University of Haifa in financial crisis: 170 lecturers fired or had their positions reduced

The University of Haifa is suffering from an annual deficit of approximately 60 million shekels and is formulating a recovery plan that includes cuts totaling 160 million shekels over four years. 170 non-tenured lecturers out of 1,200 have received dismissal notices or reduced positions. Senior faculty will be required to increase teaching hours from 6 to 8 per week, a move seen as a severe blow to research conditions. The main cause of the crisis is commitments to budgetary pensions, along with a change in the research funding model that harms the university, which specializes in social sciences and humanities.

The University of Haifa is suffering from an annual deficit of approximately 60 million shekels and is in advanced stages of formulating a recovery plan. The university has committed to the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education (PBC) to cuts totaling 160 million shekels over the next four years. 170 non-tenured lecturers, out of 1,200, received notices last week of dismissal or reduced positions. Senior faculty lecturers will be required to increase teaching hours from 6 to 8 per week, which is considered a severe blow to working and research conditions. The main cause of the crisis is commitments to budgetary pensions, the end of whose actuarial reserves creates a deficit of 42 million shekels per year. Another reason is the change in the research funding model, which harms the university specializing in social sciences and humanities, which is expected to lose an additional 16 million shekels per year. As part of the efficiency plan, the PBC is expected to assist by delaying the change in the funding model and adding student quotas. Another move is the expected merger with Kinneret Academic College in 2030. The university is conducting negotiations with three committees on implementing the plan. Junior faculty are furious about the late notice, which makes it difficult to find alternative positions. Chair of the Junior Faculty Organization Dr. Hadva Eyal said: "We are aware of the university's situation, but the junior faculty also have rights." In the senior faculty, Chair of the Organization Prof. Rami Reshef accused the management of "unilateral blows." The university chose not to respond to Calcalist's questions about the crisis.