Organizational Chart
COLMAN is a public-interest organization. Below is a chart of its organizational structure and a brief description of the mandate of each organizational board and key offices.
main institutional offices and office-holders
Board of Trustees
The board of trustees is the general assembly of COLMAN. Its functions include setting COLMAN’s policy, overseeing the management of its assets, appointing the members of the board of directors and the college’s president, raising resources required for the College’s activities and providing it with public backing.
Mr. Avi Balashnikov
Chair
Chairman of the board of trustees, Mr. Avi Balashnikov is also chairman of the board of TV Channel 10, chairman of the board of the Ronald Lauder Center for Employment in the Negev, and chairman of JCS – Jerusalem Capital Studios Group. Previously, Mr. Balashnikov has been involved in the civil service for nearly 20 years holding top executive positions within the government and Parliament, including Director General of the Knesset, Director General the President’s house, Director General of the Ministry of Communications, Director General of the Office of the State Comptroller. Mr. Balashnikov holds a B.A in Political Science from the University of Haifa.
Board of Directors
The board of directors is responsible for COLMAN’s management within the framework and policies set up by the board of trustees. It manages the College’s administrative, financial, asset-related and legal matters.
Chair
High Academic Council
The High Academic Council is the highest academic entity of the college. It is comprised of, the President, the Rector, all Deans and Department Heads and all senior academic staff. The High Academic Council authorizes the establishment of new academic programs, sets forth academic policies and oversees academic activities. It is sovereign in reaching decisions on academic matters.
President
COLMAN’s President is both the principal academic authority and the principal executive authority of the College. As the principal academic authority, the President answers to the High Academic Council, chairs the latter and is responsible for implementing its decisions. In this capacity, the President represents the College before the Israeli Council for Higher Education and other educational entities. In the capacity as the principal executive authority, the President is responsible for the management of the College’s financial dealings and budget implementation and for initiating activities related to its further development.
Professor Yoram Rabin is the president of the College of Management Academic Studies (COLMAN). Previously, he was a faculty member at the Striks School of Law and served as Dean of the Law School from 2011-2015. Prof. Rabin obtained his LL.B. from the College of Management Law School and attended Tel-Aviv University earning LL.M. degree and JSD (doctorate). From 2015-2019, Prof. Rabin served as the appointed Legal Adviser of the Israeli State Comptroller.
Prof. Yuval Merin
Rector
The Rector is responsible, on behalf of the President, for the development of academic programs, for overseeing appointment and promotion processes and for interfacing with the Israeli Council for Higher Education. The Rector oversees the functioning of the Academic Secretary and the Center for Academic Excellence, comprising the Research Authority and the Teaching Authority.
Prof. Merin holds an LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1993); an LL.M. (1997) and a J.S.D. (2000) from New York University School of Law. Prof. Merin was a visiting scholar at UCLA School of Law (2004); served as Vice Dean of the Striks School of Law (2004-2008); served as the Head of the Teaching Committee (2011-2019) and the Head of the Graduate Programs (2016-2019) at the Striks School of Law; served as the Dean of the Striks School of law (2019-2021).
Prof. Merin’s research focuses on the rights of suspects and defendants, on theories of social justice and feminist jurisprudence, and on the interplay between gender, family and the law.
He is the author of numerous books, articles and book chapters in the fields of evidence law, civil procedure, gender and human rights. Among his publications are the books Equality for Same-Sex Couples (Chicago University Press 2002); and Civil Procedure in Israel (co-authored with Ido Baum and Nili Eyal, Klewer Law International 2013).
Research interests and teaching: Evidence Law, Civil Procedure, Human Rights Law, Gender and Feminism.
Mr. Rafi Gamish
Chief Executive Officer
The CEO is responsible, on behalf of the President, for all the financial, budgetary, human resources, marketing, managerial, administrative, and operational activities of the College.
Mr. Gamish is the CEO of The College of Management Academic Studies (COLMAN). He previously served as chariman of the Board of Directors and as VP of Business Development at COLMAN as well as five years as CEO. during his tenure as VP of Business Development, he founded and established COLMAN’s ultra-orthodox campus in Bnei Brak, developed COLMAN’s pre-academic preparatory school as well as the tuition scholarship assistance model.
Mr. Gamish is a graduate of COLMAN’s School of Economics (B.A.) and of Ben-Gurion University (M.B.A.). Formerly, he was founder of an investment firm as well as an NGO offering students interest-free loans, and an economics lecturer at several colleges and universities.
He was named one of Israel’s top 40 promising young executives by “TheMarker” magazine for 2017.
