied post-graduate transfer, abroad and domestic, from Class A and Class B Universities worldwide?
Furthermore, WHAT FACILITIES WOULD THEY BE TALKING ABOUT? President University is ONE building located in Jababeka, an industrial village roughly 45-1 1/2 hours from Central Jakarta. The dorms are a 5 minute walk across the street next to an eating area known as Plaza Resto. One might be surprised to see the 8ft tall chain-link fence which surrounds the female dormitories and is locked by chain and padlock at 12pm every night turning "world-class" university dorm life into a nightly female prison. This chain-link fence is often referred to as the "monkey cage" due to its similar zoo equivalent. One should note here that the male dormitories DO NOT have the similar fence thus begging the question: Are the females uncivilized?
The research facilities that are seen in brochures and on the website DO NOT EXIST. The photos used by MARKETING clearly are taken from some other University.
Students at President University aka PU are required to do a thesis for their 9 semester bachelor degree. This would seem OK except that it is required in ENGLISH. Now PU states that their campus is an "English Environment" yet one can easily walk around and hear Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian throughout. Even the staff rarely can be heard operating in "English". Students are brought from all parts of Vietnam, Mainland China and various areas of Indonesia and often have less than Pre-Intermediate English abilities. How can a Pre-Intermediate citizen of China POSSIBLY compete in their major which is taught in English if they cant even understand the language yet and barely speak it? Naturally, President University allows "open book" finals so perhaps students can just cheat their way through the degree and thesis. Cheating and methods to curb cheating are at opposite ends of the pole. Cheating by students in President University is rampant. Plagiarism is rampant. Students late to class or just plain not attending is rampant. Why? Because PU has no policies that they actually enforce to curb these problems.
Management of President University is a thesis in itself. The management is run like a factory and their poor decision making and lack of procedures and efficiency is classic.
Contracts with lectures are completely non-transparent and often don't even hold up to the employment laws of Indonesia (which is no real comfort as the legal system of Indonesia is corrupted to the point of useless). It is common for lecturers to have totally different contracts. Now this is normal under most circumstances except that the basic tenets of the contracts change from person to person. President University's Human Resource Department is terribly run and oversight is basically non-existent. Therefore, they negotiate contracts as if a person and their qualifications mean nothing. To their credit, they do pay on time. The point here is that they show little sincere respect to high qualified and verified lecturers and make offers to you lower than the last lower qualified hire they had in the same department as yours. Transparency is ABSOLUTE ZERO for potential hires and current staff at President University.
As the Village of Jababeka seems to be pulling the strings here, there is no clear chain of command or leadership at President University. As a result, getting answers and resolving issues is a process that is better compared with a game of ping-pong as you bounce back and forth from person to person for months on end to no avail.
One could carry on and on here but this is enough for anyone who has sincere teaching desires to really take a close look at PU before obligating themselves to this establishment. We would recommend that you scrutinize everything before signing or committing to President University. We recommend that you go to their website http://www.president.ac.id/v2/home/, email their "Global Partners", request/demand to speak with various other lecturers, foreign and local, have a lawyer review and amend the contract before signing, demand an alumni list to verify the validity of the degree and academics of President University, talk to students currently enrolled, clarify the living situation here for you and for students, etc, etc, etc.
In the end the decision is yours and we hope that this helps you pursue a more informed decision whether you accept a position, decline a position, accept enrollment or decline enrollment.