New York—Last month, Dr. Robert Gold­schmidt, Touro’s vice president for planning and assessment, and Rabbi Dr. Simcha Fish­bane, executive assistant to Touro President and CEO Dr. Alan Kadish, touched down in Moscow to visit the local Touro campuses, the Lander Institute of Jewish Studies, and Mos­cow University Touro.

During the two-day visit to the Russian cap­ital, they assessed the schools’ compliance with the accreditation standards of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and met Rab­bi Berel Lazar, Chief Rabbi of Russia. The admin­istrators’ primary focus was academic oversight, but they said the most gratifying aspect was hearing about Touro’s impact on the local Jew­ish community.

“Touro’s presence helps advance Jewish ed­ucation in the former Soviet Union, which, in ef­fect, fosters awareness of the Jewish heritage to many unaffiliated Jews,” Lazar said during an of­ficial dinner meeting with the Touro represent­atives. He also expressed his strong support for the mission of Touro College, which he considers essential and central to Jewish continuity in the Russian Federation.

Dean Goldschmidt, who serves as Touro’s li­aison to Middle States, and Dr. Fishbane, as liai­son to the Moscow campuses, made the trip to assist the leadership, faculty, staff, and students in Moscow.

“Much of our effort was on reviewing and improving the standards required of Touro Col­lege, and offering guidance on reaching those goals,” said Dr. Fishbane.

Of all the meetings they attended, Dean Gold­schmidt said that those held with the students were the most worthwhile. The students spoke of their professional aspirations, which included careers in Jewish education and Jewish commu­nal service, as well as establishing their own busi­nesses or working for foreign companies with branches in Moscow. By earning American de­grees through Touro, they believe that they can present themselves as the best candidates. Dean Goldschmidt also appreciated that the students were enthusiastic about their programs of study and praised their educational experience.

Among the students who made a strong impression on the administrators was a wom­an whose home is a 27-hour train ride from the Lander Institute of Jewish Studies.

“I marveled at the fact that she was seeking out the education that we offer,” said Dean Gold­schmidt. “To me it’s an indication that Touro is doing something of value in Russia. The contri­bution we are making is a very significant one to the continued survival and, hopefully, the blooming of the Jewish community.”

Touro has had a presence in Russia—then the Soviet Union—since the early 1990s.

“We were, I believe, the first and only Amer­ican institution to give students in Moscow the opportunity to pursue and earn a U.S.-accred­ited college degree,” said Dean Goldschmidt. “These credentials are crucial to empowering students in the local job market.”