Hello, I am new to this forum and wanted to share about my own experience at Yang En. I have been teaching at YEU since September of 2004. When I arrived and for about 5 years it was the greatest place on earth for me. I lovd my classes, didn't mind being outside of Quanzhou City which is about 40 minutes away. There was a large international staff at the time I arrived. In 2005 the man whose dream it was to build the university passed away and family members took over the administration. Since that time, the university has gone from good to bad to very bad.
They no longer keep their contracts, have taken away any air or travel allowance unless you have proof of purchase of leaving the country. They have not paid their staff on time and refused to pay Overtime until the end of the term. This past year we've had Chinese teachers "protest" and "strike" refusing to teach unless there were changes. The government stepped in when they went on strike. For the past two months we have been paid our salary and overtime at the end of the month according to our contract.
Equipment in classrooms have not been repaired since 2008 and the WC has no running water in a majority of the buildings holding classrooms.
The students are just as lovely as ever and I still enjoy my classes, but I am saddened to say that this is the last year for me at this university. It's time to move on.
I would
not encourage others to apply to come here unless they can overlook the things metnioned above. Even the majority of Chinese teachers will be leaving and not returning for the next term. I hope this is helpful to those looking for future employment in China or the Quanzhou area.
Update: Since posting the above I have made arrangements to leave the university and this has been a nightmare!
When trying to get my "letter of reference" (which is required by law in order to leave and find another job in the same province) I was given the run around stating they were not allowed to sign or seal (by stamp) any documents with approval from the woman in charge. I had Chinese friends call the government in Fuzhou and were they in turn were told that this was, in fact, a legal document but that they were also aware of concerns in this university. To make a very long story short, the president who has been here for the past year suddenly disappeared and the Government sent another one to replace him just for the duration of the graduating ceremony so they'd have a signature on their Diploma when they graduated. If it were not for this "stand in" Vice President, who cares nothing for the woman in charge or shows no fear of her commanded the Foreign Affairs Office to do their job and stamp the document as required, I would not have got my Visa to stay in this country. If it were not for this man, I'd still be fighting for my stamp. All the while they kept asking me to stay! As it turns out, the stand in VP was a friend of university trying to get my new Visa.
As the time comes to leave here, I am only too happy to say goodbye to a place I once took so much pleasure being a part of.
Once again, I would encourage other teachers to not come here. She is running the place into the ground. It's plain and simple that she wishes to bring it to it's end. For what reason? Who knows? You do not want to be a part of it!
Students have said the University was a Level 2 in the Province, but has been put down to a Level 3 meaning that only students from Fujian province will be admitted and the story is that there are very few students applying to come here next term. Many, many Chinese teachers are also leaving and at this time there are only the remaining Filipino teachers (6 in total) and 2 foreign teachers who are staying. One from the UK and one American.