Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Jewish Business News

Leadership & A-List

It’s War: YU Board Rejects Faculty 80-3 Vote of ‘No Confidence’ in President Joel

President Richard Joel

Dr. Henry Kressel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University, sent out an email statement in reaction to a faculty “no confidence” vote Friday against President Richard Joel.

Kressel’s message said, in no uncertain terms: “The Board is confident that President Joel and his administration will continue to work diligently to strengthen the bonds of collaboration and maintain the focus on the needs of our students, as well as the needs of the University as a whole. This is the best way to ensure YU continues to flourish.”

Please help us out :
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at office@jewishbusinessnews.com.
Thank you.

A full 80 percent of participating faculty members of Yeshiva College (YC) at Yeshiva University last Friday afternoon voted “No Confidence” in Joel. Only 3 percent voted “confidence, ” with 17 percent abstaining. 64 percent of the faculty voted.

Despite the fact that the no-confidence vote does not carry immediate ramafications, Professor Gillian Steinberg, an associate professor of English at YC and member of the YC executive committee, told the Jewish Week that this unusual gesture would likely “signal donors in a meaningful way” and “indicate that the board of trustees is moving in the wrong direction.”

“It’s the time of year when we put the schedule together, and we realized we were paralyzed because we didn’t know which faculty would be around, ” Steinberg explained. “The administration won’t tell us who will get a contract renewal. Now, the rubber hits the road.”

The Jewish Week also reported that the faculty of Albert Einstein School of Medicine, also affiliated with YU, took a vote of no confidence in the YU board on Jan. 23.

Dr Kressel responded with an email message Sunday night, stating that the near-unanimous “no confidence” vote “is an unfortunate development, given the Administration’s work and many meetings with the faculty to develop plans to enhance the quality of the educational experience at YU while saving costs.”

Kressel explained that “while it’s regrettable that a small number of contract faculty will leave the University, we are building an organization and an academic program that creates more flexibility and options for students. Details will be shared soon on ways more of our students can enjoy and benefit from our outstanding scholars, and how smaller programs can be strengthened.”

Having said that, Kressel stated clearly that he basically won’t have any of that nonsense, because “the Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for ensuring the University is able to move forward with excellence. This responsibility includes implementing a financial plan to ensure the sustainability of the institution.”

He continued, even more specifically: “Under our direction, President Richard Joel, his administration and the Board’s outside advisers, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), have identified areas across the entire university to streamline and realign operations, while ensuring the student experience remains vibrant. They have performed admirably in a difficult environment.”

Newsletter



Advertisement

You May Also Like

World News

In the 15th Nov 2015 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:   ·         A new Israeli treatment brings hope to relapsed leukemia...

Entertainment

The Movie The Professional is what made Natalie Portman a Lolita.

Travel

After two decades without a rating system in Israel, at the end of 2012 an international tender for hotel rating was published.  Invited to place bids...

VC, Investments

You may not become a millionaire, but there is a lot to learn from George Soros.