the Truth comes to Light .. (a very important testimony)

People,

I want to clarify: this is a post from Dr. Kareem Darwish, who was one of our most beloved and respected doctors if you ask anyone from our first batches who had the chance to study under him.

Dr. Kareem resigned early in protest to the wrongs of the Guc - he wrote this now after I and some other of his past students approached him, asked him to help us, we warned him he could be attacked with accusations from the university's, but we needed his help. He had nothing to gain, but he obliged.

We thank you Dr. Kareem, and all the others who stand with us for no reason other than doing whats right ..

This is a very important testimony .. You have to read.


AA,
    Below are my thoughts.
Kareem

A dispute ensues between an employee and his employer over pay, where the employer deducted a portion of the employee's pay for “not completing the required work hours.” This happens frequently at workplaces everyday everywhere. However, this time was slightly different than usual. The employee was not a blue collar worker, but rather a college professor. The employer was a university. The employee was one of the distinguished faculty members at the university, where he delivered some of the best lectures, assigned serious projects to students, spent countless hours mentoring students, supervised graduate students, held students to the highest academic standards, collaborated with external research organizations, and published in international conferences. It would seem puzzling that such a faculty member would get a pay deduction, particularly that there was clearly no sign of dereliction of duty!

This is how my story with the GUC ended. I discovered a pay deduction in May, 2005 salary on May 29, 2005 and the ensuing discussion with the university on the morning of May 30, 2005 where I demanded my full pay was utterly fruitless. What I was told by the university president, who was practically powerless, was that I did “excellent work”, but given the punch-in punch-out records I was “missing some hours” and if “I don't like the rules, I should leave”. I promptly submitted my resignation within an hour of that discussion.

When I was interviewing with the GUC, I was constantly told that the GUC aspired to be the best university in Egypt, aimed to be a premier research organization, held students and faculty to the highest academic standards, and cared about quality. I was swooned by what I heard, and decided to quit my post at the University of Maryland in the US and join the GUC. My first day at the GUC was January 16, 2004. Unfortunately, on that specific day I felt that I was completely deceived by the less-than-truthful propaganda. On my first day, I realized that I had to leave once I find a new opportunity. Many things led me to this conclusion, but most strikingly was when I was told by the person who was training the faculty for proctoring that if we observe a student cheating from a cheat-sheet we are only allowed to take away the cheat-sheet and the student should continue the exam normally. When I protested such lame action, I was told that the GUC is “a private university”. In more blunt terms, the GUC is a “for-profit” outfit and it should not upset its customers!

The for-profit theme (at the expense of academic quality) continued through out my tenure at the GUC. Some of the exhibitions of this theme included:

1. Senseless and exorbitant pay cuts and financial penalties on faculty and students for “infractions”. I was astonished when the administration placed gates where faculty members would punch-in and punch-out. It was billed initially as a security measure. However, the information collected from the gates was meant to “catch” faculty who would leave half an hour early on one day or arrive a bit late to promptly deduct from their pay. I would perhaps accept such a practice at a factory, but to see this being done at an academic institution where faculty typically spend countless hours at home preparing lectures, working on research, or grading papers, this was just too much. This was simply a cost-cutting ploy.
2. Failure to pay social insurance for faculty and staff. I spent nearly 20 months at the GUC and the GUC neither gave me a formal contract nor paid social insurance for me.
3. Denying simple requests for research material. I submitted a request to obtain material for approximately $800 to be able to conduct research. After a protracted and arduous request process, I never got any response back. Lack of response was an effective NO.
4. Prolonged delays in installing air conditioning units in offices despite the sweltering heat.
5. Failure to give yearly raises to faculty and staff that are specified by labor law.
6. Assigning faculty an unreasonable proctoring duties that other universities typically hire temporary contractors to do or at least give bonus pay for the staff who participate in such proctoring.
7. Failure to provide adequate supplies for some of the labs. I had to request that students buy electronic supplies to make a project for one of my classes, because I was simply told that the university was not going to spend the money for such supplies.
   And the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, I regret joining the GUC, where I think I wasted 20 months of my life. After leaving the GUC, I was blessed with a researcher position at IBM and later at Microsoft Research. The only thing I appreciate about the GUC was mentoring some wonderful students who believed that they can get a good education, dreamed of great things, and were willing to exert themselves. Given initial enthusiasm of people and the available resources, the GUC could have been a great place for faculty and students. However, the for-profit mentality that gripped its administration poisoned and ruined its potential, alienating students and driving good faculty members to leave.

Kareem Darwish