<div dir="ltr"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Dear Campus Community,</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">I hope you have had a smooth start to the new academic year. This quarter’s update focuses on three very different topics:</font></span></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">·<span style="font-variant:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal">         </span></span><span lang="EN">UCR’s international ranking</span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">·<span style="font-variant:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal">         </span></span><span lang="EN">Digital accessibility</span></font></p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.5in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">·<span style="font-variant:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;line-height:normal">         </span></span><span lang="EN">Micro-credentials</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><u><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">International Rankings</font></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">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.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">More information about the academic and employer reputation surveys, including step-by-step </span><span style="background-color:transparent">instructions, can be found </span><a href="https://international.ucr.edu/document/qs-survey-contact-portal-guide" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(70,120,134);background-color:transparent">here</a><span style="background-color:transparent">. 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 </span><a href="mailto:markop@ucr.edu" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(70,120,134);background-color:transparent">markop@ucr.edu</a><span style="background-color:transparent">. Thank you in advance for your willingness to help raise UCR’s reputation to match its excellence!</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><u><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Digital Accessibility</font></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">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 </span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://accessibility.ucr.edu/digital-accessibility" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(70,120,134)"><span style="color:rgb(17,85,204);background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">digital accessibility resources</span></a><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"> for your ongoing and future work. </span></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><u><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Micro-credentials</font></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">Over the past ten years, many university campuses and large employers have developed micro-</span><span style="background-color:transparent">credential programs to help make specific career-relevant skills more accessible to learners and </span><span style="background-color:transparent">visible to employers. A micro-credential is a short, focused learning experience that develops a </span><span style="background-color:transparent">specific skill or competency valued by employers. Micro-credentials typically are validated by </span><span style="background-color:transparent">assessing the skill or competency and awarding a digital badge when a learner has </span><span style="background-color:transparent">demonstrated mastery.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span lang="EN">At UCR, the Graduate Division, the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), </span>Professional and Global Education<span lang="EN">, </span><span style="background-color:transparent">and the Library have all begun developing and implementing micro-credentials. We have also </span><span style="background-color:transparent">been working closely with campus leaders to develop a process for interested units to offer </span><span style="background-color:transparent">micro-credentials. Those who are interested in initiating a new micro-credential program can </span><span style="background-color:transparent">visit the UCR </span><a href="https://provost.ucr.edu/micro-credentials" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(70,120,134);background-color:transparent">micro-credential site</a><span style="background-color:transparent"> to learn more and begin the process.</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">*****</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">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.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Sincerely,</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in"><span lang="EN"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Liz</font></span></p><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><b style="background-color:transparent"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Elizabeth Watkins, PhD</font></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><i>Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor</i><u></u><u></u></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><i>Professor of History</i><u></u><u></u></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif">University of California, Riverside<u></u><u></u></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif">951.827.1129 | <a href="mailto:Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Elizabeth.Watkins@UCR.edu</a><u></u><u></u></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12pt;color:rgb(34,34,34)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><u></u> <u></u></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><span style="color:rgb(31,73,125)"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><img border="0" width="198" height="61" src="cid:image001.png@01DB719C.EFF85DB0" style="width:2.0625in;height:0.6354in"></font></span></p></div></div></div></div>