Inside UCR

Provost's spring campus update

April 29, 2025
Elizabeth Watkins
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
April 29, 2025

Dear Campus Community,

My spring update is mostly a “save-the-date” notification for several upcoming opportunities to attend in-person discussions.

For Senate faculty members, there are three upcoming events.

  • On May 6, at the invitation of Senate Chair Ken Barish, we will hold a town hall on Responding Collectively to Unprecedented Challenges.
  • On May 20, I will present progress on year two of our campus strategic plan, UCR 2030, at the Academic Senate’s divisional meeting.
  • On May 27, at the invitation of the Graduate Council, I will attend the town hall to discuss the future of doctoral education. 

For staff and non-Senate academic appointees, the Staff Assembly is hosting me for two events.

  • On May 7, there will be a town hall on Responding Collectively to Unprecedented Challenges.
  • On May 27, I will present progress on year two of our campus strategic plan, UCR 2030.

You may be wondering why we have not yet communicated about the FY26 budget. This is because Interim CFO Sandra Kim and I are waiting for three important pieces of information before we can bring a proposal to the Campus Finance Committee (CFC). First, we await the May Revision to the Governor’s Proposed Budget, which will tell us the state’s allocation to the University of California. Second, we await UC President Drake’s decision on a salary increase for faculty and non-represented staff, which will determine the mandated increase in salary and benefits expenditures that we will need to cover. Third, we await the conclusion of the 2025 undergraduate admissions cycle, to learn how many new students plan to enroll at UCR in the fall. This information will help us to estimate total AY25-26 enrollment, which – as I have explained before – will determine UCR’s portion of the UC state allocation, as well as what we can expect for tuition revenue. These two sources make up 90% of our total core revenue. You can expect to receive our annual budget letter for FY26 in early summer.

In the meantime, please keep doing what you do best. Our students depend on you, and we all depend on each other.