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Equal Opportunity: Academic and Social Support | Diversity and Inclusion The Hebrew University

Equal Opportunity: Academic and Social Support

In seeking to facilitate Haredi students' adjustment – academically, socially, psychologically and spiritually – to the unfamiliar world of academia, the University has developed a number of services and programs that seek to provide participants from the Haredi community with the academic tools and skills, as well as the social, spiritual and psychological support, necessary to succeed in their studies. This comprehensive basket of support services, provided through the office of the Dean of Students has resulted in the extremely low drop-out rate of around 2% for the University’s Haredi and formerly-Haredi students.The Equal Opportunities Unit provides two coordinators of support services for graduates of the Haredi education system: one responsible for current members of the Haredi community, and the second responsible for those students who no longer consider themselves to be members of this community but come from a Haredi background. In order to monitor each student’s academic as well as personal well-being and to provide guidance to the available remedial help where needed, these coordinators hold individual meetings with each student.

In addition, the University has a mentorship program designed to meet the challenges of loneliness and alienation, and provide individual academic assistance to graduates of the Haredi educational system. The program is designed for students in their first year at the University. The mentors are Haredi students who are more advanced in their studies in the same departments as the students they are mentoring, and thus have personal experience of the academic challenges and acclimatization difficulties of first-year Haredi students. The role of the mentor is to accompany the first year students both socially and academically, and to provide 1-4 weekly hours of tutoring per student comprising guidance in developing their learning skills, understanding study materials, and assistance with academic reading and writing. The mentors receive a small scholarship in remuneration for this work. Haredi students who need extra academic support receive private tutoring in English, Math, Sciences or any other subject.

In order to ease the significant identity crisis often experienced by Haredi community members at the University and to facilitate the preservation of their unique norms and values within the social and academic environment, the University has instituted a Haredi cultural program that enables the consolidation of a supportive peer group. Throughout the year, this program sponsors cultural activities, such as literary, artistic and musical evenings, as well as workshops that address identity-preservation issues.

For all students approaching the end of their academic programs, the University has recently established an Employment Center that provides guidance on employment opportunities as well as workshops on the techniques of successful job-application, exposure events for relevant employers, and personal counselling for the transition to the employment marketplace. This Employment Center will also provide dedicated services attuned to the specific employment needs of Haredi students.