Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education

We are delighted you are considering applying to the Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education. Our goal is to help you in your quest to go back to school while still working as a Jewish educational practitioner. To that end, we do not require any admissions exams such as the GRE or the Miller Analogies Test. Below are the prerequisites for admission to the program along with a brief description of the application requirements and admissions process.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS

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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 Executive MA in Jewish Education 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 ExecMA@huc.edu to set a date and time.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

• Register for XED500 Introduction for Jewish Educational Leadership course: Following your preliminary interview with Lesley Litman and the filing of Part 1 of your admissions application, you will need to register for XED500 by filling out the registration form and sending it with a check made out to HUC-JIR in the amount of $300 to Office of the National Registrar, HUC-JIR, 3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
• A minimum of five years of leadership experience in Jewish education (supervising staff and creating, supporting, and assessing compelling Jewish learning experiences beyond a single classroom);
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university;
• Successful completion of the seven week online Introduction to Jewish Educational Leadership course that takes place from the third week in January through the first week in March. The goal of the course is to give you the opportunity to try out the online environment and time commitment of the program BEFORE going through the application process. There is a $300 fee for this course.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES:

• Strong academic potential;
• Effective communication skills;
• The ability to think critically and reflectively;
• Formal study of Hebrew and Judaica is strongly recommended.

CALENDAR OF ADMISSIONS AND STUDY

As an applicant and a new student of the Executive MA program in Jewish Education, you may wish to take note of particular dates for the upcoming calendar of admissions and study.

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.

PERSONAL STATEMENT AND ADMISSIONS ESSAYS

As you fill out Part 2 of your online application, you will be prompted to submit your Personal Statement and 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 personal statement and two essays, resume and picture should be consolidated into one document that you will be asked to upload.

• Personal Statement: In no more than six double-spaced, typed pages, and respond to the following questions:
  • Why did you choose to become a Jewish educational leader?
  • Why are you interested in pursuing a masters degree at this point in your career?
  • Discuss your intellectual, religious and spiritual development as well as the life experiences that have led you to make these decisions. Please include your personal reflections on your strengths as a Jewish educational leader and the challenges you have faced in this role.

• Short Essays: 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.

  1. Select a particular Torah portion that is meaningful or challenging to you. What impact does it have on how you think about Judaism and/or the Jewish community? What are the essential ideas you would want to convey to others?

  2. Select an issue that you believe is confronting Jewish education. Discuss why this issue is important and what effect it potentially has on the vitality of Jewish education. What have you done to explore the complexity of this issue?

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.

For international applicants, year-by-year records from colleges and universities attended are required. The record must indicate the number of hours per week devoted to each course, grades received for each course, and degrees awarded, with dates the degrees were conferred. This information must be provided in English. If this information is not available in English, it is the applicant’s responsibility to have it professionally translated and certified before it is sent to HUC-JIR. If grades are not determined on a 4.0 scale system please include guidelines in English from the school that explain the grading system.

LETTERS OF REFERENCE

Good 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 have one reference from a supervisor in a Jewish educational setting.

You must have one reference from a professional source. Someone who has experienced your leadership over time, e.g., a lay leader, teacher, or staff member.

You must have one reference from an educational source. Someone who has been your teacher in a formal or informal setting. 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.

Please use the Reference Letter Request Form to submit the names and contact information of your references. HUC-JIR will not accept more than three 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

CHECKLIST

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

Prior to applying:

• Completion or concurrent registration in the Prerequisite Course

To be completed online:

• Part 1 of your application
• Part 2 of your application (including uploading your Personal Statement, Admissions Essays, Resume and Picture)
• Reference Letter Request Form

Additional items (to be sent directly to HUC-JIR Office of Admissions and Recruitment):

• Transcript(s) — undergraduate and graduate school (if applicable)

National Office of Admissions and Recruitment
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Jack H. Skirball Campus
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.

• Five years in a leadership position in a Jewish Educational institution, including supervision of staff and curriculum oversight beyond a single classroom.
• Participation and satisfactory completion of HUC-JIR prerequisite course, "Introduction to Jewish Educational Leadership
• Currently employed by a Jewish educational institution in North America.
• A BA or BS degree from an accredited college or university.
• An academic record reflecting the ability to do graduate work at a 3.0 grade point average or above on a four-point scale.
• The completion of one year of college-level Hebrew or the equivalent. If necessary, this requirement can be met after matriculating, but prior to graduation.
• A readiness for graduate study, including the capacity to meet the intellectual, ethical, and emotional demands of graduate school.
• A serious commitment to academic study and the capacity to develop self-awareness.
• An ability to engage in abstract reasoning, to think analytically and conceptually, and to formulate mature judgments.
• An aptitude for clear oral and written self-expression.
• Current policy states that applicants who are married to or in committed relationships with non-Jews will not be considered for acceptance to this program.

INTERVIEW

If you meet all of the requirements and satisfactorily pass the introductory course, you will be notified the third week in March that you have been granted a personal interview by video conference call along with the scheduled day and time. Interviews will last about thirty minutes and are scheduled for the final week in March each year. Admissions decisions are made shortly thereafter. We reserve the right to deny an interview to applicants who do not meet the admissions standards.

POSSIBLE ADMISSIONS OUTCOMES:

Within 2-3 weeks of your interview, we will notify you of the committee's decision. There are three possible outcomes:

• Acceptance: The committee decision is that you are qualified to be part of the program
• Not at this time: The committee feels that you have many strengths and could be a successful student at HUC-JIR, but there are areas that you need to work on prior to reapplying to the program. We will strongly encourage you to reapply to the program once you have worked on the recommended areas.
• Rejection: The committee has decided that you are not a good fit for our program.

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