Ariel University
Ariel University, former the College of Judea & Samaria
(CJS), was established in 1982 as a branch of Bar-Ilan University in the city of Ariel in
the northern West Bank. Ariel University is Israel's largest public
college and one of the fastest-growing Israeli
academic institutions representing the full spectrum
of Israeli society: Jew & Arab,
secular & observant, new immigrant & veteran
Israeli. Students from across the country
attend the university, with 70% coming from
the greater Tel
Aviv area and central Israel and the remainder from northern and southern
Israel.
As a demonstratively Zionist institution,
the College has two key requirements: every
student must study one course per semester
on some aspect of Judaism, Jewish heritage
or Land of Israel studies, and the Israeli
flag must be displayed in every classroom,
laboratory and auditorium on campus.
In the 2004–05 academic year, Ariel's affiliation with Bar-Ilan ended and it became an independent college. The University now has 26 departments for BA, MA, BSc and B.Arch studies, in three faculties and three schools. In
July 2005, the college received official
approval from the Council of Higher Education
(CHE) to begin registering students for
a Master's degree in its Department of
Social Work. The
CHE decision marks the first time that
the College will be authorized to offer
a graduate degree.
On July 17, 2012, the CHE voted to grant the institution full university status. The move was praised by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Education Gideon Saar, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Nobel Prize laureate Robert Aumann.
In 2011, it had a student population of 14,000, with a branch in Tel Aviv.
Ariel has provided research and employment
opportunities to more than 150 immigrant
professionals from the former
Soviet Union and other countries. These scientists have
worked on dozens of R&D projects, in
fields such as robotics, electro-optics,
crystal growth and environmental studies.
In 2000, the university inaugurated the Free Electron
Laser (FEL) on its Ariel campus. The FEL
serves as a national center for studying
and testing radiation and laser use, providing
scientists from Israel and overseas the opportunity
to research areas, including material processing,
advanced imaging, communications and atmospheric
studies.
The university's unique efforts to help with
the absorption of immigrant students and
professionals from the former
Soviet Union and Ethiopia have come to serve as a model
for educational institutions throughout Israel.
New immigrants are well represented on the
Ariel campus, with more than 200 Ethiopian
students attending the university and a significantly
larger number from the former Soviet Union.
Some immigrant students are provided with
scholarships, tutorial services and social
counseling to help them better integrate
into academic life.
Sources: The
College of Judea & Samaria; Wikipedia |