From the front lines to the finish line: Engineering college tackles unprecedented disruption

Heading an educational institution is a difficult job under the best of circumstances. Doing so when more than 40% of the student body is fighting in a war and classes have been delayed for three months is a challenge that few, if any, academic institutions around the globe have had to face. Yet that is precisely the story of Afeka – The Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv during the Swords of Iron War.

“It is our moral duty and national obligation,” says Prof. Ami Moyal, president of Afeka, “to ensure that no student drops out because of the war and that all reservists complete the academic year successfully and in full. This has become the number one priority for Afeka and for me personally.”

In early October 2023, as the Jewish holidays were coming to a close, Tel Aviv-based Afeka, one of Israel’s leading academic institutions of engineering and science, was poised to begin its academic year with its full complement of 3,400 students. However, after the Oct. 7 terror attacks and the ensuing war, more than 1,400 students – over 40% of the student body – were called into IDF service, and the opening of the school year was delayed by almost three months. The academic year finally began on December 31, 2023.

Afeka has experienced one of the highest army mobilization rates among Israeli academic institutions. Hundreds of Afeka students remain in active military service, many serving in combat units. Moyal estimates that half of the student body has been directly affected by the war, which includes those who have been serving in the IDF, the bereaved who have lost family members, evacuees from Israel’s northern and southern regions, and students who were present at the Supernova music festival on the morning of Oct. 7.

Moyal and his team are leading the college through the current unprecedented disruption with unwavering resolve. “Without our support,” he says, “not only are their individual futures at risk but so is Israel’s technological edge. The possibility of fewer engineers entering the workforce immediately following the war, in a country where hi-tech drives the economy, isn’t just an educational setback – it’s a national economic and security concern.”

To address the difficult situation, Afeka developed a comprehensive support package tailored to the diverse needs of its students. Key components include transitioning to a flexible hybrid teaching model; recording all classes; repeating courses throughout the year; providing academic advising and mentoring; increasing scholarship funding; and offering individual and group mental health counseling.

The war has presented a unique challenge for the college and the students in terms of the large numbers of students who were called into military service, the extended amount of time they spend in their reserve duties, and the back-and-forth between active military service and the classroom. “The longer the war goes on, the more the challenges are growing,” Moyal notes.

Addressing the challenging situation head-on, Afeka rescheduled the entire academic year and changed its educational system. Classes are offered in a hybrid format, with the lecturers teaching those students who can physically attend classes, while others are able to attend via live Zoom sessions and actively participate in class. All classes are recorded so that students who cannot be in the classroom or participate live from afar can catch up at their own pace and time.

“We built a flexible platform that has enabled students to learn anywhere and any time,” says Moyal.Ironically, due to Afeka’s award-winning crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic, the college was well prepared for this step, with a full complement of hybrid classrooms equipped with cameras, microphones, and speakers already in place, enabling students wherever they are – whether in the field or in military bases, and even wounded soldiers from their hospital beds – to participate live or learn at their own pace.

The college introduced a host of adjustments within the classes to accommodate the needs of its students who have been fighting at the front. In many courses, final exams were changed to a assignments or projects, which could be turned in at a later date. Students concerned about maintaining their grade average received a pass/fail option rather than a numeric score.

The college realized that returning soldiers, due to their wartime experiences, were frequently unable to concentrate in the normal time allotted during exams and thus provided them with extra time to complete them. Students could also take an exam twice, and the higher grade would count for their average.

Due to the significant number of Afeka students serving in the IDF who were unable to attend classes, Moyal and the Afeka team offered 130 additional courses during the second semester and a further 130 courses during the third semester. Many reservists returned to school in the middle of a semester. To accommodate their needs, the school opened shorter six- and seven-week courses.

The multiple layers of assistance that Afeka has offered its students, such as classes on Zoom, financial aid, adding extra courses, and providing counseling services, cost $4 million. Afeka invested $1 million from its budget, received an additional $1 million from the government, and is currently conducting a campaign called the AsOne wartime emergency fund to raise the remaining $2 million needed to continue providing these services for its students.

Moyal says that the emergency issues that Afeka is confronting will not end this semester or even during the next semester. “Even if the war were to end tomorrow, we still need to support our students so they can complete the academic year and their degree in full and on time.”

He estimates that the effects of the war on the students and the college will continue well into the next school year, which will not begin at its regular time because everything was pushed back from this past year. Additionally, he notes that only at the end of the summer semester will the administration be able to determine how many students will require additional help for the next academic year.

Afeka is also providing large amounts of financial assistance to its students. Several times per semester, the college offers need-based scholarships up to the full tuition amount, depending on the circumstances of individual students.

Moyal says that the role of engineers in Israel today is critical. “With Israel’s hi-tech industry as a pillar of economic stability and national security, especially during these critical times, the need for skilled engineers who can innovate and develop cutting-edge technologies with transformative impact has never been greater. The main growth engine in this country is hi-tech, and the engine that runs hi-tech are the engineers.

“I expect that the State of Israel will require many engineers to rebuild and restore our country after the war.”Afeka’s AsOne fund is a critical and crucial component for the future of reservist engineering students at the college to ensure that Israel will continue to have a supply of qualified engineers in the coming years to maintain its status as the Start-Up Nation. 

For more information on contributing to the fund, contact AsOne@afeka.ac.il or visit www.afeka.ac.il/en/giving/projects/asone-campaign/.