State Comptroller Joseph Shapira issued a report on Wednesday criticizing Bar-
Ilan University’s administration for violating standards regarding salaries and
favoring family members, among other things.
The university gets 60
percent of its funding from the state and as a result is bound by certain
government standards in its administration.
The report was distributed to
the university on November 29 to give it an opportunity to review and respond
prior to its distribution to the public.
The report directs particular
criticism at the management of Bar-Ilan University by its president, Moshe Kaveh
and the director-general, attorney Haim Glick.
Kaveh has been president
since 1996 and Glick has been in office since 2008.
The report says that
the committee which was supposed to supervise salaries served as a “rubber
stamp” for Kaveh instead of exercising independent judgment and
oversight.
In some instances, the report accuses Kaveh of giving
inappropriately high compensation packages to top management officials, such a
Glick, without even notifying the committee, and of avoiding disclosing aspects
of the packages.
The report also said that Kaveh was inappropriately
involved in extending his tenure as president and in granting the rights to
operate a restaurant in the university to family members.
Bar-Ilan
university issued a statement that it “protests the gap between the harsh and
unfounded judgments of the report’s conclusions and the findings of the report
itself.”
The statement noted that the university – both academically and
administratively – had developed significantly in moving forward with new areas
like “nanotechnology, engineering and medicine,” and as a “natural result” of
the expansion, initially there had been “some errors.”
The university was
surprised that the report made such an issue out of these errors, especially
since it said they had already been addressed. The statement also said that
compensation for university management “was equivalent to that of management in
other universities,” that Kaveh had not been involved in the selection of the
restaurant operator and that his family members “did not control” the company
operating the restaurant.
A statement by the comptroller indicated that
as a result of the violations, the Finance Ministry’s department of salaries has
already contacted Bar-Ilan University to return certain funds that it received
from the state.
A copy of the report has also been forwarded to Attorney-
General Yehuda Weinstein to review for any possible criminal conduct.