(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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35. International Solomon University, a proprietary institution, was
founded in Kyiv in 1992. An “East Ukrainian branch” [in Russian, Восточноукраинский
филиал] was established in Kharkiv in 1998. Located in a wing of
a large prestigious Kharkiv high school (Ukr., Харківський технологічний ліцей
№ 9), the Eastern branch of ISU currently enrolls 325 students; the reality of
demographic decline in Ukraine, said its new Director, Julia Ukis, bodes ill for its
growth.
Dr. Ukis stated that the Eastern branch is organized into three faculties or schools:
economics, computer science, and Jewish studies. Clearly reticent to disclose details
about ISU, Dr. Ukis would not explain the focus of the Jewish studies program. She
said only that some of its graduates continued their studies in advanced degree
programs elsewhere, others teach (not necessarily in
Jewish schools), some work for the Joint Distribution
Committee, and “many” emigrate.
Dr. Julia Ukis, an economist, is Director of the Eastern
Ukraine branch of International Solomon University. She
replaced the founding director, Dr. Boris Elikin, who died
in January 2011.
Photo:
http://www.msu-kharkov.edu.ua/ob_universitete/obrachenie_directora.
Retrieved: July 13, 2011.
Compared to many other local post-secondary institutions, said Dr. Ukis,
tuition at ISU Kharkiv is relatively inexpensive. Additionally, the government
pays tuition for two groups of students, orphans and visually impaired, to
attend ISU. Blind students, she continued, all attended a specialized high
school where they learned to take notes on special computers; almost all
visually impaired and blind students, she said, are older than other students
because their disability necessitated a longer time for completion of the high
school curriculum.
In response to a question, Dr. Ukis said that she did not know the percentage
of Jewish students among the entire ISU Kharkiv enrollment. However, she
continued, it is likely that they constitute a disproportionately larger share of
the enrollment than the proportion of Jews among all citizens of Kharkiv. 55
36. The Hillel student group in Kharkiv has long been one of the most
vigorous in the post-Soviet states, perhaps reflecting the large number of
students in the city. According to Julia Pototskaya, the longtime director of
Kharkiv Hillel, and her assistant, Dmitry Golovinov, between 400 and 500
students currently are activists in the organization. Hillel makes extensive
use of Russian-language social networking computer sites, especially
55 For information about International Solomon University in Kyiv, see pages 96-97.