Ariel University is on the map: Professor Shiri Navon-Venezia of the Microbiology Department at Ariel has been elected a member of the Planning and Budgeting Committee in the Council of Higher Education, the first representative of Ariel University on the committee.
The move is a significant one because the Committee of University Heads has refused to accept the university status of Ariel (formerly Ariel University Center of Samaria).
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The Planning and Budgeting Committee handles the budget for Israel's entire system of higher education and decides on both regular budgets and development budget for the country's institutions of higher education.
On Tuesday, Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin expressed his satisfaction at Navon-Venezia being elected to the committee, saying, "I thank the members of the Council for Higher Education for the support of Professor Navon-Venezia, despite the heavy pressure from the Committee of University Heads."
"I call on those heads to put disagreements aside and work together ahead of the start of the next academic year, in the shadow of coronavirus," Elkin said.
The Committee of University Heads issued a statement wishing Navon-Venezia success, but noted that "the election process Minister Zeev Elkin led was flawed, and could hurt academic independence in Israel."
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