Support Faculty Services Office

The office is essential for faculty well being and retention. In fact the university should be giving it more or less support. Canceling the office now would be a further sign that the university does not appreciate the faculty or care for their well being.

Dina has, from the word go, gone above and beyond in her work supporting us. We need people like Dina supported and protected.

Dina Touta does an excellent job and an essential one.

Dina's wealth of knowledge about Egypt and helpfulness to faculty are an incredible campus resource that should not only be supported, but championed. She's a fantastic ambassador for AUC.

Although the title was formerly Faculty Services, senior members of the AUC staff were always included in the service it provided: mail service, use of the library, orientation at the beginning of the year, general support including organizing pairing up of existing staff with incoming staff whether foreign or Egyptian and the trips which are for both Egyptian and foreign staff and faculty. It could be extended to more levels of staff too but obviously not every level. Ms. Touta has provided and excellent service to all and is especially welcoming to newcomers.

I had the pleasure of being on the hiring cmte, the Faculty Services Cmte (FSC), to hire Dina. We were certain that she was perfect for the job. She worked alongside Louise for several months learning the ins and outs of the position before assuming full responsibility. We are proud to have her in her position. To say that we, the FSC, appreciate Dina, is an understatement. She takes care of the responsibilities of the office in addition to being available during non-office hours. For example when we lost our colleagues Marcus and Florin, who often participated in Faculty Service activities and excursions, Dina was there to assist their families and to assist grieving faculty, all while grieving herself. I'm hopeful that the comments on this petition won't go unnoticed bc her efforts have positively impacted so many of us at a time when there is low morale across the campus.

I second and support all the statements made here by the commentators before me concerning the necessity for the OFS and our very good fortune to have someone as professional and personable as Dina Touta to run it. In an ideal world the administration would have have consulted faculty before making any changes to what has is a well established and tremendously successful service for faculty. I wonder who came up with this harebrained idea of converting the faculty lounge into a hair dressing salon, and how this might make a greater contribution to the five new AUC pillars than the OFC!

Dina Touta is fabulous. She is very professional very personable and runs an extremely efficient and needed and desired office.

I can't imagine having arrived at AUC without having had Dina and her office to support me through this difficult transition. I find it difficult to understand how AUC plans to recruit and retain faculty in her absence. New hires, I predict, will never fully acclimate themselves to Egypt, and never come to appreciate what the country has to offer. AUC will have an even more difficult time retaining outstanding faculty than it does at present.

I think the work done by this office and its director is absolutely indispensable to the welfare of the AUC community.

I totally support this petition. OFS has been providing a wide range of valuable services to AUC faculty. Ms. Dina Touta is a passionate and energetic manager sparing no effort to help all AUC faculty.

I fully support this petition: OFS has been vital in managing shipments and post, social activities, and practical help with getting set up in Cairo. New faculty, in particular, need OFS to support them in their transition.

I second the comments here, Dina does a fine job, which is of great importance to the faculty. If the university wants to cut costs there is in other places plenty of administrative deadwood that can be cut out.

The support offered to faculty and others by this office has been pivotal in helping to retain faculty. New arrivals find excellent advice about living in Cairo and rapidly become part of the AUC community through the activities, trips and other events that Dina has been wonderful about organizing. Furthermore she has been great in helping to solve problems, offer advice and generally facilitate getting things done.

I don't know that my comments can add much that hasn't already been stated by others, and I second and agree with all of their words. Dina, the Office of Faculty Services, and the Faculty Lounge have been an important part of my adjustment and integration at AUC, particularly as a foreign faculty member. The services Dina provides directly are invaluable, from the high impact trips to the essential information about navigating AUC and Egypt. But I think the greatest impact of Dina and the OFS is the faculty community here at AUC. I genuinely believe the integration and interdisciplinary communication that I value would not exist without the influence of the OFS and Dina herself.

This Office and Dina Touta in particular provide an essential and very welcoming service to t Faculty, esp. new but also continuing. This role is vital for fulfilling our strategic commitment in recruiting American faculty. I can not thank Dina enough for her hard work in assisting faculty with a myriad of questions. She would be sorely missed.

I find it particularly concerning that no where in the 2020 strategic plan does it mention retention of faculty. The possible folding of the OFS is further proof that AUC is not interested in faculty retention. I do hope that the administration proves these concerns unfounded by sending the right message that we are not seen as disposable. While I have great respect for Ms. Touta and certainly want to see her continue in her role as she is more qualified than most for this position, I do not see this as something personal with regard to Ms. Touta herself. The need for a functional and well-integrated OFS is essential to any university, especially an international one that values institutional effectiveness.

As a foreign hire faculty member moving to Egypt to work at AUC, Faculty Services and Dina Touta have been indispensable. Not only is it the events, large and small, that are organized, but it is the daily answers and connections that she and the program provide that help me feel more at home and settled, and thus able to commit more to my job and to give to my AUC students. So many of the benefits have been taken away from faculty recently and this mainstay is one of the final few offerings that sets AUC apart from foreign universities elsewhere. If retention of foreign faculty is of interest this program is absolutely essential.

I second the comments above. Faculty Services and Dina's outstanding efforts are much needed and valued by the community.

I second the comments made here, I, too, found the assistance and support of the Faculty Services Offices invaluable when I started at AUC last year, and I believe that Dina is the most competent and best equipped person for this office! I cannot imagine what kind of a start and general campus life foreign and general new faculty would have without her and the office!