Dear Colleagues,
As we head into graduation week, I want to take a moment to say thank you. This has been a great year for UCR and it wouldn’t be possible without the amazing students, staff, and faculty who make it such a special place to work and learn. When we receive national recognition, like the recent study that showed UCR leading all major universities in enrolling and graduating Pell eligible students, it’s because everyone on campus is working hard together toward the same goal.
Student, Staff, and Faculty Awards
One of the best parts of the end of the academic year is having the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of so many folks on campus. It has been a great pleasure to attend the community-based graduation and award ceremonies and see our students lifted up by the families they were born into and the families they’ve built here at UCR.
We’ve also celebrated a truly impressive number of faculty, staff and student awards this year. More than 25 students received national awards (read about our NSF Fellowship award winners here), more than 80 faculty members were honored last week for receiving prestigious national, UC, and campus awards, our staff members earned more than 400 milestone service awards, and UCR’s Robert Wolfer was awarded the Council of UC Staff Assemblies Kevin McCauley Memorial Outstanding Staff Award for his incredible commitment to supporting our staff. Congratulations to all and I’m looking forward to another record-breaking year!
Zero Waste Pledge
We’ve made major strides this year in increasing UCR’s commitment to sustainability through the appointments of a Faculty Director and Associate Faculty Director of Sustainability, the recruitment of a staff Sustainability Officer and the investments in infrastructure that have pushed UCR to the number 2 spot in the UC for sustainability. However, UCR is currently last in the system in the Zero Waste 2020 UC Pledge. I encourage you to take the pledge and use the hashtag #MyLastTrash to get your friends and community members involved in our efforts to cut down on single-use trash. You can follow the efforts of our office to reduce waste on twitter @cynthialarive and please be sure to tag us with your best tips!
Enrollment for Summer Session
While it does get a little quieter on campus during the summer, we’re anticipating a lively and engaged group of students for Summer Sessions this year. Student Affairs’ improved communication campaign has already resulted in higher projected enrollments for summer. I want to thank our faculty and staff for their investment in helping students stay on track by providing essential offerings over the summer. As you know, the average time to degree at UCR is 4 years and 1 quarter so summer can make all the difference when it comes to graduating on time.
Welcoming the Class of 2022
As we conclude one academic year, it’s important to look ahead to the next. We are really looking forward to welcoming the class of 2022 over the summer at orientation and in the fall at Convocation (which is already set for September 24, mark your calendars!). We’re so proud of the campus-wide effort that helped us recruit an amazing new class of first year and transfer students. A huge thank you to the many people involved in making sure UCR beats its transfer enrollment goals for the fall. We took on a big challenge together and it looks like we’re well on our way to outperforming expectations.
Strategic Plan
I want to leave you with a final reminder that much of next year will be devoted to a collaborative strategic planning process. As we approach the end of this decade, it is time to take stock of UCR 2020: The Path to Preeminence, come together again to think deeply about where we want to be years from now, and begin putting the structures in place that will help us achieve our goals. I’m looking forward to this process and to the opportunity to hear from everyone on campus about their vision for the future of UCR.