UCR Athletics Strategic Plan: 2023-2028
VISION
With an emphasis on student-athlete success and an experience that is anchored in an inclusive, results-driven Athletics culture that is caring, trusting and listening, UC Riverside Athletics will achieve increasing levels of academic, competitive, financial and operational success year-over-year; while simultaneously becoming an integral part of the UC Riverside Campus culture and the greater Riverside/Inland Empire community.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of UC Riverside Athletics is to build, develop and prepare our student-athletes for opportunities in life through sport. We are focused on creating the conditions for our student-athletes to be successful in their academic, athletic and post-graduate pursuits. We are focused on our student-athletes’ academic and athletic success, personal and professional development, and their overall experience during their time on campus (i.e., student experience and student success). We support the mission of the University of California, and serve as a source of pride for our students, campus and community.
TOP 5 GOALS FOR INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
Building a Strong Athletics Culture
- Dedicated and focus on being intentional, genuine and consistent in providing an inclusive environment that creates and sustains a caring and listening culture for our student-athletes, coaches and staff; which in turn will yield positive and productive results.
Delivering a Great Student-Athlete Experience & Creating the Conditions for Student Success
- Continue to be consistent and focused on our student-athletes and creating the conditions for them to be successful in all of their endeavors. This includes enhancing Campus engagement, academic support, wellness and preparation for their post-graduate pursuits.
Winning, Succeeding and Connecting
- Focus on creating the conditions for success and succeeding in the classroom, winning on the field of competition, and connecting with Campus, the community and our stakeholders.
- Invest in people, identify resources that are needed and work with the appropriate parties on Campus to secure those resources.
Creating a Model for Financial & Operational Sustainability and Competitive Excellence
- Build and maintain a financially sustainable model for Athletics through a targeted and comprehensive revenue generation strategy that maximizes all of our identified ways of raising revenue.
- Create and manage an operationally sustainable organizational model that maximizes talent and resources to create the conditions for competitive excellence.
Raising Our Athletics Profile
- Continue to build and elevate our Athletics profile on Campus, locally, regionally and nationally.
“ELITE 8” CORE VALUES FOR ATHLETICS
Culture
- Establish and maintain an inclusive, caring, listening and trusting culture that produces best-in-class results across all areas of Athletics.
Leadership
- Reflect the values of the UC Riverside with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion and operate within the guidelines of our UC Principles of Community.
- Lead with integrity and purpose with a focus on our Athletics mission in order to manage our resources responsibly and be a unifying force for our Campus and community.
Fiscal Responsibility
Financial Sustainability and Fiscal Responsibility.
Competitive Excellence
- Establish Athletics as a top tier program in The Big West both academically and athletically.
Student-Athlete Experience, Student Success and Campus Integration
- Provide opportunities to our student-athletes that will afford them the full-fledged undergraduate experience of a UC campus and will aid in their development into becoming a positive force as contributing citizens in our society.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
- Create and foster a welcoming environment for all individuals and operate with respect, understanding and dignity.
Social Justice and Human Rights Advocacy
- Continue to build and strengthen our Highlanders for Humanity efforts, led by our student-athlete leadership group (SAAC – Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) and key staff members to advocate for equality and respect for all.
Campus and Community Engagement
- Be great partners to our students, faculty and staff by utilizing our platform, games/events, resources and relationships to integrate fully into the fabric of our campus life and the greater Riverside communities.
TANGIBLE METRICS
Culture
- Measure the success of a changed culture through qualitative and quantitative metrics on how we are working together as a team and operating with respect toward one another.
Leadership
- Measure the success of a changed culture through qualitative and quantitative metrics (problem-solving, solution-oriented focused metrics).
Fiscal Responsibility
- Maximize external revenue streams that enhance Athletics’ overall position.
- Establish tangible benchmarks and goals for future growth and reinvestment.
- Work with University Advancement’s Development team to ensure we have an appropriate and growth-focused fundraising strategy in place annually.
Competitive Excellence
- Academic Excellence
- Continue to graduate our student-athletes and maintain a GPA for the cumulative group that is on par or higher than the general student body.
- Achieve GSR goal of 90% and APR above 980.
- Achieve a significant number of our student-athletes on The Big West conference (Commissioner’s Honor Roll), and national academic honors and recognition.
- Athletic Excellence
- Compete for championships in The Big West Conference, post-season NCAA (NIT, WNIT, NISC and other post-season tournaments) berths and achieve regional and national recognition (individual and team).
- Work to fully fund scholarships across all sports.
- Provide first-class facilities and resources.
Student-Athlete Experience, Student Success and Campus Integration
- Create opportunities for our students on campus further in meeting their needs and paving the way for future career opportunities following graduation by providing opportunities for them to engage with Athletics in multiple ways (e.g., internship program in sports marketing, video, communications, facilities management, etc.).
- Mentorship and development of our student-athletes:
- Our coaches and our support staff will engage with our student-athletes in a healthy and productive manner and continue to build them academically, athletically and professionally.
- Through innovative approaches, professional development, and utilizing modern resources/technology, we will support student-athlete needs.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- Integrate DEI goals and metrics into our performance evaluations, programming and planning.
- As UCR is No. 1 in Social Mobility, Athletics will:
- Be No. 1 in aiding in the transformation of a student-athlete's life.
- Use sport as a vehicle to provide opportunities into higher education.
- Attract and retain a diverse cohort of students and staff that will add different and important perspectives that will complement the vitality and richness of our Campus.
Social Justice and Human Rights Advocacy
- Leverage the unique platform Athletics provides to further student voices advocating for social justice and equality.
- Continue to utilize the platform that is Athletics as a medium to drive enhancements in diversity, equity and inclusion as well as social justice.
- Provide freedom of opportunity to express oneself within the Athletics arena and proudly represent our UCR Athletics brand in the process.
Campus and Community Engagement
- Continue to build on existing partnerships designed to enhance our student-athletes well-being and mental health.
- Further establish current working partnerships (and identify new partnerships) within academic units on campus for research and internship opportunities, for example:
- Graduate departments can conduct their research within the “living laboratory” that is Division 1 Intercollegiate Athletics.
- Foster cross-disciplinary work and realize efficiencies through shared research infrastructure.
- Undergraduate students can earn real world, on the job experience, through our 12-24 month internship programs.
- Continue to pursue the creation of a graduate program option in sports medicine, management and marketing/communications.
- Celebrate campus achievements on-location in our venues and through our platforms.
- Student-athletes across all sports to participate in 200 total hours of community service each academic year.
- Focus on one specific community organization that is engrained deep in the fabric of our city’s infrastructure.
- Further develop our youth Athletics fan base (Cub Club) and local groups through group rates and staff/faculty through our All Sports Pass.
- Further develop and integrate our student fan base for Athletics.
- Partner with campus organizations to become a consistent venue/event for social activity and on-campus entertainment throughout the year.
- Continue to meet with student leaders and organizations throughout the year and further develop promotional nights/days at our games.
- Market and promote summer camps.
WE ARE UCR ATHLETICS. AND WE WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY.
#GoHighlanders
