YU Faculty Council Suspends Operations Amidst Tensions with Administration
Yeshiva University’s faculty council quietly suspended its operations indefinitely over the summer in response to YU’s compensation plan for the 2025 fiscal year.
YU’s faculty council, established in 2012 in response to a recommendation by a Middle States Accreditation report, was intended to provide a conduit for greater faculty involvement in administrative decisions affecting themselves. Ultimately, the council took on a more advisory role.
According to the letter issued by the council, the move to suspend operations comes in response to YU’s proposed compensation plan which declined to provide any raises or cost-of-living increases to faculty for the coming fiscal year, only increasing YU’s 401(k) retirement plan matching from 5% to 6% instead.
The decision comes amidst growing tensions between faculty and the administration. A survey conducted by the council in May 2023 found a majority of faculty members believe they are being treated unfairly, and distrust the president, provost and board of trustees.
The letter mentioned other sources of conflict as well, including cuts to YU’s library subscriptions to various journals and databases used by faculty members for research, rejection of council proposals and resolutions and the lack of any permanent mechanisms for the distribution of raises and incentives.
“Although we are pleased and we thank [the administration] for the small increase in the retirement plan match, the Council was deeply disappointed with that being the only step taken to address the Council’s repeated requests on behalf of the faculty. The current compensation structure has caused a significant erosion in faculty salaries over the years,” the council stated.
“At a time when the University is thriving, with record high enrollment at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and as the University is promoting itself as the flagship Jewish institution and a beacon of excellence to the world at large, the Council feels that the faculty is being left out.”
The email announcing the compensation plan, a copy of which was obtained by The Commentator, was sent to both faculty members and university staff at the beginning of June by YU Vice President of Administrative Services Patrick Gallagher. The letter began by acknowledging the “unique financial and operational challenges” faced by YU in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. According to YU’s 990 tax filings for the 2022 fiscal year, the school ran a deficit of over $8.3 million, the first deficit in three years.
“Notwithstanding these unexpected financial challenges,” Gallagher continued, “we remain committed to investing in our faculty and staff. Over the last several years we have made improvements to both our salaries and our benefits, and this year is no different. As such, we are raising the retirement plan match from 5% to 6% effective January 1, 2025, continuing our upward trend of increasing this benefit from 2% several years ago.”
YU’s retirement matching plan, which allows faculty members to have a portion of their money invested for retirement matched by the university, was eliminated after reaching 10% shortly before the 2009 fiscal crisis and has been gradually restored by the university in the years since.
The compensation email sent to faculty and staff also reported that “in deep appreciation of how challenging this year has been” the university would be giving the first week of July off for all non-essential personnel, a benefit that seemed to be more geared toward staff than faculty, most of whom give no courses over the summer according to interim chair of the council Professor Tamar Avnet. Avnet also pointed out in an interview with The Commentator that the email did not differentiate between faculty and staff, and was not sent by Provost Selma Botman, who is officially responsible for faculty affairs.
“Based on this very insensitive email, that … really did not differentiate between faculty and [staff], and the fact that we did not get any raise, we decided that at this point there was really no point to continue to be in the faculty council,” Avnet told The Commentator. “They do not listen to us, they do not care what we have to say, they don’t allow us in any committees and basically we’re wasting our time.”
Avnet explained the reasoning behind the council’s decision:
“We had a few options,” Avnet told The Commentator. “One was to resign. So we said if we resign from the faculty council all they’re going to do is just appoint new faculty members. If we’re going to dissolve it … it turns out we can’t because it belongs to YU.
“The reason we decided to suspend was not because we don’t want to play anymore. It’s because we feel we don’t have a partner.
“… We have lost, in the last 10 years, around 25% of our salary value. It seems like the administration couldn’t care less, including CFO, provost and president. It seems there are no plans put in place to repair the situation, even though we’re continuously trying to reach out, through letters, through meetings, showing them service that show how much faculty is frustrated … and the idea is, you don’t like it, go and find another job.”
Avnet told The Commentator that the suspension of the faculty council could continue “forever,” so long as the faculty is “ignored.” She added, “we can’t just continue with the same format we had before.”
When asked by The Commentator for a statement, Botman started off by stating her appreciation for YU’s faculty:
“We are proud of our world class faculty and the learning environment they provide,” Botman said. “We recognize and appreciate their expertise and hard work, from which our students benefit, over a lifetime of personal and professional success.”
Botman did not comment on the decision by YU not to provide cost-of-living increases to faculty members, instead emphasizing existing salaries and the expansion of the retirement plan.
“Amongst our university peer group, we are in the top quartile of salaries in NY and in all Universities in the US,” Botman shared with The Commentator. “Each year we look to raise the packages of our outstanding team.
“This year, at a time of significant unexpected costs, the University showed its investment in our professionals by raising the faculty and staff’s retirement benefit packages.”
Botman also declined to comment on the role of the faculty council in YU, the reason YU provided faculty with a week off in the summer and details about the meeting held with her, YU President Ari Berman and the faculty council chairs Professors Gabriel Cwilich and Abraham Ravid in April. The meeting was described in the council’s letter to have been “cordial,” despite the university’s later decision not to provide any cost-of-living raises for the fiscal year.
According to the council’s 2023 survey, 72% of YU faculty members believe they are paid below market value.
Avnet explained to The Commentator the dilemma of some faculty members who identify with YU’s values but feel alienated by the administration:
“The reason basically all of our faculty are at YU is we do believe in Yeshiva University. It’s a very unique place, a lot of us, most of us, are Jews … That connection to Israel is important. The whole idea of Torah Umadda, especially after Oct. 7. We are here because this is not Hofstra, this is not CUNY, this is not SUNY. There’s a mission here, there’s values, we feel like we’re doing good work. And yet, at some point, we need to make a living.”
Photo Caption: YU’s Rubin Hall with the Five Core Torah Values
Photo Credit: Jonathan Levin / The Commentator
