UC Riverside Retirees Association

Fundraising / Scholarships / Budget

Fundraising:
We continue to raise funds for the UCRRA Undergraduate Student Scholarship Endowment. The UCR Retirees’ Association participated in a campus wide UCR Give Day campaign on March 4th and 5th. This year we partnered with SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union to incentivize giving by an offer to give $10,000 to our scholarship fund if 425 separate donations of Retiree, Emeriti, Staff and Faculty were made for the overall giving campaign. We expect that this goal will be met, and this along with direct donations will add over $14,000 to our fund.

Scholarships:
In winter, we awarded five UCR students from over fifty applications with UCRRA scholarships, totaling $16,000. Scholarship requirements include recipients being a child, grandchild, or close relative to a UCR staff member or retiree. Next year we intend to expand this relation requirement to include emeriti and faculty.
Budget: We were able to develop an operating budget in fall, and are now receiving regular reports on our campus funds. This along with changing bank accounts has allowed us better financial reporting. We will soon be looking to invest some of our off-campus funds into higher interest earning accounts.

Retirement Center

Last fall, we reported that the campus Human Resources was physically moving to a location in the main administration building, and that that space will include a physical space for the Retirement Center. This project has been delayed, but we expect the space to be ready for move-in this Spring. It will be great to have Human Resources on campus in an easy to find and accessible location. The Retirement Center will bring together the Director along with our retirement counselors, which UCR has retained. Inclusive of this space will be consideration for UCRRA and UCREA. Additionally, we have also been promised space, the Cottage, which is located near the campus Barn. The Barn is a social hub of dining, drinks, and performances housed in the original barn serving the Citrus Experiment Station in 1917 (pre-campus). We will soon begin to discuss how we might use the Cottage. We are anxious to finalize and formalize this project before the Chancellor retires at the end of June.

Membership / Board

Membership:
UCRRA membership is 421, which is an increase of 18% from last fall, and with over 68% being lifetime members. Our efforts in enhancing our outreach, which has included updating all our marketing materials and refreshing to our website, have paid off. We additionally see increases in participation in our events. We will continue to participate in any on-campus events, especially those that are targeted to soon-to-be retirees.

Board:
We will soon be seeking nominations for our 2025/26 Board. We have been fortunate to have had a full board for the last three years. We begin our process by asking current members if they wish to return and then target recruiting on any potential vacancies.

Events and Activities

Events and activities sponsored by UCRRA, UCREA and the Retirement Center Director include:

• Quarterly Luncheons. These are plated luncheons with donated wine and include some association announcements and a guest speaker. Our Holiday luncheon includes some entertainment and our Spring lunch includes our annual business meeting. For the past few years, we have included donation drives for the campus food pantry and career closet.
• Reception Honoring all Retirees and Emeriti, featuring Chancellor Kim Wilcox. This annual reception is hosted by UCRRA and UCREA. This year, in anticipation of his retirement, we presented with a plaque of thanks for the support he has given to retirees and emeriti.
• Mystery Book Club is held monthly.
• Walks, Talks & Tours. These events include tours on campus and the Riverside community.
• Tech Tip Seminars. These are provided by our campus Information Technology department and feature seminars to help retirees and emeriti with understating new technologies.