NEW YORK (RNS) Thanks to outcry from alumni, religious and community leaders, the Reform Jewish movement’s flagship seminary has about seven weeks to come up with a plan to keep all three of its U.S. campuses open.
Officials at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which has sites in New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and Jerusalem, announced last month that some campuses may have to close due to an estimated $8 million deficit projected in the next two years.
While the school’s Board of Governors has not ruled out the possibility of closing one or two locations, this week it gave administrators until June 23 to figure out how to bridge the shortfall.
Cost-saving components may include increased use of technology and innovative learning strategies, said Rabbi David Ellenson, seminary president.
“We hope to achieve a plan for financial sustainability, academic integrity of programs and excellence of faculty and students … that will strengthen our institution and help us fulfill our mission of training and sustaining Jewish professionals throughout their careers of service to the Jewish people worldwide,” he said.
The institute opened in 1875 in Cincinnati, which is still home to one-fourth of the school’s 400 rabbinical students. While other Jewish seminaries are also struggling with budget cuts due to the financial downturn, HUC’s situation stems both from endowment fund losses and the Reform movement’s decision to cut synagogue dues by 20 percent, Ellenson said.
Ellenson has already cut his salary 10 percent, trimmed staff salaries 5 percent, and raised annual tuition by $3,000, to $19,000. Those and other steps will trim $5.8 million from the seminary’s 2009-2010 budget, he said.
