The government will today discuss upgrading the status of Judea and Samaria College in Ariel and combining northern colleges into a Galilee university. Senior officials at the Council for Higher Education (CHE) are opposed to establishing these universities, which they say are neither needed nor affordable with a higher education budget slashed by some billion shekels in recent years.

The government will consider a resolution stating it "sees national importance" in making these changes "as a lever for strengthening the higher education system in the region."

The resolution would task Education Minister Limor Livnat with "working to examine" establishing the universities "in coordination with the CHE and the planning and budgeting committee," and reporting on progress to the government within 60 days.

College administrators predict the resolution will pass, as Likud ministers favor turning the college in Ariel into a university, and the Galilee university initiative has been promoted recently by Vice Premier Shimon Peres.

Northern colleges say uniting them into a new university will increase access to higher education and streamline work at the existing colleges. They envision a multi-campus institution operating at the existing colleges (Jezreel Valley, ORT Braude, Tel- Hai, Jordan Valley, Western Galilee and Safed), and a new central campus being established, most likely in Carmiel.

College heads have been promoting the plan for several years and recently received a substantial boost when Peres joined the cause and enlisted businessman Arnon Milchan, who promised to donate $100 million and wants to head the nonprofit organization in charge of the university.

Livnat, who as education minister also chairs the CHE, is in favor of creating both universities, and says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also wants to upgrade the Ariel college, the largest public college with 6,276 students enrolled this year.

"Upgrading the colleges into universities is designed to support the settlement vision, out of a national interest of the State of Israel," Livnat said.

However, other senior CHE officials are staunchly opposed to the plan. The CHE, which is legally responsible for licensing new institutions of higher education, has previously decided against establishing another research university in the next four years.

CHE deputy chairman, Yehezkel Teller, says that new universities would be detrimental to the existing system of institutions, which are already reeling from budget cuts.

Housing Minister Isaac Herzog said he would vote against upgrading the Ariel college, saying that establishing a university in a "problematic" area would "take away precious resources that do not meet Israel´s priorities, first and foremost the development of the Negev and Galilee."

All of these colleges are still far from being universities: they grant only undergraduate degrees and conduct relatively little research, mostly aimed at developing new products, rather than the basic research for obtaining new knowledge. (© Copyright 2005 Haaretz. 05/02/05)