from The LA Jewish Journal

USC to save Hebrew Union College?

A source told Jewish Journal editor-in-chief Rob Eshman that the University of Southern California and Hebrew Union College-Jewish institute of Religion, which already share some faculty and facilities, are working on a deal to fold the L.A. campus into USC as a Jewish studies program.

“Its a win win,“ the source said. “HUC gets a big chunk of money for what it owns—about a block of prime real estate by the USC campus—and USC gets to solidify a Jewish studies and outreach program that it has been building for some time now.“

from The LA Times

Downturn threatens L.A.’s Hebrew Union College

Leaders of a Jewish seminary in Los Angeles are arguing against a proposal by its parent organization that could lead to the closure of the campus as part of a larger financial restructuring.

The head of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion has raised the possibility of closing two of its three U.S. campuses. In response to the proposal, leaders at the Los Angeles campus have sent a five-page memo to the college-institute’s president, Rabbi David Ellenson, and other key administrators, arguing that a bicoastal arrangement would work best. The dean of the Los Angeles campus, Steven F. Windmueller, said the memo was written not to single out his campus above the others but to ensure that Los Angles plays a role in future of the college-institute.

In addition to the proposal to close two campuses, the college-institute’s board of governors will also consider a reorganization of its programs, which might allow more than one U.S. campus to continue operations.

The Los Angeles site, local administrators believe, should be included in the ultimate strategy partly because it enjoys a productive relationship with its neighbor, USC. The university pays the seminary campus $1.9 million annually to provide undergraduate courses in Jewish studies to its students.

Ellenson said a fourth campus, in Jerusalem, will continue to operate but will have to tighten its belt. “It would be unthinkable to eliminate a campus of the HUC in Israel,” he said.

For more background, here’s a previous story from the LA Times, Jewish seminary considers closing two U.S. campuses.