IBC Loophole Abolished by YC Faculty
Eitan Kastner
Issue date: 8/31/05 Section: News
A ruling by the Academic Standards Committee that was approved by the Yeshiva College faculty at the end of the spring 2005 semester promises to have lasting ramifications for both morning and afternoon Jewish studies requirements at Yeshiva. The new policy states that all students must now graduate with twenty academic Jewish studies credits on their transcripts, as opposed to the previous de facto status which tolerated a course distribution requirement, rather than a credit one. The ruling comes at a time in which ASC would apparently like to rein in a rotating door culture that has damaged the academic integrity of the Isaac Breuer College. The policy will only go into effect for new students on campus.
Students in IBC study academic Jewish studies in the morning, thereby fulfilling both a morning Jewish studies requirement as well as an afternoon academic Jewish studies course requirement. Students in the Mazer Yeshiva Program and Stone Beit Midrash Program have no such option and must take these academic Jewish Studies courses (two semesters of Hebrew, two semesters of Jewish History, and four semesters of Bible, totaling twenty credits) in the afternoon.
In recent years, it has become common MYP or SBMP to take two semesters off from those morning programs to study in IBC, minimizing their Jewish studies course requirements or purging themselves of them completely. Such a move allows a student to take the maximum of 17.5 credits in a semester in his afternoon program without using up those credits on Jewish studies courses. At the same time, the rigor of IBC courses has suffered, providing further incentive for students to discharge their Jewish studies requirements there.
The new policy change will make the switch to IBC less worthwhile for an MYP or SBMP student, in that courses taken in IBC will only count toward course requirements, not credit requirements. In other words, if a student takes two Jewish History courses and two Bible courses in a semester in IBC (which would total ten credits in YC courses), he will receive only three credits for the semester and relieve himself of those course requirements but he will still have seventeen more Jewish studies requirements to fulfill. Additionally, this will make it more difficult for a MYP or SBMP student to graduate after six semesters, as he will have more courses to take in the afternoon.
Students in IBC study academic Jewish studies in the morning, thereby fulfilling both a morning Jewish studies requirement as well as an afternoon academic Jewish studies course requirement. Students in the Mazer Yeshiva Program and Stone Beit Midrash Program have no such option and must take these academic Jewish Studies courses (two semesters of Hebrew, two semesters of Jewish History, and four semesters of Bible, totaling twenty credits) in the afternoon.
In recent years, it has become common MYP or SBMP to take two semesters off from those morning programs to study in IBC, minimizing their Jewish studies course requirements or purging themselves of them completely. Such a move allows a student to take the maximum of 17.5 credits in a semester in his afternoon program without using up those credits on Jewish studies courses. At the same time, the rigor of IBC courses has suffered, providing further incentive for students to discharge their Jewish studies requirements there.
The new policy change will make the switch to IBC less worthwhile for an MYP or SBMP student, in that courses taken in IBC will only count toward course requirements, not credit requirements. In other words, if a student takes two Jewish History courses and two Bible courses in a semester in IBC (which would total ten credits in YC courses), he will receive only three credits for the semester and relieve himself of those course requirements but he will still have seventeen more Jewish studies requirements to fulfill. Additionally, this will make it more difficult for a MYP or SBMP student to graduate after six semesters, as he will have more courses to take in the afternoon.