Announcing the HUC-JIR School of Jewish Nonprofit Management

The HUC-JIR School of Jewish Communal Service will become the HUC-JIR School of Jewish Nonprofit Management on Monday morning at approximately 10:00 am PST at a meeting of the LA Board of Overseers.  Check out our new website: www.huc.edu/SJNM; follow us on Twitter: sjnm-la; and subscribe to our Facebook page: Huc-Jir School of Jewish Nonprofit Management. 


We chose the new name for three compelling reasons:

1.   The nonprofit world, in general, and the Jewish communal world, in particular, has changed dramatically in the past twenty years.  Organizations… whether synagogues or Federations… are expected to be run like businesses… well-run businesses.  And the professionals they hire are expected to be much more sophisticated about and experienced in financials, fundraising, strategic planning, communications and marketing.  This is nonprofit management.

2.   Our primary constituency… our students… virtually demanded the change.  Jewish Nonprofit Management describes a profession, indicates a career, and connects to the larger world of nonprofits, a major industry in America.  Our recent graduates, our current students, and our prospective students are all enthusiastic about the new name… and, in fact, have been referring to their studies as Jewish nonprofit management for over a year already.

3.   The third reason for the change is that it more accurately describes what we already are.  We are not proposing any major changes in the curriculum… rather we are recognizing what we have already become.  To say that we are educating the next generation of Jewish professional leaders must mean that we are first educating them to be knowledgeable, experienced, competent, and creative managers of our increasingly complex organizations and institutions.

What do you think?