HUC Considering Closing Two Rab School Campuses
Another casualty of the economic crisis. The LA Times reports,
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, a seminary and graduate school for Judaism’s Reform movement, is facing such deep financial troubles that it is considering closing two of its three U.S. campuses, which include a location near downtown Los Angeles.
In a letter sent this week to members of the college community, its president, Rabbi David Ellenson, said pension funding problems, flat donations and declines in its endowment had placed the institution “in the most challenging financial position it has faced in its history — even more so than during the Depression.”
As a result, Ellenson wrote, Hebrew Union’s board of governors will meet next month to discuss such scenarios as whether to keep just one of its three U.S. campuses in Los Angeles, New York and Cincinnati, where the college was founded. Alternatives include merging some academic programs but keeping more than one of its U.S. campuses open, he wrote in the letter, which was released by his office. A decision is expected in June.
Full story here.
Have they said which of the three campuses they’d be keeping?
Not from the article, at least. Though BZ, I think you have *slightly* better contacts with Reform movement insiders than I do…
I would propose that they’re really only going to close one campus. It’ll be LA or Cincinnati, hopefully Cincinnati. But if they do close two, it’ll be those two.
Semi-relevant question: How are JTS, AJU, YU, etc. faring financially? Is HUC doing better or worse than the other Jewniversities?
Dunno, but I wouldn’t include YU in the same class as the other institutions mention. YU is a full-on university with programs other than those pertaining directly to the Jewish community.
And we do know that Hebrew College is also in trouble. I dunno about JTS or AJU though.
From the New York Jewish Week:
Meanwhile, the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary is planning to reduce its faculty by 15 percent in the fall. And the Orthodox movement’s Yeshiva University, faced with an endowment decline of 30 percent, is implementing steps to cut $28 million from its operating budget beginning in July. It will freeze tuition to attract the largest number of qualified students.
The full economic dimensions of the recession at the Jewish Theological Seminary will not be known until the seminary’s board of directors meets next Wednesday, according to Alan Cooper, the seminary provost.
He said the faculty reduction from 59 to 50 was the result of the seminary not renewing the contracts of six full-time contract employees whose contracts expire June 30. The contracts of two other employees that expire next year will also not be renewed, and one of them has chosen to resign this year, Cooper said. Two other faculty members had a phased-out retirement that ends in June.
As a result, Cooper said students would find “fewer courses – primarily elective courses.”.
Kari
As a student from AJU here is what I have noticed and/or have been told. The school is in financial trouble. In fact so much so that (if I recall things correctly)late last fall all of the staff including admin and faculty where asked to take a 10% cut in pay. Also around the same time the entire admissions team was let go (read as fired) presumably because of low enrollment numbers. Last but not least I have been told that donations to AJU are way down as a result of the current economic crisis. Now having said that, there is also a lot of new construction going on on campus so despite the aforementioned AJU appears to be expanding despite its current difficulties. Who knows how good an idea it is. I sure as hell don’t know.
Its hard to say how things are going to play out there and while I’m still committed to the institution myself. I think things will get worse before they get better. The Undergrad program is in bad shape imo and that needs to change if they are going to be sustainable over the long term.
David: That distinction occurred to me too. Still, I’d imagine that they’re hurting as well, given that the economy isn’t just bad for rabbinical schools, right? Further, Jewish institutions in particular could be hurting more due to the thing with Bernie Madoff…
Also, isn’t AJU also a full-on university with programs in areas other than Judaism?
Even if the surviving HUC campus is expanded, they’ll probably end up taking fewer students per year overall, and that’s probably a good thing for everyone: this year is hellish for rabbis looking for jobs, particularly in the Reform movement, where the number of graduating rabbis far exceeds the number of openings. Cutting back the number of new rabbis will help relieve this surplus.
An added bonus might be that if more people who wanted to become rabbis have to pursue other careers instead, there will be a greater number of active Reform Jewish laypeople.
Even if the surviving HUC campus is expanded, they’ll probably end up taking fewer students per year overall, and that’s probably a good thing for everyone…
I hope you’re right. A more cynical view, however, is that they’ll continue taking as many students as possible so as not to miss out on tuition income. That may not apply as much to the rabbinical program, where they may be able to eliminate a lot of fixed costs by reducing the overall size of the student body and consolidating everything at a single campus. But for smaller programs like the cantorial school (which is already more or less a single-campus program), admitting fewer students may actually hurt HUC’s bottom line.
All of the campuses have unique strengths. Losing any of them would be a tragedy.
@David A.M. Wilensky – The Cincinnati Campus is home to the largest library of Judaica outside of Israel, as well as the American Jewish Archives. These treasures cannot be replaced.
From a financial perspective, Cincinnati is actually the most affordable campus to keep open both in terms of operating costs as well as cost of living for students and faculty.
This is a financial problem that doesn’t require a political solution.
I’m sure the library and archives will get moved to a different location. The closing of a campus doesn’t necessarily mean the liquidation of all assets.
Cincinnati may be most affordable, but it has its drawbacks. For example, compared to NY and LA, the internship opportunities are sparse, which is a big problem when you’re trying to train rabbis.
Perhaps the non-Orthodox movements are in budget and placement shortfall because of all the years their leaders told their members to support all the tikkun olam based needs that are more universal in their nature instead of showing enough good cause to support their own institutions.
And I wonder how many rabbis are holding on to their own cushony pulpit jobs when they know they could never find a higher paying-less work gig elsewhere. That would also point to the lack of turnover that hurts newbie rabbis finding rabbi jobs.
BTW with such great resources and live or almost live learning on the internet from places like webyesiva.org and yutorah.org. Plus places like myjewishlearning and all the ready to roll programs on the URJ website etc. who really needs so many personal rabbis?
Perhaps the non-Orthodox movements are in budget and placement shortfall because of all the years their leaders told their members to support all the tikkun olam based needs that are more universal in their nature instead of showing enough good cause to support their own institutions.
Would that that were the case. Unfortunately, tikkun-olam-based organizations (Jewish and non-Jewish) are doing no better in this economic climate.
And I wonder how many rabbis are holding on to their own cushony pulpit jobs when they know they could never find a higher paying-less work gig elsewhere.
The life of a pulpit rabbi can in no way be characterized as “less work”. I certainly wouldn’t want that job. If rabbis want higher-paying jobs, it’s not because they’re greedy or want to live large, but because many non-Orthodox rabbis (like doctors and lawyers) graduate with mountains of debt, and need the higher salaries to pay off their student loans. (Orthodox rabbinical school, in contrast, is generally subsidized.)
That would also point to the lack of turnover that hurts newbie rabbis finding rabbi jobs.
Because of the stock market losses, people are deferring retirement, leading to fewer jobs opening up.
Closing the Cincinnati campus may improve the quality of holistic Jewish education during rabbinical school. In New York (or Los Angeles or Jerusalem) there is a wide range of vibrant Jewish communities that rabbinical students can participate in (as civilians) and be exposed to different models of Jewish community that they can take with them when they go out into the world as rabbis. In Cincinnati, I get the sense that HUC students don’t get the opportunity to be exposed to much beyond HUC itself and their student pulpits (where they are functioning as rabbis), and are therefore more inclined to advance the status quo (simply because they aren’t aware of anything else).
Of course, another way to accomplish the same goal could be discouraging people from going straight to rabbinical school out of college, and encouraging them to spend a few years living independently as a Jewish adult.
Sort of like the way no one is sitting in the most expensive seats at Yankee stadium these days, I bet if someone did some reporting they could also show that rabbis and the organizations that represent them have priced rabbis out of the ball park. One wonders if the RA and the other rabbi groups in the other denominations have reduced their demands for salary and benefits based on the economy and the way membership roles have continued to decrease. Maybe rabbis should start getting paid on commission rather than salary to prove their worthiness.
“Maybe rabbis should start getting paid on commission rather than salary to prove their worthiness.”
How exactly would this make things better?
Wouldn’t this just create more of the bnei mitzvah factory atmosphere than already exists?
Commissions from what? Weddings? Funerals? Counseling?
All the above and I was thinking more like meat in the seats. Increased membership. Increased attendance at all kinds of shul things. Why should they expect salaries to go up when membership roles and attendance continues to decline?
Why should they expect salaries to go up when membership roles and attendance continues to decline?
The economics of big shul progressive movement rabbis are kind of like baseball players. Different shuls (baseball teams) have varying degrees of membership (ticket sales) and donations (sponsorship). The “star” rabbis (players) tend to get snapped up by the wealthier shuls (teams) and paid a lot more than everybody else. If a shul is losing membership (fans), it’s going to be losing revenue as well, and won’t be able to pay rabbis higher salaries. In any event, it’s not about attendance, but membership and donations (who cares if the season ticket holders actually attend, as long as they buy their tickets).
@BZ:
If rabbis want higher-paying jobs, it’s not because they’re greedy or want to live large, but because many non-Orthodox rabbis (like doctors and lawyers) graduate with mountains of debt, and need the higher salaries to pay off their student loans. (Orthodox rabbinical school, in contrast, is generally subsidized.)
HUC tuition, while not insignificant, is also highly subsidized by URJ congregational union dues (although who knows for how much longer).
And now we have this from Arnold Eisen:
Dear Friend,
Just as every other institution of higher learning in the Jewish community has been severely impacted by the global economic downturn, so has The Jewish Theological Seminary. I want to share with you the letter I sent out to students, faculty, and staff earlier today, and update you, our supporters, on the full extent of the challenges we currently face, and the hard choices we have made, and will continue to make, in response. I thank you for your generosity to JTS in the past, and hope that you will continue your support of our vital mission through these difficult times and beyond.
—Arnold M. Eisen
April 27, 2009
Dear JTS Community,
As everyone knows, this past year has been an extremely difficult one for the economy of our country and indeed, for most of the world. Earlier this afternoon, I met with JTS faculty and staff to provide a progress report and update on our budget and I wanted to share this with you as well.
For-profit and nonprofit organizations alike have been severely impacted. You and I have received a stream of messages—from institutions of higher education on the one hand and Jewish organizations on the other—detailing the difficulties and budget cuts caused by the economic downturn. The Jewish Theological Seminary has not been spared such difficulties. The financial situation of JTS is directly affected by the current economic situation and we have had to make repeated adjustments over the course of the year to ensure our short- and long-term health. In this letter, I will explain where things stand right now and our strategy for moving forward from both a budgetary and organizational standpoint.
The Situation
Our revenue comes from three primary sources:
* Fund-raising and foundation support
* Investment income from the endowment
* Student tuition and fees
The 2008-2009 annual fund-raising campaign is unlikely to meet its targets. Our donors remain committed to us, but now their portfolios are worth less money.
The value of our endowment has significantly decreased. As a result, it is providing us much less investment income this year.
Enrollment has remained fairly stable at JTS, but approximately half of the funds from student tuition that are received by JTS are in any case given back to our students in the form of scholarships.
These three factors, plus several others, have resulted in a projected deficit for this year and next. At this point, given the uncertain state of the economy, we must assume that this reduced revenue projection will remain consistent for the next two years at least. I will say more about that in a moment.
Like every other nonprofit we know, JTS has had to make difficult decisions about how we can decrease our expenses. I have worked with our Board of Trustees, senior administration, department heads, and the internal budget-review committee for the past several months to review all our expenses, line by line.
The internal budget-review committee, comprising faculty, deans, and administrators, began meeting in the fall and continued over the course of the year. In February, the formal budget process began. Deans and department heads submitted proposals with the understanding to anticipate decreased budgets, no COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustments), no merit salary increases, and no new positions. Over the next two months, they worked with the finance department to identify opportunities for cost savings. Simultaneously, the internal budget-review committee made recommendations to the senior administration. At the end of this period, a large deficit still remained, and the Chancellor’s Cabinet began working more deeply with department heads while the provost worked with the deans and Faculty Executive on these matters. The budget committee of the Board of Trustees has met frequently with senior administration over the past several months to help advise and guide this process.
Two overriding realities have guided our thinking in this critical period. First, we have had to reckon with the fact that financial resources are scarce and are likely to remain so. As proud as we are of the value that JTS delivers daily, business as usual cannot continue. It is more essential than ever that each dollar we spend serve our core mission and that we carry out that mission in the leanest, most cost-effective way possible. We must emerge from the current economic downturn as strong as before—if not stronger.
Second, we must never lose sight of just how fine this institution is, how committed our staff and supporters, how extraordinary our faculty and students, and how bright our future will be once we get past the current downturn. We must continue to challenge our students, expand their minds, help them ignite new ideas, and provide them with a quality of education that is unavailable anywhere else. We must continue to attract and support faculty who are leaders in their fields and whose insight and ideas provide direction and leadership to Jews worldwide. We must carefully safeguard the immense treasure that is The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary—one of the very finest Jewish libraries in the world. We cannot give up JTS’s intellectual and spiritual role in the Conservative Movement or the Jewish community as a whole.
It is not simple or easy to strike this balance between making necessary cuts and preserving or even enhancing that which is crucial to our mission. It takes painstaking examination of every single thing we do and what it costs to do it. I have not communicated to you until now in this degree of detail because the process just described was underway. While it will continue in the months to come, I understand that you need to know what is in store, and that the end of the academic year is fast approaching. I want to share with you the decisions that we have reached and our progress thus far.
Decisions To Date
Let me say once more that every single one of the decisions we have made was challenging and painful. JTS has never operated extravagantly. We have always been careful when it came to our spending. Therefore, we did not have any “fat” to trim this year. This made the reductions forced upon us extremely difficult.
Approximately 30 percent of our budget is made up of infrastructure and program-based costs and 70 percent is personnel-based costs. All departmental and project-based budgets, administrative and academic, have been reduced. We’ve also looked carefully at our personnel costs. The following reductions are being made:
* All full-time, non-tenure-track faculty whose contracts expire on June 30, 2009 will not be rehired, and all faculty who are retiring or otherwise voluntarily departing will not be replaced, totaling ten faculty members.
* There will be no COLA (Cost-of-Living Adjustment) or merit salary increases for any employee in 2009-2010.
* Unfilled positions that fell within the hiring-freeze parameters of last year have been eliminated.
* The 403b matching program for all employees will be suspended as of May 1, 2009.
* The employee and faculty vision benefit will be terminated as of June 30, 2009.
* As of July 1, 2009, faculty and staff salaries at $60,000 or above will be reduced by a percentage that is yet to be determined. Salaries below $60,000 will not be affected.
* We have restructured and/or eliminated various roles throughout the institution, affecting sixteen staff jobs. Sadly, this will mean that members of our community—some of whom have been a part of JTS for many years—will lose their jobs. I realize that this not only impacts the individuals whose positions are being eliminated, but their families as well. That makes these decisions all the more difficult and their impact more far reaching. I extend my appreciation and gratitude for their years of service to the employees affected and to their families on behalf of JTS. I offer my wish that they are able to find other employment soon. Our Human Resources staff will work closely with them on this front—as it will advise everyone at JTS about the implications of the steps we have taken.
In that connection, I also want to take this opportunity, in advance, to thank everyone at JTS and their families for making do with less in the months to come. The present moment is a challenging and difficult time for all of us.
Next Steps
I wish I could report that we have reached our goal of a balanced budget. We have not, despite the steps just announced. The trustees and administration are wrestling with a gap of approximately $5.5 million in the budget for 2009-2010 between our projected revenue for next year and our anticipated expenses, after the cuts outlined previously have been made. This gap has to be closed. The Board of Trustees has made it clear that we must come as close to the goal of a balanced budget as humanly possible. Our well-being as an institution depends on it. We have several ideas for how to do this, but our work is not yet complete. I will be announcing further reductions before the end of the fiscal year. I pledge to you that we will take these measures as carefully as we can, always making sure that we cleave to JTS’s core mission and core values.
On that score, let me stress that JTS will not respond to the current crisis by simply cutting spending. The present crisis demands new thinking about what we do and how we do it. We have already revamped and redoubled our development efforts. We are seeking foundation assistance more aggressively than ever. We are actively investigating partnerships with other institutions.
Most important of all, we have launched a strategic planning process to help us determine what activities are crucial to JTS’s mission and growth and which can be reduced or eliminated. I will soon be announcing the appointment of a new director for the strategic planning process and the steps that will be taken in the weeks to come to make sure that everything we do at JTS is examined by fresh eyes. The members of the strategic planning team will consult widely with every one of our constituencies to make sure that all voices are heard. They will also take a fresh and probing look at every JTS activity and program to make sure that it accords with the mission and priorities of the institution and that JTS can maintain these efforts in a way that is fiscally sound.
I am proud that JTS remains a vibrant institution on which many Jews in North America depend for leadership, ideas, and inspiration. We will not let them down. We will respond to the current crisis with innovation, creativity, and boldness, even as we preserve the tradition of excellence that has distinguished JTS for more than a century.
I will be reporting back to you before the end of June about our continuing efforts to balance the budget and the impact of those efforts for faculty, staff, and students. I am confident that JTS will emerge from this experience strong. We will approach our future with newly defined priorities, a new cost structure, and the resilience that comes with having weathered this difficult period. In the meantime, I want to thank you for your ongoing commitment to JTS during these challenging times.
Sincerely,
Arnold Eisen’s signature
Arnold Eisen
Chancellor
The Jewish Theological Seminary