At the University of Maryland, there are many programs that can be analyzed using the Academic Return on Investment model in order to identify their effectiveness and impact on academic performance. The Jewish Studies Program is one of such programs the effectiveness of which has to be checked using the A-ROI approach.
The Jewish Studies Program is one of the new initiatives at the University of Maryland. The goal of this program is to improve students’ knowledge of Jewish history, literature, culture, and religion. At the University of Maryland, 20% of undergraduates are Jewish. Therefore, the developers of this program find it an effective and important aspect of undergraduate education to expose and understand the Jewish world thoroughly. However, the necessity of this program remains to be unclear because of several reasons. First, it is hard to comprehend if all investments can be justified and learn to evident benefits. Second, it is not clear if this program is necessary for Jewish students or non-Jewish students who want to improve their knowledge in this field. Finally, the number of people involved in the development of this program, as well the number of students who want to participate in the program and who do participate, is difficult to identify. At the same time, there are many honors in Jewish Studies, including the promotion of excellent grades and the development of strong academic interests. There are 48 hours in a semester with 39 obligatory credits and 9 additional credits (“The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Studies”, 2017).
Taking all these cons and pros of the Jewish Studies Program, it may be defined as a good candidate for using the A-ROI approach to determine its effectiveness and importance in the University of Maryland.
Reference
The Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Center for Jewish studies. (2017). Web.