BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2025

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BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

Opening Event of the BGU Chess Club, December 2024

Party for BGU reservists at the Sylvan Adams Sports Center, September 2024

Dean of Students Office Recognizing the profound impact of the October 7 events, the University, through the Dean of Student’s Office, has invested significant resources in providing academic, emotional, and financial support to help reservists and students navigate the challenges they face. We established a dedicated Reservist Support Office to centralize and streamline assistance. This office provides guidance on reservists’ rights, academic accommodation, emotional support referrals, and learning strategies. During the 2023–24 academic year, it handled 6,100 reservist cases, 3,220 academic assistance applications, and organized over 800 tutoring groups attended by 8,600 students. More than 4,000 students participated in pre-exam study marathons. The Office also facilitated one-on-one mentoring and access to online study resources, with coordinators available weekly for consultations both on-campus and via Zoom. To ease the transition back to academic life, the University organized an Academic Readjustment Week. The program featured refresher courses, learning skills workshops, psychologist-led support groups, and workshops on anxiety and time management, mindfulness, and exam

preparation. We also introduced various wellness initiatives such as free yoga classes and sensory tools for anxiety reduction. Psychological and emotional support has been a key focus, with a dedicated social worker assisting hundreds of affected students, including bereaved families and evacuees. Mental health services were reinforced with additional professionals and an AI-driven mental health support app, and the University partnered with ERAN to provide a mental health hotline. Financial aid included reservist grants totaling over NIS 6 million distributed to 5,224 students and an additional NIS 1.6 million allocated to 563 students impacted by October 7. Community engagement initiatives featured resilience building meetings and recognition ceremonies for long serving reservists. Beyond supporting reservists, the Dean of Students Office launched a dedicated program for first-generation students in collaboration with the Joseph S. and Caroline Gruss Life Monument Fund and expanded the university Chess Club.