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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Dear Colleagues:</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Graduate education is at the core of our mission as an AAU member university. It is our express ambition, as affirmed in the UCR 2030 strategic plan, to grow
our doctoral programs. This growth includes not only a larger number of students enrolled at UCR, but also improved outcomes for those students in terms of graduation rates, time to degree, and career placements.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">For the past several months, a campus workgroup that included Senate leaders, deans, and CFAOs has come together to assess the new financial reality of graduate
education under the current UAW contracts. <b>Below, we announce</b> <b>new investments to sustain quality and stabilize our doctoral programs at UCR, as a first step towards achieving our desired growth</b>.
</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">In 2016-17, UCR enrolled 493 new PhD and state-supported MFA students. Since then, new enrollments have declined, for reasons that remain unclear.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Although
we made $12.2M available to fund first-year fellowships for 375 new students in 2023-24 (to match the number enrolled in 2022-23), only 333 enrolled. Beginning in 2024-2025, to help meet the increased costs of supporting our continuing students and to better
coordinate our efforts to recruit new students, this $12.2M in permanent central funds along with
<b>$7M in new permanent central funds</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>will be allocated directly to the schools and colleges to support both TAs and fellowships. Working with their department chairs, deans will be required to provide an annual
accounting of how these funds have been spent to the Provost and Dean of the Graduate Division.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>In addition, we are<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>committing
<b>$5M in new one-time funds</b> to the Graduate Division to support fellowship quarters for first-year students in 2024-25. Another $2.5M of existing permanent funds will remain in the Graduate Division to be distributed as recruitment and dissertation completion
fellowships. </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">These investments should allow us to make a reasonable transition to the exigencies of the UAW contracts, maintain our graduate student enrollments
in the near term, and then give us time to plan for future needs beyond next year. We also understand the need to finalize a plan for 2024-25 at this time, given the imminent recruitment timeline.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">As noted in an
</span><a href="https://insideucr.ucr.edu/announcements/2023/02/17/uaw-contracts-updates?_gl=1*eivbht*_ga*MTAzMjIxNjg3MC4xNjk1MDU5MTQ5*_ga_S8BZQKWST2*MTY5NzEzMzkwMS4yNi4xLjE2OTcxMzM5MTAuMC4wLjA.*_ga_Z1RGSBHBF7*MTY5NzEzMzkwMS4yNi4xLjE2OTcxMzM5MTAuMC4wLjA."><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">earlier
communication</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">,
<b>the central campus has already invested $11.1M in one-time funds</b> to support the additional costs of TAs and GSRs per the UAW contracts and to support fellowships for incoming graduate students at the base TA rate of $29,000 for the 9-month academic year
in 2023-24. For 2024-25, all PhD students must be supported at the minimum rate of $34,000 for the 9-month academic year.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">These changes will move us away from a “cohort” funding model for graduate education and improve coordination and flexibility when making offers to new students.
We are aware of concerns that these changes could increase inequities among students, but it is important to recognize that
<b>the cohort model in place at UCR was neither sufficient nor equitable for our graduate students.</b> In 2020-21, the average “per student average” funding level from the Graduate Division was $30,000. Of that, $17,000 went to pay for tuition (including health
care), leaving the student with an average $13,000 stipend. Some students received a $5000 “add-on” for merit or diversity from central funds (administered by the Graduate Division). Neither $18,000 or $13,000 was enough to live on, so some first-year
<span style="color:black">students (20% in 2022-23)<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>worked
</span>as TAs and others <span style="color:black">worked as GSRs during quarters when they also received fellowship support, either to make
</span>ends meet or because of their program’s requirements. In addition, 5% of first year PhD students and 6.5% of continuing PhD students took out federal loans.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Also, the “per student average” varied among programs. In 2020-21, for example, it ranged from $28,000 to $35,000 (and these totals included the $17,000 for tuition
and health insurance, so the average net stipend amount varied from $11,000 to $18,000). Furthermore, student stipends varied within programs. In 2018-19, the total stipend range for first-year students enrolled for fall/winter/spring was $3273 to $32,821,
and the range for just the amounts from the central first-year fellowship allocated through the Graduate Division (without any add-ons) was $1563 to $19,800. Thus, there was significant inequity across colleges, programs, and individuals in first-year stipends,
beyond what might be expected given the differences in competition for students in different disciplines.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">The UAW forced us to reckon not only with the insufficiency of salaries for TAs and GSRs in the UC system, but, here at UCR, we also had to reckon with the insufficiency
and inequity of our cohort model system. As noted above, for this academic year, 2023-24, we dipped into one-time funds to be able to offer every first-year student three quarters of fellowship at $29,000 (exclusive of tuition, fees, and health insurance),
the same amount as the first increment of the TA salary scale. <b>Going forward, we believe it is imperative to offer our PhD students a multiyear funding package that includes a guaranteed annual minimum salary/stipend equal to the first increment of the
TA salary scale. </b>In 2024-25, this amount will be $34,000. This minimum standard should provide greater equity to our PhD students across campus.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">The fundamental issue we face is that we don’t have the permanent funding to continue to offer every entering student three fellowship quarters at $34,000 while
continuing to meet the needs of our teaching mission. <b>Neither the state of California nor the UC Office of the President has identified new funds for these increased costs; every campus is expected to find the money within their existing budgets.
</b>Currently at UCR we have the following permanent funds for PhD student stipends and TA salaries:</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">$12.2M (central)</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">$31.5M (schools and colleges)</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">$6.8M (</span></u><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">new to schools/colleges; plus $200K
allocated f<span style="color:black">or fees, managed centrally)</span></span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">$50.5M TOTAL</span></b><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">In 2024-25, we will need an estimated
<b>$44.5M</b> to pay the TAs to support the faculty in their undergraduate teaching, based on maintaining levels from 2021-22 and 2022-23. This leaves
<b>$6.0M</b> for fellowships. If we accept 375 new PhD students and provide them with a $34,000 fellowship stipend plus health insurance for the three quarters of their first year, that cost would be
<b>$14.7M, </b>leaving us with a deficit of <b>$8.7M</b>. To break even, we can offer an average of 1.2 quarters of fellowship instead of a full 3 quarters. As noted above, we are investing
<b>$5M</b> in new one-time funds to provide an additional quarter of fellowship for each of the 375 new students in 2024-25, raising the average number of fellowship quarters per student to at least two.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Going forward, Graduate Dean Kos will engage with the department chairs, faculty graduate program directors, and school/college deans in thoughtful and candid
discussions to identify the bases on which cohort sizes for doctoral programs will be determined.</span></b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:red;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">
</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Previously, c</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">ohort size has been decided based on history (i.e., how many students
were admitted in prior years) and faculty size (i.e., there should be x students for y faculty). Another way to make these decisions is to base them on
</span><a href="https://app.powerbi.com/groups/a7f7f408-09d8-4e9a-8617-722b4db12d8a/reports/c4a0aa1b-ba5d-4bc8-91b9-b08363db5f34/ReportSection33692f50e5230344086d?clientSideAuth=0&experience=power-bi"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">student
outcomes</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">, e.g.,
</span><a href="https://app.powerbi.com/groups/a7f7f408-09d8-4e9a-8617-722b4db12d8a/reports/05f11b29-8c9c-42c3-ac52-adab030a3127/ReportSection?clientSideAuth=0&experience=power-bi"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">graduation
rates</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">,
</span><a href="https://app.powerbi.com/groups/a7f7f408-09d8-4e9a-8617-722b4db12d8a/reports/c4a0aa1b-ba5d-4bc8-91b9-b08363db5f34/ReportSection8474c280c4876e3c0bb0?clientSideAuth=0&experience=power-bi"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">time
to degree</span></a><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">, and career placements. We owe it to our students to graduate them in a timely fashion and to launch them onto meaningful career paths. Another consideration,
of course, is their labor as TAs and GSRs in support of the faculty, but those roles should be secondary to their personal success as students<span style="color:black">.
</span></span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">We look forward to additional robust, collaborative, and constructive conversations in the months ahead, as we work to stabilize PhD and MFA enrollments
for 2024-25. We also fully recognize that we will have to continue to address funding for graduate education for 2025-2026 and beyond, given the current UAW contracts expire on May 31, 2025, and will therefore be up for renegotiation.</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Sincerely,</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Elizabeth<span style="color:black"> Watkins, PhD</span></span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Lidia Kos, PhD</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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