Chancellor’s State of the University Address:
‘We’re Just Getting Started’
Five moments from Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz’s third annual State of the University address, given Sept. 28 in conjunction with a UC Merced Board of Trustees meeting.
We have engaged staff in the collaborative How We Work examination, which will lead to new recommendations for organizing work in the post-COVID era while promoting the level of excellence we have historically provided at UC Merced.
Our rising profile is reflected in this year’s state appropriations, in which UC Merced was allocated more than 100 million new dollars.
We have earned $97.5 million in research grants for 260 individual proposals — more than doubling the dollar amount year over year and almost triple our 2019 amount. This is a historic high for UC Merced.
We hosted the 1300 Campaign to announce our new partnership with Stanislaus State to enroll 1,300 more young people of color from the Central Valley in the UC and CSU systems.
It is because of you — because of our faculty and our staff and our amazing students — that the state of the university is truly excellent. And as we continue to move UC Merced boldly forward, I promise you this: We’re just getting started.
We need to think about the context into which we're recruiting people. So, just like in the agricultural arena where you bring new seed and you try to create the greatest yield, it doesn't happen unless you cultivate the soil and create a fertile context for growth.
Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer Delia Saenz
New Division to ‘Cultivate Soil’ for Equity, Diversity
Fittingly, Delia Saenz used the language of agronomy when asked to define the mission of UC Merced’s newest division.
“We need to think about the context into which we're recruiting people," said the vice chancellor for the Division of Equity, Justice and Inclusive Excellence. "So, just like in the agricultural arena where you bring new seed and you try to create the greatest yield, it doesn't happen unless you cultivate the soil and create a fertile context for growth.”
Saenz leads the former Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into expanded responsibilities that include ensuring UC Merced is a place where a diverse community can thrive.
EJIE’s new vision follows UC Merced’s strategic priorities: a campus community that values the well-being of its members and achieves excellence in learning, discovery and service by honoring and welcoming diverse contributions and perspectives.
This vision cuts across stakeholder groups. EJIE aims to help faculty build inclusive, supportive environments across learning (i.e. classrooms and labs) and departmental contexts. These efforts will be facilitated by a newly appointed team of associate deans for EJIE.
On the staff front, Saenz is working with Human Resources to think through best methods for creating teams that value diversity and spaces where people feel "psychologically safe to bring their best ideas, their greatest creativity, their strongest and most positive energy to solving the challenges of our world."
Connections to the community also are a priority, as noted in the Dia de los Muertos exhibit at La Galeria in November that jointly highlighted the cultural art of community artists and Latinx student groups.
“We invite all members of the UC Merced community to be partners in advancing inclusive excellence,” Saenz said. Indeed, there are numerous opportunities to reach out to EJIE and propose ideas, needs and creative collaborations.
Valley Students MAAP Their Way to UC Merced
SCHOOL DISTRICTS
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Tens of thousands of Central Valley high school students have gained an expedited path to the UC Merced academic experience.
A growing number of school districts up and down the Valley have joined the Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP), which guarantees admission to students who complete specific requirements by the time they graduate.
As of early November, nine school districts representing more than 42,000 high school students have been brought into the program.
MAAP allows students who complete the A-G courses for first-year UC admission with a weighted GPA of 3.5, with no grade lower than a "C", to be admitted automatically to UC Merced.
Districts in the program range from Modesto City Schools to Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified to Merced Union High School. Visalia Unified was the latest to join. Interested students must submit their MAAP applications by July 1, before their senior year begins.
"We are deeply committed to our Valley neighbors, their families and their success, and we know that the best path to social mobility is through higher education," Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said. "We want local students to know that UC Merced is a place where there are no limits on your intellectual journey."
UC Merced Strengthens Transfer Path for Fresno City College
UC Merced and Fresno City College have signed on to a process that will make it easier to transform Rams into Bobcats. Under a memorandum of understanding signed Oct. 31 by the institutions’ two leaders, FCC will add a counselor who specializes in UC Merced admissions processes and requirements.
Fresno City College President Robert Pimentel, in an interview with The Fresno Bee’s Education Lab, said he hopes the agreement leads to FCC sending 1,000 student transfers to UC Merced over the next five years. FCC has an enrollment of more than 24,000.
Under the agreement, FCC also will send at least 50 students to visit UC Merced next summer for a week.
UC Merced also has a transfer partnership with Merced College, established in 2020. The agreement, called the Merced Promise, helps students at the community college set lay down an academic track that can include undergraduate research and courses at UC Merced.
