Town Hall Meeting, March 24, 2011

Happy Spring, welcome. There are more seats in the front, for the bold and
brave. There is lots on the agenda, and the right way to do it is not to start with
reports. Rather, they will come out over the course of the conversation.

First Question (President Joel): I received a fine email today from a terrific SSSB
student. He was concerned about things that he had heard. I will start by
answering that. Take a step back. Several years ago, the Chief Rabbi Sacks was
here to speak to students, and to answer questions. My son Noam, was sitting in
the second row of the balcony. The CR responded to questions, but evaded a
particularly thorny question by answering a different one. A student remarked,
“Boy he really Richard Joeled that answer.” I will be accused of this. I wish that I
can answer your questions simplisitically. I think that we are in this together, and
I have too much respect for you, so I will answer nuanced questions with
nuances. SSSB is alive and well, there is no executive board. The board of
trustees didn’t even discuss SSSB. We are not closing it, it is getting stronger,
and we are committed to build undergrad education, in every discipline.
Business, law, medicine, Torah, world service.
We are very committed to business education as part of an undergrad education,
until the extent that people asked about this. We want to successfully complete
the first and necessary accreditation process for business programs. We are in
the midst of this program and are committed to it. I am hopeful that in the not-far-
off future, but in the relatively near future. Site visits are scheduled, etc. This is
moving forward and will continue to do so. Our vision is for you to achieve all you
can in key areas, including business.
However, what people are tumultuous about is that we are making major
changes in the structure and delivery of undergrad education at Yeshiva. It is not
about SSSB. We have been talking about this for two years already. Our
undergrad education can not stand still. You deserve the best, and what does it
take to be an successful woman or man? In our case, it means an integrated
Torah-secular education. Through the work of the Provost, we have realized that
we are overstructured. There has been lots of consultation in the Meta way with
Student Affairs, etc. I believe that there should be one undergrad faculty at
Yeshiva, not a trifurcated one. The whole is less than the sum of its parts this
way, not more. There are years of hoary (HOARY) tradition that goes into the
status of a faculty. We are small, and we can’t structure ourselves as if we are
big, because we end up as a small school with big bureaucracy. This will make
us stronger. Also, it is very necessary to take the wonder but unbelievable
administrative, bureaucratic structure, which is frustrating to all of us, because it
is a maze. We need more centralization, academic seamlessness, one-stop
shopping, career development. Professor Larry Schiffman was the first step in
this process. He is a person of extraordinary scope, understanding. We will now
work together with the undergrad deans and administrative structure. We will
unite before the beginning of next year, but not right away. We will begin now
much more targeted discussions, so that people can voice their concerns about
how the progress should go about. This does not come without some upheaval,
and does not come fast. You have heard from me the commitments we have to
education, none of which is to deliver a worse education. It is all about a more
textured, developed system for better ed.

Alex Kushner (PhD, moving on): I am here serendipitously. Thank you for the
trajectory on which you put YU, with energy, etc.

Raffi Holzer (YC senior): How do you forsee faculty unity between Wilf and Beren
campus given their geographic disparity and daily schedules?
PJ- Ya, those are the only two challenges (laughs). There are other schools that
we are examining, that have similar models. We look at Fordham to see how the
synergy works. God invented vans and taxis, and flexible schedules. I think we
have to work on it; I don’t have the answer, but I know it’s not a game-stopper. In
terms of the structures of the day, I think there is a core commitment to the
structures of both schools, but lots of reimagining. Once we get to the point of
talking, there is progess. YC faculty has gone through a really exhaustive
process of curricular review. We can do it, I don’t have the answers.

Jon Korman (SSSB Accounting): Last couple of years has been hard for
accounting jobs. Firms don’t recruit here anymore ,and don’t like what we do. Will
the new structure help us at all?
PJ- First of all, this is a really challenging economy, and the information I get
says you are doing well. I know this isn’t comforting if you don’t have a job. Also,
the CDC has gone zero to sixty in a few seconds. We have had to account for
NY changing its CPA rules, and I think we’re doing it real well, with integrity and
ethical sensitivies. My bosses, the board of trustees, demand that we focus on
connecting each student to the best of his reach, on what’s next. I hear that
employers can tell at interviews whether the student has been to the CDC, and I
believe it. I tried to make a mandatory FTOC meeting at CDC this year. They’re
still working on that. We have 2400 students on campus, this is one of our
greatest strengths. I would love to have 4000, because Klal Yisrael needs it.
Some public schools which are haughty, retail in a sellers market. We’re Jewish
and custom, and people expect that its not just a university, it’s family.
JK- Why do two out of the four accounting firms no longer recruit here?
Mark Goldman: It’s not accurate. They did come to recruit on site. We had more
hires for full summer internships this fall than last fall, and we hope that it will
improve with the economy. We are talking about the Masters Program. There is a
job fair on Friday April 1. If you’re not there, I will find you.

Daniel Spector: The concern of the business students is that traditionally, there’s
been a LA school and a business school. This is important because we have
essentially different curricula. Students are concerned that when two schools are
merged together, those requirements will be moved to the side and not
considered. Employers will see us as having an incomplete business education.
From a narrow university president point of view: Which graduates give more
money? Businessmen or Mehankhim? It is in our interest for you to do well, and
going to an undergrad business school isn’t necessarily the best way. I like
history, and I believe that we are required by God to learn history’s lessons to
chart the best future. What it means to make you successful in each business
field is different. How do we make this work? Some feel that a first-class
economics and mathematics department is what a lot of employers look for, and
we have that here. I don’t think any of this makes your business training less.
What’s motivating this is to make you succeed more and get better training. Real
educators need to look at what you need for your future. That’s why we’re in this
business. Do you think I do it for the Agmas Nefesh? There used to be business
courses in YC. We need to break down walls and ensure that we are looking at
our possibilities.
DS- Cornell has a completely different business section and curriculum for
undergrads. Because of that separate core.
PJ- I said that I want to have an accredited business program, and bring things
together properly. We want to break down the bureaucracy that you guys
complain to me about.
DS- Will the cores change for the business program?
PJ- I have no idea. Definitely not next year.
Dean Ginsberg- Our continued commitment to accreditation guarantees that
students will continue to follow a curriculum that meets their standards.
PJ- We have never been accredited by them. We’re going some place better. I
promise.

Eitan Levine- Will there be a fee for off-campus housing? Will there be a
grandfather clause for students currently off-campus?
PJ- There is no IHP program next year. Also, we are changing our pricing
structures, housing will have a variable fee based on the dorm and situation. We
are increasing our fees for counseling, health, and ITS. There is a student fee
across the university. The meal plan will be remaining the same or slightly
cheaper, but we are in final negotiations to ensure that a portion of the Caf Card
can be used at establishments here and on Beren. We did this at Beren a few
years ago in terms of dealing with the dormitories.
Because of investments in the neighborhood, there has been a spread on off-
campus housing. I’d prefer you stay in the dorms, but I will not prevent you and
will even help. Morg will become upper class, we are changing the electrical
circuitry (you can use your own AC, eventually we will have to deal with it), Rubin
for first year students (choice of 2 or 3 person rooms), Muss Hall at the same
lower fee as Rubin. I hope more people go into the dorms, and I hope that over
time we will keep making improvements in the style and substance of housing. I
like that my kids were in the dorms, and I think that they had good experiences
there.
EL- Just to make sure, because you spoke a lot.
PJ- There is no differential in fees between on and off campus.
Jonathan Mael (PJ- Can you please fix the Middle East?) A couple of months
ago, the law school application process changed, and the student body wasn’t
told for a few months (someone stepped down). This draws upon a real general
frustration of the student body sometimes. We aren’t being told sometimes.
PJ- The problem I have with your question is because it isn’t the worse thing. We
are so darned convoluted and compartmentalized, that I don’t know who to pick
up the phone and ask. It certainly wasn’t intentional. The Dean of the school
must know that he can pick a phone, and know what’s happening, and how we
are fixing it. It’s unforgiveable, and keep my feet to the fire. Dean, what
happened?
DE- As soon as we found out about the law advisor, a Y-Stud went out. Of
course, I found out that Y-Stud is widely disregarded, and this is a big mistake.
Students were notified, and were met with. This came together with the heads of
the student groups for pre-law. There was communication from the Dean’s office
and the advising center’s office. I feel that there is some misinformation. I would
love to know how better to communicate. This is not the first time that we have
tried to communicate, and somehow it didn’t work.
PJ- If you didn’t know that, we need to figure out how to do it better. We’ve got all
sorts of Deans. We need this to become less complicated and go better. You do
have an obligation to check Y-stud. I hear your concern, and frankly, we have to
work with you to figure out what else we can do.
DE- I would like to say that I hope that all of the student body is aware that I have
an open door policy and meet with students regularly on all sorts of issues. It is
your responsibility to let me know that you are upset by something. If there is not
much satisfaction in your eyes about how a question is being addressed, tell me.
I do answer emails, believe me.
PJ- We will do more over the summer to think about how the lines of authority
are drawn.

Ari Clark- What’s going to happen on 185th? What are we gonna do with that?
PJ- I know what you’re gonna do with it.
AC- Can there be student input?
PJ- Absolutely.
AC- Yes!
PJ- We are in an unbelievably convoluted process with city and state about this.
There is money for us to turn this into a pedestrian plaza. It is state and city
money. They are going through traffic studies still. Each step (times, etc.) was a
huge deal. The next stage is to have plans, and to talk to students, faculty,
Rebbes, community people. What should be there will be very interesting. It is
right outside the Beit Medrash, it is a University, it is a community place. There
will not be a plaza there during the summer, but we can make visual changes.
[There will be a meeting next week. In Mid-April, there will be a community
hearing here, and we believe that a short time after we will have a response from
the city.]
It is nice when people come back and see the street filled with students, and they
don’t remember what it was like to be a student then.
Eli Bochner- We all know that the Office for Alumni Affairs has a database to
contact to solicit for donations. Why doesn’t the CDC have a database to contact
alumni and ask if they need a job? [I was already contacted and asked to
donate.]
PJ: Big problem: Think about the world without YU, give us Ma’aser money.
Mark Goldman- We just met about this, and what do you know? It is very hard,
but there are lots of people to get credit, for they have done incredible things with
the YU alumni population. They gather information, get a sense of how these
individuals are doing, where they are working. At the same time, we keep a
database of alumni and non alumni who are willing to talk to students and give
one on one advice. It is the most underused service, and I really recommend that
you come in and use it.
PJ- We don’t want this to be a barrier. Mark is working really hard. I was having
birthday lunch with Ronald Stanton and a guy comes over, and tells PJ about a
new Wall Street group for YU alumni on LinkedIn. We use LI quite often to find
alumni. He commended and offered to help.

Baruch Cohen: Is there a comment about caf cards during June Z’man?
Apparently they are expiring, and the money goes to nowhere.
PJ- The right answer is that the contract is for two semesters, and please use it
properly for both semesters. You need to use it properly.
BC- Last year it did work. What happens to the money?
PJ- It is my summer vacation. Your June Z’man money goes to subsidize
Shabbat meals.

Adam Kugelman: Who is the Y-Stud moderator and what is he moderating?

PJ- I must confess that this a profound failure of our censorship committee. They
usually do a great job, but messed up terribly. This was very hateful, and should
never have gone through. It will never happen again. I believe in free speech,
and oppose hateful speech.

PJ- I was in Washington last week, and we do a lot of work with politicians, etc.
In the wake of the terrible tragedies lately, we all have to think about what we
are, and thank God we are a place like this where we can hopefully talk and
resolve how to better the world. I talked with Reps Charlie Rangel and Eric
Cantor, and we walked and got snacks, and at a CVS. As we were walking there,
someone on the street asked for money. Josh Joseph gave money, and the guy
came over to me outside and said, “You have a beer?” I asked how he was
doing, and he remarked that he’s down on his luck. I said that things are really
bad, and he said that in perspective with Japan, he doesn’t have it bad. I’m
usually an educator, but I told him that he was just an educator.