The financial crisis that threatened to close Tel Aviv University seemed to be averted today, at least for the time being. The government agreed to increase its grant and the university decided to out $1.18 million from its $27.3 million budget. Supporters abroad have undertaken to raise an additional $2.7 million which would reduce the deficit to $1.18.
As a result, faculty members and administrative employes are expected to be paid their full salaries, averting the threat of a strike. Yigal Allon, the Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, has proposed nevertheless that the government appoint accountants to oversee the finances of all of the country’s universities and other institutions of higher learning. He made the recommendation at a Cabinet meeting held Sunday to deal with the financial problems plagueing most of the country’s universities.
Allon said that another $11 million is the minimum sum required from the government to keep the universities open. The Cabinet has already given provisional approval to an allocation of $89 million which is more than half of the universities’ current expenditures. But the sum cannot be finally approved until a source for the money is found.
Allon also proposed that all Israeli institutions of higher learning agree on a standard scale of salaries and fringe benefits for faculty and administrative staff to avoid competition for staff which has soured relations between the schools in the past. He also recommended that tuition fees be decided by a conference of university presidents with the participation of government officials.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
