Campus Milestones: October 2005

Planning & Excellence:

• Launched a strategic planning initiative and established goals and vision as a blueprint for the future.
• Dr. Yolanda Moses, special consultant for excellence and diversity and Vice Provost for Conflict Resolution, developed a Framework for Diversity that outlines a plan to embrace the multicultural reality of UCR.
• Recruited Dr. Reza Abbaschian as Dean for the Bourns College of Engineering.
• Appointed Dr. Robert D. Grey as Executive Assistant to the Chancellor for Health Affairs; he is charged with leading the planning effort for the Health Sciences Initiative.
• Appointed Professor Marlene Zuk as Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Equity, who will provide leadership to achieve and sustain gender equity and faculty diversity.

Research and Academic Highlights:

• Major faculty awards and honors include a Guggenheim, a Fulbright, and five new fellowships in the AAAS.
• UCR research funding hits record high of nearly $110M in sponsored awards, a record amount and an increase of nearly 34% since last year.
• Funding includes awards to 390 investigators. Federal agencies provided about 72% of funding dollars, including $3.9M from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, $23.6M from the U.S. Department of Defense, $13.7M from the National Institutes of Health, and $22.1M from the National Science Foundation.
• School of Education received $11.5M from the Department of Education to train quality science teachers-one of the largest awards ever at UCR; this funding has been leveraged with donations from 40 local businesses.

Students:

• Alumnus Richard R. Schrock has won the 2005 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the development of a chemical reaction now used daily in the chemical industry for the efficient and more environmentally friendly production of important pharmaceuticals, fuels, synthetic fibers and many other product; Schrock graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from UCR in 1967.
• Grew from 15,450 students in 2002-03 to 17,000 in 2005-06; the student population has doubled in the last eight years.
• Opened "InSTEP Hall: A Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Residence Hall"; this new themed housing option provides an environment for science and engineering freshmen for social and academic activities.
• Program in Bioengineering leading to the B.S. degree began this fall; a new doctoral program in Religious Studies has been approved and students are being recruited for fall 2006.

Initiatives Launched:

• Health Sciences -
• Focused on the development of two major programs: the Health Sciences Research Institute, and the expansion of the Haider program in Biomedical Sciences to a full-fledged, four-year, research-based School of Medicine.
• Two highly regarded consulting firms have been hired to develop a business plan and a space/facilities plan.
• Launching a seminar series by distinguished health scientists called "Major Issues in Modern Medicine."
• Environmental Sciences -
• Focusing on a partnership with Riverside County and the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.
• Developing a unique integrated environmental modeling, demographic and planning resource center to be co-located at UCR's Palm Desert Center and the main campus.
• Arts and Culture -
• The City of Riverside is providing $2.25M to help leverage private, state, and campus support to renovate the historic Rouse Building in downtown Riverside to house the new Culver Center of the Arts.
• Received a $1M grant from the Gluck Foundation to continue the community out reach program in the arts; last year, Gluck Fellows hosted more than 500 events. As a result, the Gluck Foundation has renewed the grant for an additional two years.
• Law, Science, and Society -
• Hosted judicial case conference to train resource judges to use science in the courtroom.
• UCR has proposed creating a university-based program for training a number of resource judges who would assist the legal system in scientific decision-making.
• Palm Desert Campus -
• In April 2005, UCR held a "community preview" to mark the opening of its new UCR Palm Desert Center.
• The Heckman Center for Entrepreneurial Management is offering an MBA program, allowing students to combine entrepreneurial interests with the business core; an MFA in creative writing/writing for the performing arts is also being offered.
• P-20 Education -
• The Alpha Center and partners created programs in mathematics education that impacted 325 teachers, 117 administrators, 262 secondary students and 71 UCR undergraduates.
• Joined the San Bernardino P-16 Council, which is a group of P-16 educators who work collaboratively on major education issues impacting the Inland Empire.

Facilities:

• Added 2.5M square feet or $700M worth of new construction and renovations from 1999 to 2008; 60% local subcontractors.
• Engineering Building Unit II was completed and will be the home of the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
• Ground will be broken on the new Genomics facility in Summer 2006.
• The Physical Sciences building will open in December 2005. The Biological Sciences Building and Commons Expansion Project are currently under construction.

Advancement:

• "Mini" campaign raised $50.9M from 10,190 donors, nearly half of them first-time givers to the campus, and finished eight months ahead of schedule.
• Increased total private support (gifts and pledges) by 74% over the last fiscal year.
• Hired a new team to create a new culture for advancement at UCR in preparation for our first comprehensive campaign.

Linkages with Region:

• Second largest employer in Riverside County.
• Direct economic impact, through expenditures, of $524.5M in 2003-04.
• Launched a new technology commercialization initiative, working closely with local high tech companies and the University Research Park to improve our efforts in the area of technology transfer.
• Launched a community web portal for UCR to connect with and provide our neighbors access to information, resources, updates, programs and events.
• Spearheading C4, the California Community College Collaborative, a major effort with local community colleges, the state community college system and other UC campuses, to improve the quality of student learning in California's community colleges.

Schools, Colleges, and Divisions:

Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management

• This fall 15 students have entered our new MBA program at the Heckmann Center for Entrepreneurial Management; student orientation was a great success.
• Several initiatives underway this year to make changes to the graduate programs (MBA and Ph.D.).
• Strong undergraduate enrollment.

Biomedical Sciences

• Implemented FastStart, an intensive five-week learning experience designed for incoming UCR freshmen who aspire to medical and other science-based careers with the goal of increasing the number of disadvantaged students who pursue such careers.
• The Medical Scholars Program was established, focusing on students who desire to practice in Inland and rural California areas, and who have a desire to serve the medically underserved populations of this state.

Marlan Bourns College of Engineering

• Raised its ranking in the U.S. News and World Report from 81 to 68, a major achievement for a 13-year-old program.
• Three BCOE faculty members received NSF CAREER Awards this year. The total number of CAREER awardees in the College is now twelve.
• The percentage of underrepresented minorities who received B.S. degree awardees from the Bourns College of Engineering was more than double that of the other UC engineering schools, 17.5% versus 7.5%.

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

• Initiated a new public policy program, involving faculty from across the campus, which will lead to new undergraduate and graduate majors, with the longer-term possibility of a future professional institute or school.
• The Center for California Native Nations has launched a major research project, funded by the California Native Indian Gaming Association, focused on tribal governments and economic development.
• Developed a series of summer internships giving students the opportunity to participate in research activities of their own design, focused on a number of key public policy issues.

College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

• In August, Congressmen Ken Calvert and Jerry Lewis joined UCR officials in opening a $3M nanofabrication facility, which provides the tools and dust-free workspace in which to build a myriad of small-scale circuits and machines.
• Awarded three major grants from the highly competitive NSF "Biocomplexity in the Environment" program.
• Developed a highly successful Dean's Fellow Summer Internship program, offering select students a paid, full-time summer research positions under the mentorship of a faculty member; students attend weekly group meetings with the Dean to discuss their research projects.

Graduate Division

• Awarded a record number of Masters and Doctoral degrees in Spring 2005.
• Received its first NSF-funded IGERT (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship) grant for support of graduate students doing research in Chemical Genomics.
• Awarded the third annual faculty mentor awards to Professors Anthony W. Norman and Aman Ullah.

Graduate School of Education

• Collaborating with the Alpha Center and CNAS to establish a new science, mathematics, and technology education resource center that will encourage and support undergraduates interested in teaching careers.
• The Doctoral Program in School Psychology was awarded accreditation by the National Association of School Psychologists (after also receiving accreditation by the American Psychological Association); the only other California program accredited by NASP and APA is at UC Berkeley.
• The final year of funding from Bank of America has allowed the development of leadership academies in several local school districts.

Athletics

• UC Riverside men's golf team won its second consecutive Big West Championship and Head Coach Paul Hjulberg was named Big West Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.
• Kemie Nkele named Big West Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and First Team All-Big West in women's volleyball.
• Men's Track and Field team posted eight new school records while the women set 21 indoor and outdoor school records in 2005. The Highlanders competed at the prestigious Drake Relays, setting a school record in the medley relay, and was ranked sixth in the nation by Track and Field News in the event.

Library

• Moved up by four points in overall rankings among reporting members of the Association of Research Libraries.
• Expanded into the community by joining the Link+ Consortium, consisting of 33 public and academic libraries in California; UCR is the only UC campus to hold membership on a statewide basis.

University Extension

• Hosted approximately 70,000 individuals last year: half participating in continuing education, and half in conferences and meetings.
• Opened the Beijing International Education Center in Beijing, China for Chinese students to study English.
• Entered an agreement in which La Sierra University accepts continuing education academic credits toward master's degrees in education and business.