UCR Campus seen from above

UCR 2020 Archive: Process

UCR's Strategic Plan: What It is and Is Not

The vision and driver for UC Riverside’s strategic plan is excellence. We want to be excellent both by our own standards and by those of independent, widely accepted entities such as the AAU. The primary purpose of UCR 2020, our strategic plan, is to lay out strategies to achieve excellence along the criteria that we – and they – have developed.

UCR 2020 must be strategic, not tactical and operational. Thus, the plan will not provide as much detail as some would like, but rather will provide a framework that will guide our decisions in the future. As an analogy, a strategic plan tells us that Yosemite is north and west of Riverside. A tactical plan provides turn-by-turn directions on how to get there. UCR 2020 will provide overall direction; it will be up to us to interpret, as the time and miles go by, the best way of getting where we want to go. This is important because the strategic plan will be a living document, flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

A strategic plan is forward-looking and forward-leaning. It does not dwell on the past, nor does it ponder the present – except as the platform from which we will launch our future aspirations. A strategic plan draws a line in the sand and says, “We go forward from here.” Thus, UCR 2020 is not a place to look for mention of the successes achieved by a specific program or department; rather a program or department should use UCR 2020 to consider where it will fit in the campus’ future.

A courageous strategic plan generates anxiety, and may create backlash. This is to be expected.  Indeed, it is welcome, as universities do not evolve in a straight line; they grow in fits and starts. Universities in equilibrium are no longer growing.  To remain dynamic, areas of investment must change over time. The strategic priorities identified in UCR 2020 are not intended to encompass every aspect of what we are doing in this great university, nor do they represent the sole areas in which we will invest.   Rather, they arise from existing strengths, emerging opportunities, and societal need.

Just as UCR 2020 will not tell us every road to take between here and Yosemite, it will not tell us where to invest every dollar in the future.  Investments will be both strategic and opportunistic – hence the inclusion of an “innovation incubator” among the strategic priorities, to enable new ideas and initiatives to emerge. The beauty of a strong strategic plan is that it provides enough direction to get us where we want to go, but enough flexibility to choose an alternative route along the way if a unique opportunity presents itself.

Decisions related to resources and tactics will be made during the implementation process, guided by both the strategic plan and the academic and administrative plans developed by other campus units.

UCR is at a watershed moment.  As an experiment station for more than a century, and a UC campus for more than 50 years, we are ready and poised for transformative change. It will require energy.  It will require risk.  But UCR’s leadership, faculty, staff, and students are capable of a great leap if we summon the will to do so.

 

September 29, 2009 - Kickoff meeting

January 2010 - Subcommittee reports due

Early March 2010 - Release draft #1 & all sub-committee reports.

March 29, 2010 - Stakeholder comments due

 May 7, 2010 - Draft #2 due

June 1, 2010 - Comments due

June 15, 2010 - Draft #3 due

June 30, 2010 - Comments due

September 15, 2010 - Presentation to Regents.

The strategic planning process for the University of California, Riverside, was carried out in large part by eight subcommittees, made up of 84 faculty members, 32 staff, 11 students, 7 community members, and 6 campus administrators.  Each of the subcommittees produced a written report upon which the strategic plan – dubbed UCR 2020 – was based.  Not every issue that surfaced in the subcommittee deliberations and reports is reflected in UCR 2020.  In some instances, issues emerged that cut across a number of committees and, for these, a series of working papers has been developed.  The working papers are very much a product of the work conducted by the strategic planning subcommittees.  Each was reviewed extensively by members of the steering committee (primarily chairs of the subcommittees), as well as the subcommittee vice chairs.

Excellence Matters

The Size and Shape of UCR

Research Infrastructure and Support

Strategic Priority Areas

Emerging Professional Schools at UCR

Transparency

Implementation of UCR 2020

History of UCR

Pyramid outlining structure of strategic planning process
UCR 2020 Path to Preeminence Banner

Chancellor's Presentation to the Regents: UCR 2020 — Path to Preeminence

Chancellor Timothy White presented the new UC Riverside 10-year strategic plan, Path to Preeminence, to the UC Board to Regents Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010.

It is part of a continuing series of presentations made by the chancellor of each campus to the Regents' Committee on Educational Policy. It features information about each campus that will allow for more informed discussions on individual items in the future.

PDF of Chancellor White's presentation

Results of Senate Faculty Survey about Academic Excellence

The Faculty Survey Report, adopted by a 6-2 vote of the Academic Excellence Subcommittee, discusses the main findings of the faculty survey. A minority report was also submitted. The Subcommittee's report lists collaborations, centers, and programs mentioned by at least 10% of responding faculty in the larger colleges (CHASS and CNAS) or by at least five faculty in the smaller colleges (BCOE, GSOE and SoBA). By contrast, the minority report lists collaborations, centers, and programs mentioned by at least 10% of responding faculty in both the larger and smaller colleges. A group or center in SoBA or GSOE can be included in the minority report with as few as one mention. The minority report includes a slide on every question in the survey and a summary "super-theme" that is not included in the Subcommittee's report. Both reports, informed by the over three hundred Senate faculty responses, support campus ambitions for greater academic excellence.

Subcommittee Report (Brint)

Minority Report (Hoffman)

About the Commission:

The UC Commission on the Future was formed to address how the University can best serve the state in the years ahead and maintain access, quality and affordability in a time of diminishing resources.  Co-chaired by President Mark Yudof and Regent Russ Gould, the Commission is made up of five workgroups:  the size and shape of UC, education and curriculum, access and affordability, funding strategies, and research strategies. 

Together, the Commission’s five workgroups compiled a document entitled “Issues to Consider,” which frames the scope of issues and questions being considered.  The Commission invites feedback on this document through campus-based listening sessions as well as its website.

Download "Issues to Consider"

Related Documents:

Agenda for Commission’s Visit to UCR, November 3rd 2009