UC Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) revisions were recently approved and signed by President Napolitano.
The revised policies include following:
- PPSM-1 General Provisions
- PPSM-2 Definition of Terms
- PPSM-64 Termination and Job Abandonment
- PPSM-70 Complaint Resolution
- PPSM-82 Conflict of Interest
In general, the policies were revised to
- Consolidate the three termination policies into one policy document
- Consolidate the two complaint resolution policies into one policy document
- Add a job abandonment provision to the termination policy
- Align language in the termination and complaint resolution policies with the Career Tracks classification structure
You can view these and other recently revised polices at http://policy.ucop.edu/advanced-search.php?action=welcome&op=browse&recent=1.
The UC ANR Research to Policy Training and Program Team Meeting will be held Oct. 12-13 at UC Davis ARC and UC Davis Plant Sciences. Anyone (including ANR and non-ANR personnel) who wishes to participate in the program teams that will be meeting should attend.
Wednesday, Oct. 12:
Research to Policy Program Team In-Service Training: “Pathways to Successful Engagement in Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Food Issues”
The in-service training will bring together people working on agricultural, natural resources and food issues and focus on how to use research to effectively engage in public policy. The following are some highlights:
- Two leading, diverse experts in the role of science in policymaking will provide keynote presentations.
- A science panel comprised of UC researchers who have successfully engaged in the public policy arena will share “lessons learned.”
- A policy panel comprised of state agency and Senate/Assembly members will discuss how they use research.
- Workshop modules on UC policy engagement, science communication and policymaking will be presented.
The training modules will enable participants to build a toolkit for successful policy engagement that incorporates both technical skills as well as analytical frameworks.
Thursday, Oct. 13:
First meeting of the Research to Policy Program Team
On Thursday, we will continue the momentum by discussing collaborative opportunities, future training needs and next steps at the first Research to Policy UC ANR Program Team meeting.
More details on agenda and registration will be posted on the UC ANR Program Team website as it becomes available.
If you would like to join the Research to Policy listserv on Collaborative Tools, email UC ANR Program Support Unit.
For more information about the program, contact Clare Gupta or Leslie Roche. For logistics, contact the UC ANR Program Support Unit, Lauren McNees at (530) 750-1257 or Sherry Cooper (530)750-1256.
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to share important changes to UC policy regarding sexual violence and sexual harassment and to offer a reminder about the resources available to the ANR community. All UC locations have been working together to update policies and procedures, and a few recent changes deserve special notice.
The UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy now requires every ANR employee to notify the Title IX office when they receive information from a UC student about an alleged violation. Although most ANR academics and staff do not have regular contact with UC students, it's important to be aware of this new policy requirement.
Moreover, all ANR academics and managers/supervisors must notify the Title IX office when they receive information of alleged sexual misconduct from any member of the ANR community, including reports from program participants, volunteers, as well as reports from ANR employees.
John I. Sims recently was named the new Title IX Officer for ANR, replacing Linda Marie Manton, who retired in December. In this role, John is the contact point to respond to alleged violations and can be reached at (530) 750-1397 and jsims@ucanr.edu.
Confidential counseling and referral services for ANR academics and staff employees are available through the UC Davis Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP) at (916) 734-2727 and www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/hr/hrdepts/asap.
Finally, the updated policy also includes a new training requirement for all employees. This training program will better prepare all of us to fulfill our obligations and learn about our roles and responsibilities. Academics and supervisors — who have been required to take such training for several years — will see new, updated content in their training and will maintain their current training schedule. Non-supervisory staff will be required to complete a 50-minute, web-based sexual harassment prevention training by May 1, 2016. Ongoing training for all employees will be required annually.
You can expect to receive more details about the new training requirement in the coming weeks.
For more information on how to prevent and respond to sexual violence, visit the ANR website http://ucanr.edu/sites/DiscriminationSexual_Violence.
Preventing and responding to sexual violence is a duty we all share. Thank you for being a part of the solution.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
The University of California is proposing revisions to Staff Policy 21 – Selection and Appointment, which applies to staff employees in the Professional & Support Staff and Managers & Senior Professionals personnel groups and to Senior Management Group members.
The revisions are intended to clarify the selection and appointment process. There is expanded content on background checks, including a new section on how to review and assess the background check results, and a new section on reference checks.
The proposed policy is posted on UCnet: http://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/tools-and-services/administrators/policies/proposed/ppsm-21.pdf
Employees covered by this policy who wish to provide comments on the proposed revisions may submit them to rgsanchez@ucanr.edu by Friday, March 4, 2016.
The University's mileage reimburse rates for expenses incurred in connection with the business use of a private automobile will decrease in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service standard mileage rates published in IRS Notice 2016-1. The following new rates are effective for expenses incurred on or after Jan. 1, 2016:
- The reimbursement rate for the use of a private automobile for University business travel will decrease from 57.5 cents a mile to 54 cents a mile.
- The reimbursement rate for driving or shipping an automobile in connection with a move or relocation will decrease from 23 cents a mile to 19 cents a mile.
I would like to remind the campuses that we are considered a public agency. As such, we should use University resources in a prudent manner. University employees traveling on official business shall observe normally accepted standards of propriety in the type and manner of expenses they incur, and avoid any expenditure that would appear extravagant or lavish under the circumstances.
Business and Finance Bulletin G-28, Travel Regulations, will be revised to include the mileage rate change. If you have any questions, please call John Barrett at (510) 987-0903.
Nathan Brostrom
UC Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer