2008 Woodie Awards
Degree Saga Partially Solved; No Final Resolution Yet
Moshe Goldfeder
Issue date: 5/16/05 Section: News
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Following months of belabored deliberation concerning the Israeli Ministry of Education's decision not to recognize Yeshiva's undergraduate degrees in accordance with its governmental pay scale, a reconcilement between the Ministry and Yeshiva finally appears to be close at hand.
It appears tha persistent pressure from Yeshiva has finally paid off, as the May 5 edition of Haaretz reported that two Yeshiva alumni working for the Israeli government, Rabbi David Debow and Adina Sackovitz, have had their bachelors diplomas acknowledged as valid degrees from abroad. The pair had previously testified about their difficulties before a special hearing of the Knesset. Both also have master's degrees from graduate institutions, and are awaiting the approval of those credentials, along with the missed salaries that the Ministry promised to return to them retroactively.
Upon the Ministry's decision, Yeshiva's Senior Advisor on Israel Affairs Howard Weisband released the following statement to Haaretz. "Yeshiva University is pleased to learn the Ministry of Education has recognized the validity of Adina and David's YU degrees, albeit there should have been no question from the very beginning. In addition, along with this recognition, the Ministry must restore even retroactively their full salary and benefits equivalent to the Master's degree, the professional level at which they have been employed."
"Further, we have been assured by senior officials at the Ministry that all new applicants will have their academic qualifications reviewed on a case by case basis with a renewed understanding and acceptance of the standing accreditation of the YU degree in the United States by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association. We look forward in the near future to the comprehensive solution that the Minister herself has indicated will be forthcoming once the Government and the Supreme Court has resolved the overall matter of recognizing valid foreign degrees that precipitated this problem."
It appears tha persistent pressure from Yeshiva has finally paid off, as the May 5 edition of Haaretz reported that two Yeshiva alumni working for the Israeli government, Rabbi David Debow and Adina Sackovitz, have had their bachelors diplomas acknowledged as valid degrees from abroad. The pair had previously testified about their difficulties before a special hearing of the Knesset. Both also have master's degrees from graduate institutions, and are awaiting the approval of those credentials, along with the missed salaries that the Ministry promised to return to them retroactively.
Upon the Ministry's decision, Yeshiva's Senior Advisor on Israel Affairs Howard Weisband released the following statement to Haaretz. "Yeshiva University is pleased to learn the Ministry of Education has recognized the validity of Adina and David's YU degrees, albeit there should have been no question from the very beginning. In addition, along with this recognition, the Ministry must restore even retroactively their full salary and benefits equivalent to the Master's degree, the professional level at which they have been employed."
"Further, we have been assured by senior officials at the Ministry that all new applicants will have their academic qualifications reviewed on a case by case basis with a renewed understanding and acceptance of the standing accreditation of the YU degree in the United States by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association. We look forward in the near future to the comprehensive solution that the Minister herself has indicated will be forthcoming once the Government and the Supreme Court has resolved the overall matter of recognizing valid foreign degrees that precipitated this problem."