College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Strategic Plan

CHASS centers the diversity of human experience in educational attainment and world-class research in Inland Southern California

Pillars

Research
Center CHASS as an R1 knocking at AAU’s door

Public Engagement
Embrace our place in Inland California and among its people

Student Experience
Celebrate our students as innovators and disruptors

Budget & Organization
See the big picture and its alignment to our mission

Our Future
Envision where we go together from here

Strategic Goal I

Build financial stability, resiliency, and sustainability

Increase net revenue

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Align curricular offering, student success, enrollment management, and admissions to maximize yield rates, CHASS majors, and full-time FTE counts Institutionalize summer session funding pilot Expand remote summer offerings Develop an out-of-state and international undergraduate recruitment strategy Institutionalize MA Funding Incentive Expand 4+1 and 3+2 MA programs Incentivize grant-writing activities and education Strengthen post-award support	Presidential Postdoc and Chancellor's Fellowship Programs (PPFP/CFP) hiring is projected to yield ~$9M in UCOP and Mellon-HSI hiring incentives FY25-FY29
Expand philanthropically-supported student success Expand number and scope of Endowed, Named, and Term Chairs Advocate on behalf of CHASS at state and federal levels Develop closer connections with federal agency and foundation program officers Center the arts in development activities Prepare CHASS for next Campus Capital Campaign	FY25 Development is projected to exceed $3M goal, driven largely by philanthropic support (and match) for student success
Prepare and train faculty to engage with development activities Grow our giving base Create an alumni fund Increase participation in Dean’s Scholarship Funds Faculty & Staff Giving Campaign Increase participation in Graduate Student Assistance Fund

Improve financial models

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Institutionalize data transparency Incentivize local investment/returns in fellowships and awards, entrepreneurial activity, and sponsored research Establish Dean’s Advisory Committee on fiscal matters Develop CHASS-specific dashboards including forecasting and modeling Future forecasting should include considerations for adequate reserves Roll out better dashboards by department Increase financial literacy among chairs and directors Strengthen resilience through cash management and rainy-day funds Reimagine temporary teaching budgeting and allocations

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Institutionalize data transparency
Incentivize local investment/returns in fellowships and awards, entrepreneurial activity, and sponsored research
Establish Dean’s Advisory Committee on fiscal matters
Develop CHASS-specific dashboards including forecasting and modeling
Future forecasting should include considerations for adequate reserves
Roll out better dashboards by department
Increase financial literacy among chairs and directors
Strengthen resilience through cash management and rainy-day funds
Reimagine temporary teaching budgeting and allocations

Strategic Goal II

Invest in the success of the people who teach, do research, work, learn, and live at UCR

Improve undergrad student success & experience

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Develop new academic programs in areas of high demand for frosh and transfers Expand course modality and credit load offerings, including systemwide online course development Transition academic advising to holistic student success model	Through intentional (sometimes interventionist) advising, College-wide average student credit load is nearly 15 units, with special attention devoted to students registered for less than 12 credit hours.
Expand CHASS F1RST and Transfers F1RST Reduce class sizes, especially in Social Sciences and upper-division Humanities courses Expand senior capstone opportunities, especially across the Social Sciences Incentivize CHASS participation in University Honors Bring career-mapping into academic programs and student success Improve participation rates for EAP/FLEAP, MMUF, SROP, UCDC, California College Corps, and other UCR/UC high-impact programs Expand our summer program offerings Expand the internship program following the model of Political Science

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Develop new academic programs in areas of high demand for frosh and transfers
Expand course modality and credit load offerings, including systemwide online course development
Transition academic advising to holistic student success model

Through intentional (sometimes interventionist) advising, College-wide average student credit load is nearly 15 units, with special attention devoted to students registered for less than 12 credit hours.

Expand CHASS F1RST and Transfers F1RST
Reduce class sizes, especially in Social Sciences and upper-division Humanities courses
Expand senior capstone opportunities, especially across the Social Sciences
Incentivize CHASS participation in University Honors
Bring career-mapping into academic programs and student success
Improve participation rates for EAP/FLEAP, MMUF, SROP, UCDC, California College Corps, and other UCR/UC high-impact programs
Expand our summer program offerings
Expand the internship program following the model of Political Science

Improve graduate student success & pipelines

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Improve graduate funding (grant and fellowship submissions by students) Develop metrics on size of graduate program/faculty Pipeline workshops for UC PPFP applications Offer more diverse teaching opportunities to diversify and expand training for graduate students Expand training and curricular development for more diverse career outcomes for PhD students Address attrition and failure rates and time-to-degree across departments (benchmarking to UC and national rates) Reimagine graduate advising

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Improve graduate funding (grant and fellowship submissions by students)
Develop metrics on size of graduate program/faculty
Pipeline workshops for UC PPFP applications
Offer more diverse teaching opportunities to diversify and expand training for graduate students
Expand training and curricular development for more diverse career outcomes for PhD students
Address attrition and failure rates and time-to-degree across departments (benchmarking to UC and national rates)
Reimagine graduate advising

Address faculty equity & professional growth

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Embrace multiple pathways that recognize and reward variety of academic contributions Embrace data transparency on salaries, retention, service, Amplify rewards and recognitions for faculty, for internal and external audiences	CHASS Dean’s Research Impact Award launched in 2026
Center diversity and inclusion as constitutive of faculty excellence Advance inclusive and equitable search and selection process Make Principles of Community legible and meaningful	Impacting the region through public outreach, community engagement, economic development to be a mandatory part of all unit-level research statements for the 2026 M/P cycle
Appropriately compensate chairs, directors, and supervisors Addressing salary inversions, compressions Education of chairs as administrators Fund competitive leadership training and networking opportunities for faculty and staff	Creation of research coordinator position in CIS (Humanities), Social Sciences Lab (social sciences), and UCR ARTS (arts + Gluck)

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Embrace multiple pathways that recognize and reward variety of academic contributions
Embrace data transparency on salaries, retention, service,
Amplify rewards and recognitions for faculty, for internal and external audiences

CHASS Dean’s Research Impact Award launched in 2026

Center diversity and inclusion as constitutive of faculty excellence
Advance inclusive and equitable search and selection process
Make Principles of Community legible and meaningful

Impacting the region through public outreach, community engagement, economic development to be a mandatory part of all unit-level research statements for the 2026 M/P cycle

Appropriately compensate chairs, directors, and supervisors
Addressing salary inversions, compressions
Education of chairs as administrators
Fund competitive leadership training and networking opportunities for faculty and staff

Creation of research coordinator position in CIS (Humanities), Social Sciences Lab (social sciences), and UCR ARTS (arts + Gluck)

Address staff flexibility & professional growth

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Increase staffing across the College, benchmarking ratios to campus, UC, and association norms (staff:faculty; staff:student) Institutionalize strategic workplace flexibility Expand mentorship and leadership programs among staff Formalize onboarding and career pathing from entry level to supervisory positions Improve staff retention ratios Develop CHASS Student-to-Staff Pathway Making Principles of Community legible and meaningful

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Increase staffing across the College, benchmarking ratios to campus, UC, and association norms (staff:faculty; staff:student)
Institutionalize strategic workplace flexibility
Expand mentorship and leadership programs among staff
Formalize onboarding and career pathing from entry level to supervisory positions
Improve staff retention ratios
Develop CHASS Student-to-Staff Pathway
Making Principles of Community legible and meaningful

Strategic Goal III

Expand the visibility and scope of influence of UCR locally, nationally, and globally

Strengthen AAU membership metrics

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Foster faculty research environment that is typical for AAU institutions Intentional mapping our strengths to AAU metrics and standards Grow sponsored research activities Strategically grow UC graduate education and postdoctoral opportunities Identify the strength of distinctive research collections California Museum of Photography Embrace the opportunities to tell our shared and unique AAU-worthy stories Restore faculty research support programs put on hiatus during pandemic-caused budget crisis (Chip-In, subvention, computer replacement)

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Foster faculty research environment that is typical for AAU institutions
Intentional mapping our strengths to AAU metrics and standards
Grow sponsored research activities
Strategically grow UC graduate education and postdoctoral opportunities
Identify the strength of distinctive research collections
- California Museum of Photography
Embrace the opportunities to tell our shared and unique AAU-worthy stories
Restore faculty research support programs put on hiatus during pandemic-caused budget crisis (Chip-In, subvention, computer replacement)

Serve as an Anchor Institution for economic development in Inland Empire

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Grow CHASS voice in equitable and sustainable regional economic development Position CHASS as arts incubator in regional development
Coordinate existing research agendas across college to be well-positioned as active partners in OASIS and other regional development initiatives

Achieve national classifications

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Increase National Academy and AAAS members Increase national association recognition for faculty and staff (CUPA HR, CUCSA, NACADA) Recognize community engagement as a metric of excellence Recognize performing and visual arts activity as community engagement	In dialogue with the Carnegie Classification on Community Engagement, preparing for the renewal and refresh of the Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts

Build world-class facilities and marquee events for the arts, humanities, and social sciences

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Elevate CHASS facilities into campus capital planning Expand CHASS footprint in Downtown Riverside Activate engagement with campus landscape and Library special collections Ensure existing facilities are ADA compliant, safe, and secure	Renovated and newly configured spaces, including Humanities 411, INTS 1121, the new Dance studio in the Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Facility (UTLF), and expanded access to the Barn Theater
Maximize efficient post-pandemic usage of currently assigned CHASS space Modernize and upgrade technology in existing facilities for instruction and student success Contribute to expansion of public art on campus

Strengthen research communication and outreach

INITIATIVES	PROGRESS
Deepen and expand marketing and communications portfolio Develop an Alumni Engagement strategy Develop faculty outreach and comms trainings Develop relations with community employers	CHASS Marketing and Communications recognized by UC Communicators for Spanish-language initiatives

INITIATIVES

PROGRESS

Deepen and expand marketing and communications portfolio
Develop an Alumni Engagement strategy
Develop faculty outreach and comms trainings
Develop relations with community employers

CHASS Marketing and Communications recognized by
UC Communicators for Spanish-language initiatives