Jefri Tamba

Review of Ivane javakhishvili tbilisi st...

When I started at IJU nearly 6 years ago, it was a...

When I started at IJU nearly 6 years ago, it was an ideal work environment. The administration was flexible and the workload was standard (18 hours teaching -- sometimes a few hours release in exchange for working on projects or other commitments).

About a year and a half ago, there was a management overhaul and department reconstruction. Since then, the overall atmosphere has been declining rapidly. There is an air of gloom and depression running throughout the center. With this semester, it seems the trend is to cut as many teachers as possible to save money.

A typical day at work consists of 4 hours of teaching (2 2-hr courses); atypically, you could have 3 2-hr courses, but this is unlikely for most people. You're required to have 8 office hours per week, which is a bit excessive (especially since they're more about completing lesson planning and paperwork, as not many students come), but the total "on-property" workload is roughly 26 hours/week.

This is expected to change, however, as the new administration wants to itemize each cent that is being paid out. Therefore, it may soon go from a "be here when you're working" atmosphere to a 8-4/10-6 atmosphere.

I had the opportunity to work on many areas of professional development during my time here: materials development and editing, a range of courses starting with the lowest foundation level to credit academic writing classes.

The most enjoyable part of the job is the students. Overall, they're lovely individuals and most are eager to learn. They make you want to help them by being who they naturally are.

The hardest part of the job is dealing with illogical practices and unfair administration tactics. However, this is to be expected in a management shift.

Still, despite the negative aspects of the administration, I've enjoyed my time here, and I am glad I had the opportunity to have this experience.