BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2024

TAL BEN-HAIM

DIRECTOR- GENERAL

We began the 2022-23 academic year with the overarching goal to increase the University’s financial resilience. We envisioned this happening along three complementary tracks: Increasing BGU’s share of state funding derived from the “research model,” developing additional independent revenue streams, and increasing the number of students. THE NUMBER OF NEW STUDENTS GREW BY 13%, DESPITE THE DISRUPTION OF THE OCTOBER 7 WAR. One of our greatest concerns in the past three years has been a decline in student enrollment. This decline is a result of several general trends, including an overall global decline in demand for the social sciences and humanities, as well as a drastic decline in demand for certain professional tracks such as nursing and education. We are also facing increasing competition from new colleges and universities, and finally, the Covid pandemic disrupted the life trajectories of an entire generation and caused them to rethink their higher education plans. The decline in enrollment has significant implications for the University budget, since a large part of our government funding is derived from student numbers – what is known as the “teaching model.” Thus, one of our main goals for the 2023-24 academic year was to reverse this trend. I am very proud to report that our efforts were successful beyond our imagination. The number of new students grew by 13%, despite the disruption of the war.

We were able to achieve this growth through a concerted effort along many different fronts, involving partners across the University – Human Resources, the Academic Secretariat and academic faculties and departments, Marketing, the Operations Division, the Technologies, Innovation and Digital Division, and others. All these partners worked together to improve our services to students and the student experience overall, from the very moment candidates indicate an interest in the University. Thus, much effort was invested in focused marketing campaigns, pursuing leads and convincing interested students to register, and overhauling online interfaces with prospective students. This was possible thanks to a generous grant from the A4BGU reserve fund.

Open Day for prospective students at the Marcus Family Campus, March 2024

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President's Report 2024