Dear Colleagues,
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to convey my appreciation and congratulations to each of you.
In the midst of the daily rush of activities, it can be easy to lose sight of the impact our individual actions have at the institutional level. So when we receive recognition for UC San Diego’s accomplishments, it’s a great moment to pause, celebrate, and rekindle our resolve.
Earlier this week I had the privilege of representing UC San Diego as a speaker at the annual conference of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), where we were recognized as one of four national finalists for the one of four national finalists for the 2023 APLU Degree Completion Award. This encompassed both our improving UC San Diego’s four-year graduation rates by 17 percentage points over the last decade and our narrowing the equity gap in graduation rates between all students and underrepresented students by nearly 7 percentage points in the same time period.
The APLU recognition celebrates all of the tremendous work of the schools and colleges to streamline degree requirements, the mentoring and coaching programs launched by our Student Retention and Success professionals, and the inclusive pedagogy workshops and supplemental instruction programs offered by the Teaching + Learning Commons. And it calls out the importance of the sustained collaboration among faculty, Senate, departments, schools, colleges, staff, and administration. The student-centered vision at the heart of UC San Diego’s Strategic Plan has guided this work and our Collective Impact approach has helped our efforts have maximum impact on students’ success and timely graduation.
It was truly an honor to represent all of you and your outstanding contributions as we were recognized for our joint efforts to help all students earn the degrees to which they aspire. Thank you so much for the work you do on this, and countless other fronts every day.
With Best Regards and Warm Wishes for the Holiday,
Elizabeth H. Simmons
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