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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Dear Campus Community,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">As we start another academic year, I’ve been thinking a lot about student success. Last week I sent out a
<a href="https://provost.ucr.edu/document/phd-mfa-funding-10172023">communication</a> about new investments in PhD and MFA student funding,
<span style="color:#212121">as a first step towards achieving our desired growth, which<b>
</b>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. We welcomed a new Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Lidia Kos,
to campus in July, and I look forward to her leadership in working with the graduate programs toward these shared goals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">I am pleased to report that we have made good progress toward a key intermediate goal for undergraduate student success: increasing
<span style="color:#212121">our average undergraduate credit load from </span><a href="https://insideucr.ucr.edu/announcements/2022/09/29/provosts-fall-campus-update?_gl=1*1k5x3wn*_ga*MTAzMjIxNjg3MC4xNjk1MDU5MTQ5*_ga_S8BZQKWST2*MTY5NzU3NjUzMC4zNC4xLjE2OTc1Nzc4NDYuMC4wLjA.*_ga_Z1RGSBHBF7*MTY5NzU3NjUzMC4zNC4xLjE2OTc1Nzc4NDYuMC4wLjA.">14.0
last fall</a><span style="color:#212121"> (the lowest in a decade) to 14.4 this fall. We still have work to do to get to fulltime enrollment of 15.0, but we’re on the right track, and I want to thank all the staff and faculty who have worked together to help
our students make timely progress toward their degrees.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">I’d like to direct your attention to a wealth of information that the Office of Institutional Research maintains on its
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://ir.ucr.edu/academic_data_dashboard">Academic Data Dashboards</a><span style="color:#212121"> site. In addition to
</span><span style="color:black;background:white">dashboards on institutional metrics such as graduation rates, retention rates, time to degree, and student-to-instructor ratios,
</span><span style="color:#212121">you can find </span><span style="color:black;background:white">dashboards on average class sizes, average credit loads, course capacity and fill rates, course grades and equity gaps, course demographics, and many other topics
that may be helpful in teaching and advising our undergraduates.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">In addition to student success, faculty success is also critical to our mission. Earlier this month, we had a lovely celebratory dinner at the Mission
Inn to recognize faculty who were promoted in 2022-23 along with faculty who won major national and international awards. You can see the data on how faculty advanced through merits and promotions in the
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><a href="https://academicpersonnel.ucr.edu/sites/default/files/2023-09/AY22-23%20Senate%20Faculty%20Merit%20and%20Promotions%20Year%20in%20Review.pdf"><span style="background:white">Year in
Review</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white"> report on the </span>
<a href="https://academicpersonnel.ucr.edu/"><span style="background:white">APO website</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white">. You can also find other academic personnel
</span><a href="https://academicpersonnel.ucr.edu/Equity%20Studies"><span style="background:white">data analyses</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white">, the dates of
</span><a href="https://academicpersonnel.ucr.edu/sites/default/files/2023-08/23-24ay-apo-event-calendar-final.pdf"><span style="background:white">events and workshops</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white">, the 2023-24 edition of
</span><a href="https://academicpersonnel.ucr.edu/the-call"><span style="background:white">the CALL</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white">, and other useful resources on this site.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">I wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and successful fall quarter!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Liz<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Elizabeth Watkins, PhD
</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">(she / her / hers)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Professor of History</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">University of California, Riverside</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">951.827.1129 |
<a href="mailto:Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu">Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:4.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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