Academic Distinction

An education and workforce collaborative spearheaded by UC Merced and composed of partners from Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties was awarded $18.1 million by the California Department of General Services (DGS) as part of the K-16 Education Collaborative Grant Program. WE Will! The Northern San Joaquin Valley K-16 Regional Partnership was one of four collaboratives across the state recently selected to receive an award.

UC Merced has been designated a Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Leader for 2023 by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Each year, the ECA recognizes the strong engagement of select HSIs within the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program.

Distinguished rankings, new academic offerings, world-class research and campus expansions were among the highlights of the UC Merced State of the University address delivered by Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.

"The state of this 20-year-old institution is unparalleled in the history of American higher education," said Muñoz. "And now I would like to invite you to join me in imagining an even more impactful future for our campus, faculty, staff and students."

UC Merced has received the 2023 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.

As a recipient of the annual HEED Award - a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion - UC Merced will be featured, along with 107 other recipients, in the November/December 2023 issue of the magazine.

Writing is still the most important, and most-used, form of communication in the world.

"Writing is crucial in that it's both a product and a process. It's in the fabric of what we do," said Paul Gibbons, teaching professor of writing studies at UC Merced. "Writing is a way of doing things in the world, of asking for things. It's still a major coin of the realm."

Compelling storytelling is vital to ensuring the action needed to secure a habitable planet for future generations, according to an increasing amount of research.

UC Merced is recruiting students now to become the next environmental storytellers.

Students who are interested in creatively conveying the urgency of environmental issues can make that mission the focus of their studies when the new environmental humanities (EH) major begins at UC Merced in fall 2024.

UC Merced's commitment to student success continues to earn national recognition as the university climbed to No. 60 - up from No. 97 last year - in U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Colleges in the nation released today. Among US public institutions UC Merced placed in the top 30, leaping to No. 28 in the country.

The placement represents UC Merced's highest-ever ranking in the annual report, and the improvement over last year is the biggest jump in the school's existence. Overall, UC Merced had the biggest gain of all schools in the Top 100, rising 37 spots.

UC Merced has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal Best Colleges in the U.S. ranking published today. Out of 400 universities that were looked at nationwide, UC Merced came in at No. 15 for public institutions. The university was ranked No. 59 overall.

Starting this fall, the Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences is offering an honors program for undergraduate students.

Each student who is majoring in cognitive science and enrolled in the program will conduct research for a year and produce an honors thesis before they get a bachelor’s of science or arts degrees with the honors designation.

Admission is selective. Students must meet the GPA requirement and have proposed a research project that a current faculty member has approved.

The University of California Board of Regents has appointed University of California, Merced graduate student Josiah Beharry to be the 2024-25 student Regent.

Beharry is the 50th student Regent, a position established in 1975. He will serve as the student Regent-designate for the coming year, able to participate in all deliberations, and will have voting privileges when his one-year term as a Regent begins in July 2024. Beharry's appointment carries additional significance, as he is the first student from the UC Merced campus to serve as student Regent.