Certificate in Jewish Education for Adolescents and Emerging Adults

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

PRELMINARY CONSULTATION

As part of your application process to becoming an educational leader through HUC-JIR, we encourage you to speak with a professional in the Department of Admissions and Recruitment or the Coordinator of the Certificate Program. This informal, preliminary consultation is a way for us to get to know you better, for you to ask your questions and be sure now is the right time for you to apply to HUC-JIR. Simply email EdCert@huc.edu to set a date and time.

THE APPLICATION

If you’ve applied in the past, or are familiar with our application process from years past, you may be interested to know that we’ve changed our process, and we continue to maintain our high admissions standards.

Here are the steps you should take:

First, begin Part 1 of your application for admission. We’ll ask you a few, simple questions about yourself and your educational background.

Then, after you’ve submitted Part 1 of your application, we’ll confirm its receipt and email you instructions on how to start Part 2. Part 2 of the application asks program-specific questions, including essay questions.

There is one application deadline and interview period . All application materials, including Part 2 of your application, letters of references, transcripts and test results, must be received by the deadline in order to receive an interview. HUC-JIR does not offer rolling admissions.

Admissions Essays

As you fill out Part 2 of your online application, you will be prompted to submit your Admissions Essays. Your answers to the following questions help us get to know you as an individual, a student, a Jew, and a Jewish educator. Your admissions essays, resume and picture should be consolidated into one document that you will be asked to upload. Please respond to each of the following questions separately. Limit your response to the two questions to a total of six double-spaced, typed pages.

Describe an experience in which you played a leadership role in a Jewish institutional setting (broadly defined). Reflect on what you learned about yourself and how you relate to others when exercising leadership. What questions do you have about leadership as a result of the experience you have described and analyzed?
Select one or two big issues that you believe are confronting the Jewish community today. Discuss why the issue is important and what effect it potentially has on the vitality of the Jewish community. How do you think working with adolescents and emerging adults can help address this issue? What have you done to explore the complexity of this issue?

PORTFOLIO

Another element of your application is your portfolio, consisting of three items that represent the work you have accomplished with adolescents and/or emerging adults. Examples of this may include (but not be limited to) a curriculum, program write-up, bulletin or newspaper article, website, Twitter stream, or Facebook event. Please elaborate (no more than one double-spaced page) why you chose to include the pieces in your portfolio, and explain their purpose and use if they are not self-evident in the piece itself. If in a suitable electronic format please submit this with your resume and admissions essays in one single file in Part 2 of your online application. If your portfolio is in a format that is better suited for mail, please send it to: Rabbi Melissa Zalkin Stollman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, The Brookdale Center, One West Fourth Street, New York, NY 10012.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

In addition to the online Part 1 and 2 of your application, HUC-JIR requires a number of supporting application documents that should be emailed or sent to the National Office of Admissions and Recruitment on the Los Angeles campus. Do not send documents to any other campus or department of HUC-JIR, as this will delay or prevent us from receiving your complete application by the deadline.

TRANSCRIPTS

Please provide us with one copy of an official transcript from:

The college from which you graduated as well as any other colleges you attended. (This includes any school at which you took a college-level class.) Any graduate schools where you have been enrolled, as well as schools where you have taken graduate-level classes.
Any “Year Abroad” programs or other foreign study. (If grades from international programs are recorded on your college transcript you do not need to submit a separate transcript.)

Have the schools mail the transcripts directly to: National Office of Admissions and Recruitment, Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion, 3077 University Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90007. Please request transcripts with sufficient time to allow them to arrive by the application deadline.

LETTERS OF REFERENCE

The best references come from individuals who know you well enough to give the Admissions Committee input on your candidacy and reflect on specific experiences you have had that will make you a strong candidate.

You must submit two references.

One from an individual who can describe you as a learner: someone who has been your teacher in a formal or informal setting. On our online form, this is labeled as “Academic”. The context should be one in which the teacher could observe your intellectual capacities and your ability to engage in serious Jewish and/or professional studies.
One from an individual who can describe you as a Jewish professional; someone who has experienced your leadership over time within a Jewish context, e.g., a supervisor, clergy member, lay leader, teacher, or participant. On our online form, this is labeled as “Professional”.

Please use the Reference Letter Request Form to submit the names and contact information of your references. HUC-JIR will not accept more than two letters of reference. The individuals you list as references will receive an email from HUC Admissions informing them that you have requested they write a letter of reference on your behalf. It is recommended that you are in touch with your chosen references prior to filling out this online form to alert them that they will receive this emailed request.

The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, as amended, provides students the right to inspect their records. This includes letters of recommendation submitted in the application process. HUC-JIR carefully reviews all letters of reference. However, we find that letters written in confidence are most useful in assessing a candidate’s qualifications and promise. By using the Reference Letter Request Form, you are automatically waiving your right. Please contact admissions@huc.edu with any questions or concerns.

Reminders regarding references: Please allow each reference enough time (at least one month) to complete his or her letter of reference. If you wish to substitute, delete, or add references after you have submitted their names in the online Reference Letter Request Form, you must report this in writing to the National Office of Admissions by emailing admissions@huc.edu

PERMISSION TO APPLY AND PARTICIPATE A letter from your current supervisor must be submitted granting permission to apply and to participate in all aspects the program, should you be accepted. It should state: “(Your name) has permission to participate in all aspects of the Certificate Program in Jewish Education for Adolescents and Emerging Adults at HUC-JIR. This includes the time needed to attend all intensives, institutes, and online learning sessions.” This letter should be emailed directly from your supervisor to Rabbi Melissa Zalkin Stollman at edcert@huc.edu. This letter is in addition to the two letters of reference required for your application.

CHECKLIST

Use this checklist as a guide to completing your HUC-JIR Admissions Application.

To be completed online:

Part 1 of your application
Part 2 of your application (including uploading your Admissions Essays, Resume, Picture and Portfolio). You will gain access to part 2 after you have completed part 1.
Reference Letter Request Form

Sent directly to edcert@huc.edu

Permission to Apply and Participate Letter

Sent directly to HUC-JIR Office of Admissions and Recruitment: - Transcript(s), undergraduate and graduate (if applicable)

National Office of Admissions and Recruitment
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
3077 University Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90007
admissions@huc.edu

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

We are looking for highly qualified applicants for all of our programs. HUC-JIR’s student body is diverse and there is no “correct path” to becoming a strong candidate. Each applicant is viewed as a unique individual. For example, a degree in Jewish studies is not required but it is important to have some background with liberal arts classes where reading and writing are emphasized.

You must be able to meet the following requirements.

Have received a BA or BS degree from an accredited college or university.
Plan to be working with adolescents or emerging adults within the context of a Jewish educational framework during the upcoming academic year.
Demonstrate readiness for serious study, including the capacity to meet the intellectual, ethical, and emotional demands of a certificate program.
Show the ability to engage in abstract reasoning, to think analytically and conceptually, and to formulate mature judgments.
Demonstrated ability for clear oral and written self-expression.
Have regular access to a computer with word processing software, PDF reader, high speed Internet access, a webcam, microphone and speakers.

INTERVIEW

A personal interview with an Admissions Committee is required as part of the evaluation of your candidacy. This interview provides the Admissions Committee the opportunity to get to know you better and for you to expand upon the information you have provided in your application. Interviews will take place via computer -video conference. A select number of qualified candidates will be granted an interview with the Admissions Committee based on their application, supporting materials and portfolio. We reserve the right to deny an interview to applicants.

BECOMING A NEW STUDENT

In preparation for you pending enrollment as a new student, we highly suggest that you visit our For New Students page that outlines the post-interview/post-acceptance next steps of the admissions process. Key to your preparation will be completing the required Medical Forms and submitting Financial Aid documentation.

START YOUR APPLICATION

Part 1 of the Application