June 24, 2009
Admissions remain open at School of Jewish Communal Service
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Despite plans that could have led to the closure of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Jewish Communal Service in Los Angeles, the board of governors decided Tuesday to keep admissions open for the 2010-2011 school year.
“It was felt by a majority of the board that a full vision and plan of budget reductions for the school had not yet been attained and it would be unwise to single out a particular program for an admission suspension prior to a full plan being adopted,” university President David Ellenson told The Journal.
He added that several governors told the board that the 40-year-old School of Jewish Communal Service, a gem of the L.A. campus, would be “budget neutral in the years ahead.”
The board for the four-campus university had been considering a major reorganization to close a $3 million shortfall. Instead it directed the administration to investigate “structural savings for the institution over the next three years,” Ellenson said, which he said will likely include consolidating programs and faculty, and intregrate them across the three state-side campuses in Cincinnatti, Los Angeles and New York.
“Through consolidation and integration, this direction enables the College-Institute to create a single institution and a single faculty, embrace new technology and realize our vision as ‘One College.’”
Ellenson said such reorganization should give the university a balanced budget by 2014.
