• Collaboration between the Council for Higher Education, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, and the Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships Organization
• The “Leading in Academia” program is intended for senior and outstanding academics and administrators and will give them the tools and skills to enter senior management positions in the future such as: President and vice-president, rector, and director general/CEO
• The rate of growth of academic institutions in Israel alongside the technological challenges in teaching and in research require future administrators in academia to deal with changing academic worlds.
• Currently, these institutions are administered by senior academics whose primary occupation and training is in the field of research and instruction and not necessarily in the field of academic administration and leadership.

Chair of the PBC, Prof. Yaffa Zilbershats: “Academic excellence also means administrative excellence. This new program will identify outstanding researchers and administrative staff at the interim level and give them managerial tools and create the vanguard that will in the future make changes and lead higher education system to the pinnacles of the fields of research, administration, and advancement of students.”

Eli Buch, The Caesarea Rothschild Foundation: “At the Edmond the Rothschild Foundation, we are cognizant of the fact that the changing reality requires leaders in the academic world to march in step with the changing times. We are proud to be partners in the program and are certain that we will be witness in the coming years to an in-depth process of strengthening academic leadership.”

For the first time, the higher education system is taking action to train a vanguard that will lead academic institutions in the future and lead them to achievements in a changing academic and technological world. The “Leading in Academia” program gives outstanding academics the tools and skills to enter senior academic and  management positions in the future such as: President and vice-president, rector, and director general/CEO, etc.

The program’s vision (as stated in the CHE’s decision) addresses building a future influence group of “agents of change” from all academic institutions in Israel that will act to advance an outstanding, learning, and innovative system that looks toward the future in order to advance research, students, and the market’s rules.” “Leading in Academia” is a joint program of the Council for Higher Education, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, and the Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships Organization.

The first cycle, which includes 32 academics chosen at the recommendation of the heads of universities, and colleges will commence December 2018. The training program will include: Academic administrative and leadership issues (budgeting, research, regulation, internationalism), general administrative skills (economics, financing, managing information systems, managing know-how), and soft management skills in the field of human resources. The scope of the program will be approximately 300-400 class hours including education involving approximately 14 days at leading academic institutions abroad.

We note that the institutions of higher education in Israel are administered by senior academics whose primary occupation and training is in the field of research and instruction and not necessarily in the field of academic administration and leadership. Nevertheless, based on their work, academic administrators are required to respond to a variety of issues and significant strategic questions on a daily basis including: Setting targets and goals, orders of preference, planning, managing people, regulation, etc.

Similarly, the growth rate of academic institutions in Israel, alongside additional challenges including openness to the international arena, increasing interdisciplinary interaction in instruction and research inside and outside of these institutions, the dominance of the high-tech industry, and expected sociodemographic changes, cause the Israeli higher education system to face highly accelerated change. Dealing with ever changing reality means the next generation of academic administrators need a toolbox that is suited to changing academic worlds. The program leaders at the CHE and the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation believe that this new training will allow the vanguard to see the full picture and learn from what is being done at leading institutions around the world.