University of California, Riverside

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Table of Contents

Tours

1. Tour: Self-Guided

   Explore campus and get to know UCR.

   Stops

   1. Student Services Building (SSB)

      The Student Services Building is the home to many departments, including Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Business Services, the Office of the Registrar, and quite a few more. The first floor is the Highlander One Stop Shop, where you can meet with representatives from most of these offices and ask questions easily. Visit hoss.ucr.edu to find out how to schedule an appointment in advance!

      Our Campus Tours office is also on the first floor, if you’d like to coordinate a guided tour! Head to visit.ucr.edu before coming to campus to see if you can schedule a tour in advance!

   2. Student Success Center

      Opened in 2021, the new Student Success Center is a three-story building filled with places for students to study and take courses, including an incredible 360-degree lecture hall (so there’s no bad seats!). There are places for individuals to study, as well as rooms for small groups to either reserve or drop-in for group work. The view from the third floor is also something you just have to see for yourself!

   3. Hinderaker Hall

      Named after Ivan Hinderaker, UCR's third and longest-serving chancellor, Hinderaker Hall includes many administrative and executive offices, including the Office of the Chancellor. It’s also home to one of our coffee shops, named “Ivan’s” in honor of Ivan Hinderaker himself. During the 60s and 70s, Hinderaker was known to welcome anti-war protesters into his office for doughnuts, one of the first to have an “open door policy.” If Ivan’s is open, consider stopping in for a drink or snack!

   4. Humanities Building

      The Humanities building is unsurprisingly the heart of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Many of our departments are housed here, in the three different wings of the building. In the central courtyard, you can find a directory to see where each is at, and you can also pluck a kumquat from one of the nearby bushes (they’re delicious if you catch a good one!).

       

      You can also find a large citrus statue amongst the bushes, celebrating UCR’s history of being founded as a “Citrus Experiment Station” before being designated as a university. Any citrus you see out in the open is safe to eat, but they may not always taste great. It is only through experimentation that we get the flavors right, like we did when we created the Cutie!

   5. The Barn Restaurant

      The Barn, a treasured space on the UCR campus, was built in 1917 as a working barn and horse stable from the university’s early days as the Riverside Citrus Experiment Station. The main restaurant at the Barn now has four dining platforms. Customers can choose from a deli counter, salad bar, hot table, and grill station each offering different types of menu items. Live music is performed frequently on outdoor entertainment stage, adjacent to Patio Bar, which can accommodate 1,000 spectators. Learn more at dining.ucr.edu. 

   6. Sproul Hall

      Sproul Hall is named after Robert Gordon Sproul, the 11^th president of the University of California as a whole. You’ll find a Sproul Hall on nearly every UC campus! Here, it’s home to departments like Economics and Political Science, as well as our School of Education. 

   7. Watkins Hall

      One of the oldest buildings on campus, Watkins Hall is named after Gordon Watkins, UCR’s first provost. This building is home to departments like Anthropology and Sociology, as well as the large lecture hall Watkins 1000, where almost all Humanities students will have a course at some point.

   8. University Theatre

      The University Theatre is a 460-seat proscenium theatre that hosts approximately 100 performances, lectures, and events annually from a variety of constituencies including the academic departments of Dance, Music, and Theatre, Film, and Digital Production, on-campus units such as the Office of the Chancellor, and off-campus rentals for Inland Empire performing groups. For reservation info, please email universitytheatre@ucr.edu.

   9. Rivera Library

      The primary library for most non-science majors, the Tomás Rivera Library is named after the first Mexican-American chancellor of a UC school, right here at UCR from 1979 to 1984. The library holds more than 2 million books and plenty of study rooms and sitting areas for students to use. If you’ve got time, the Rivera Library is also home to the Eaton Collection of Science Fiction & Fantasy, one of the largest collections like this in the world! With more than 300,000 science fictions novels, comics, and collectible memorabilia, it draws enthusiasts from all over the world to come visit!

   10. Bell Tower

       An iconic landmark in the heart of campus, the Bell Tower stands at 161 feet tall, making it the second tallest structure in Riverside. In 1966, former UC Regent Phillip Boyd and his wife, Dorothy, gifted the carillon and clock tower to the university. It has 48 bells and four bell octaves, which you can hear ringing on the hour, as well as weekly concerts on Mondays at noon, where a performer known as a “Carillonneur” plays the bells manually.

       The Bell Tower is also an active place for students, where you’ll find student organizations tabling and recruiting or hosting their largest events. There’s also frequently concerts and lectures happening at the base of the Bell Tower, primarily on Wednesdays (or known as “R’Day”) at noon.

   11. Spieth and Life Sciences

       For science majors, Spieth (and nearby Life Sciences) are where a lot of courses take place, including one of the largest science lecture halls, Life Sciences 1500. The building is named after UCR’s very first chancellor, Herman Spieth, who served from 1954-1964, and served as a faculty member in the Life Sciences department.

   12. Webber Hall

       Webber Hall holds a few departments under the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), including Biomedical Sciences, Microbiology, and Plant Pathology. It’s named after the first director of the Citrus Experiment Station (before it was a university): Herbert John Webber.

   13. Batchelor Hall

       Batchelor Hall is named after the longest-serving director of the Citrus Experiment Station, Leon Batchelor. This building holds classrooms and laboratories for many of our science departments!

   14. Boyce Hall

       Named after Alfred Mullikin Boyce, the first dean of the College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), Boyce Hall is a six-story building that supports biomedical sciences, biochemistry, cell biology and neurosciences, plant pathology, nematology, and entomology. It houses research labs and faculty offices.

   15. School of Medicine Education Buildings I and II

       UCR’s School of Medicine has a few buildings on-campus, most notably the brand-new Education Building II, with state-of-the-art facilities and lecture halls. UCR is a perfect choice for people looking for medical professions, including several pathway programs for UCR undergraduates to have a better chance at being selected for the medical school program.

   16. Orbach Science Library

       The Raymond L. Orbach Science Library supports the life and physical sciences, including engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Visitors have access to a variety of study seating, group study rooms, computer workstations, and reservable laptops.
       
       The first floor Geospatial Resources Collection contains physical maps and atlases, and access to GIS systems and data. The library also houses the Creat'R Lab, the Patent and Trademark Resource Center, and the circulating part of the Water Resources Collections and Archives.

   17. Physics Building

       For Physics students, this building is where they’ll spend most of their time. For visitors, it’s worth stopping by to check out the large pendulum on the first floor!

   18. Winston Chung Hall

       Named after Winston Chung, inventor of the lithium iron phosphate battery, Chung Hall is a four-story building focused on the engineering disciplines. With many classrooms, labs, and faculty offices, engineering majors will spend a lot of time here.

        

       For visitors, it’s worth checking out the café Bytes, if it’s open, which serves as a place to reenergize and relax in either indoor or outdoor seating. Often, you’ll also see a vehicle on display courtesy of UCR’s automotive engineers!

   19. Marlan and Rosemary Bourns Hall

       Opened in 1995, Marlan & Rosemary Bourns Hall was the first engineering building on campus. It houses 11 world-class research centers, three makerspaces, and two lecture halls. Buildings A and B sandwich a courtyard which serves as a popular place for students to relax between courses.

   20. Campus Store (Bookstore)

       What started as the campus bookstore has grown into so much more! You’ll find course materials, textbooks, UCR themed apparel, athletic wear, school supplies, technology, snacks, even home goods. Shop on campus or online.

   21. Highlander Union Building (HUB)

       Located in the heart of the UCR campus, the Highlander Union Building (“HUB”) is the place for students to eat, study, and relax. The upper floors contain conference rooms and office space for some student support offices. Lower floors include study areas and a variety of dining options. From open to close, this building is always filled with activities as most departments and student organizations hold their events and meetings in this building.

   22. Costo Hall

       UCR thrives on its diversity and Costo Hall is the embodiment of that, holding most of UCR’s ethnic and gender resource centers, most of which are open during the day for walk-ins and guests. These spaces include:

       • African Student Programs

       • Asian Pacific Student Programs

       • Chicano Student Programs

       • LGBT Resource Center

       • Middle Eastern Student Center

       • Native American Student Programs

       • Undocumented Student Programs

       • Veterans Resource Center

       • Women’s Resource Center

   23. Athletics and Dance Building

       Built in 1953, the Athletics and Dance building features dance studios and administrative offices for the Athletics department. There are also spaces for athletes to work out and study, with specialized academic support services. 

   24. CHASS Interdisciplinary Building

       The CHASS Interdisciplinary Building (split into North and South wings) holds many of the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences departments, as well as UCR’s School of Public Policy. It also sits across from one of the most architecturally unique buildings on campus, the Arts building, where departments like Dance, Art, and Theatre, Film, and Digital Production call home.