[Ucrfacultyandstaff] Provost’s fall campus update

[UCR Provost]

Dear Campus Community,



I hope you have had a smooth start to the new academic year. This quarter’s
update focuses on three very different topics:

·         UCR’s international ranking

·         Digital accessibility

·         Micro-credentials



*International Rankings*



While there are many valid reasons to dismiss rankings as a meaningful
measure of university quality, the reality remains that prospective
students and their families, especially those from outside the United
States, rely on rankings to make their decisions about where to enroll for
both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. While UCR has risen in the
American rankings over the past decade, our international ranking remains
low because we have not received sufficient peer recognition for the
voluminous and impactful research and creative output of our faculty. To
remediate this oversight, we have created a portal through which every
member of the UCR community can nominate academics and employers to be
surveyed for their perception of UCR. If each one of us could encourage one
colleague outside UCR to recognize UCR in the reputation surveys, our
ranking could improve dramatically, greatly increasing the likelihood for
attracting highly qualified nonresident students.



More information about the academic and employer reputation surveys,
including step-by-step instructions, can be found here
<https://international.ucr.edu/document/qs-survey-contact-portal-guide>.
Note that your UCR NetID cannot be used to access the portal; instead, a
separate registration is needed. If you have additional questions, please
contact Vice Provost of International Affairs Marko Princevac at
markop at ucr.edu. Thank you in advance for your willingness to help raise
UCR’s reputation to match its excellence!



*Digital Accessibility*



I am pleased to report significant progress toward meeting the April 26,
2027, deadline for compliance with federal guidelines and UC policy to
ensure our digital content is accessible to all UCR community members. One
year ago, we could monitor just 6% of UCR websites, which collectively
scored 84/100 for accessibility. Now, we can monitor 65% of all websites,
and the average accessibility score has improved to 94/100. XCITE also
helped UCR instructors remediate more than 9,000 files across 166 courses,
leading to improvements in average accessibility scores for Canvas courses
as well. This is great progress but there is more work to be done. Unit
leaders will be collaborating with their Digital Accessibility Liaisons to
ensure continued progress before April. My thanks to everyone for their
efforts! And don't forget to utilize these helpful digital accessibility
resources <https://accessibility.ucr.edu/digital-accessibility> for your
ongoing and future work.


*Micro-credentials*



Over the past ten years, many university campuses and large employers have
developed micro-credential programs to help make specific career-relevant
skills more accessible to learners and visible to employers. A
micro-credential is a short, focused learning experience that develops
a specific
skill or competency valued by employers. Micro-credentials typically are
validated by assessing the skill or competency and awarding a digital badge
when a learner has demonstrated mastery.



At UCR, the Graduate Division, the Division of Undergraduate Education
(DUE), Professional and Global Education, and the Library have all begun
developing and implementing micro-credentials. We have also been working
closely with campus leaders to develop a process for interested units to
offer micro-credentials. Those who are interested in initiating a new
micro-credential program can visit the UCR micro-credential site
<https://provost.ucr.edu/micro-credentials> to learn more and begin the
process.



*****



Thank you for your attention in these three areas. Your contributions will
help to ensure UCR’s international visibility, compliance with the federal
mandate on digital accessibility, and responsiveness to the post-graduation
employment needs of our students.



Sincerely,



Liz

*Elizabeth Watkins, PhD*

*Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor*

*Professor of History*

University of California, Riverside

951.827.1129 | Elizabeth.Watkins at UCR.edu
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