ANR Update

President Drake extends COVID-19-related paid administrative leave time frame

President Drake extended the time frame to use these hours to June 30, 2021. His order does not increase the number of EPAL hours, but critically allows employees to continue the use of the allotted time as the impacts of the pandemic continue. 

Eligible employees may use EPAL hours if an employee or family member becomes ill with COVID-19; an employee is caring for their children when schools or daycare facilities are closed; or an employee has been directed not to come to their worksite and/or their unit has moved to remote operations, and it is not operationally feasible for the employee to work remotely.

For more information please visit the UC ANR Leave Management site or contact humanresources@ucanr.edu.

Presidential policy on gender recognition and lived name; County Director recruitment deadline approaching

New policy: Presidential policy on gender recognition and lived name 
A new Presidential Policy ensures that all University-issued identification documents display personal identification information that recognizes individuals' accurate gender identity and lived name. In brief, the policy stipulates that the University must provide the minimum three equally recognized gender options in university information systems — woman, man, and nonbinary — and an efficient process for current students, employees, and UC alumni and affiliates to retroactively amend their gender designations and lived names in information systems and on university-issued documents, including eligible academic documents.

This policy is effective as of November 6, 2020 with full implementation of the policy and procedures to be completed no later than December 31, 2023. This policy has undergone the full systemwide review process and will be posted online at http://policy.ucop.edu/.

You can also view the Letter from the President, the new Presidential Policy and Appendix I here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates/

 

Riverside County Director recruitment deadline approaching 
UC ANR leadership has opened an internal call for those interested in assuming the role of County Director (CD) for Riverside County beginning January 2, 2021. This call is open to all UCANR employees regardless of staff or academic status. Employees will be expected to take on this role as a partial appointment in addition to their current role, and will be compensated accordingly.

If you are interested in being considered for this County Director position, please address your letter and position questions to Vice Provost Mark Lagrimini at mlagrimini@ucanr.edu. Please indicate your motivation to serve in this capacity; the key strengths you will bring to this position; and your approach to balancing the demands of this appointment with your current responsibilities. Submit your letter of interest to Pam Tise at pdtise@ucanr.edu by November 23, 2020.

The County Director is responsible for the coordination and overall operation of Cooperative Extension programs in Riverside County.  Responsibilities include leadership and oversight of all CE extension and research programs including effective management and supervision of all staff and academic personnel including oversight, evaluation (annual evaluations, merit and promotions), mentoring, coaching and discipline. Additionally, the incumbent will be responsible for maintaining effective collaboration and communication between the University of California and the administrative officers of Riverside County.  Maintaining and enhancing Riverside County CE budgets, serving as an advocate for CE and all its programs, and developing and maintaining good working relationships with public and private agencies in Riverside County is paramount to the success of the CD role. 

The County Director is expected to:

• Provide vision, inspire, and motivate others with attitude and actions; set a high standard for excellence; innovate and foster positive change; model and support a good team working environment; and encourage and is open to exploring new ideas and innovative changes, and provide active, ongoing advocacy and support for UC ANR programs.
• Understand and uniformly apply UC and County Administrative policies; provide useful and timely feedback; take timely disciplinary action within UC and County procedures, if necessary; and work with staff in advance of deadlines for required records and reports.
• Successfully secure county resources, as well as other sources of support; effectively manage and equitably allocate resources among programs and established priorities; monitor the use of resources and complies with all relevant policies; and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external partners to form strong support networks for UCCE.
• Be an effective listener and communicator; take responsibility for his/her own actions; motivate others; keep commitments; and cultivate political and industry support for UC ANR.
• Demonstrate concern for all staff; effectively manage all personnel supervision, oversight, annual evaluations, merits and promotions, and take appropriate disciplinary actions; make effective use of staff expertise to strengthen the team; and invest in improving all staff expertise and supports professional development.

The add-on appointment will be for a two-year term, and is subject to renewal, renegotiation, or termination.  As with all administrative appointments, County Director appointments are at the discretion of the Vice President and may be terminated at any time.

Winter curtailment

This is to confirm the 2020-21 winter holiday curtailment (closure) schedule. 

Similar to previous years, ANR units – including, Research and Extension Centers, UCCE county offices and the Second Street Building in Davis – will be closed from Dec. 24, 2020 through Jan. 1, 2021, except for essential services. ANR offices will reopen on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. The curtailment (closure) schedule will be the same for ANR employees at UCOP.

Winter closure schedule: 
December 24, 2020 – Holiday 
December 25, 2020 – Holiday 
December 28, 2020 – Curtailment (closure) 
December 29, 2020 – Curtailment (closure) 
December 30, 2020 – Curtailment (closure) 
December 31, 2020 – Holiday 
January 1, 2021 – Holiday

During the curtailment (closure) days above, employees will be given the option of using accrued vacation, compensatory time off (CTO), or leave without pay for the curtailment days. In the event an employee has not accumulated a sufficient amount of vacation time before December to cover the three days, arrangements can be made to allow those individuals to borrow against future vacation time. 

Some UCCE County Offices and Research and Extension Centers may need to adjust the closure schedule to accommodate local needs; this is at the discretion of the director and approval by ANR leadership. If you have a question about your local office schedule, please contact your director.

As you may have seen, UC Systemwide has been discussing a separate Curtailment Plan to be implemented at a later date. As soon as we receive further direction from the President we will confirm our implementation strategies. Please contact humanresources@ucanr.edu for additional information. 

 

Celebration corner 
Livestock and Natural Resource Advisor Tracy Schohr was acknowledged in a Capital Press story for mobilizing her network to help save cattle threatened in the wildfires near Quincy. “I'm sure Tracy (Schohr) gives the credit to the farmers — as she should — but she's a hero, too, for organizing the rescues,” said Katie Roberti, spokeswoman for the California Cattlemen's Association.

 

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

UCOP Prop. 16 statement

Dear Colleagues,

Please read the statement below from UC Office of the President about the defeat of Proposition 16, which would have reinstated affirmative action for public higher education. I would like to make it clear these election results will not affect UC ANR's mission to deliver research-based information that improves the lives of all Californians. We serve a diverse array of people – regardless of race, where they are from, who they love or their gender – and remain committed to our core community values of respect, equity and inclusion. 

The contentious elections have added tension to the already stressfulness of wildfires, pandemic and power outages. Please take care of yourself. 

Best wishes,
Glenda

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

UC to continue to champion diverse student body despite rejection of Proposition 16

UC Office of the President

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

The University of California is disappointed that Proposition 16, the state ballot measure and constitutional amendment that would have repealed Proposition 209, did not pass in this election.  Proposition 16 would have helped reverse the detrimental and far-reaching initiative that banned the consideration of race, ethnicity and gender in admissions across public higher education, and other arenas, almost a quarter-century ago.

“UC remains steadfast in its commitment to attract and support a student body that reflects California's dynamism and diversity, despite this setback,” said UC President Michael V. Drake, M.D. “We will continue our unwavering efforts to expand underrepresented groups' access to a UC education.”

The UC Board of Regents supported the passage of ACA 5, which became Proposition 16, a move that acknowledged the serious need to address systemic inequities in public higher education. By repealing Proposition 209, Proposition 16 would have ended the prohibition on granting preferential treatment to (or discriminating against) any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting. The rejection of this ballot measure is an unfortunate continuation of the status quo.

“The University of California's efforts to address racial inequities were greatly hindered by Proposition 209,” said UC Regents Chair John A. Pérez. “The failure of Proposition 16 means barriers will remain in place to the detriment of many students, families and California at large. We will not accept inequality on our campuses and will continue addressing the inescapable effects of racial and gender inequity.” 

UC has a longstanding commitment to enrolling a diverse student body, one that reflects California's flourishing cultural, racial, geographic and socioeconomic heterogeneity. After the implementation of Proposition 209, the University saw a sharp decline in the admission and enrollment of students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. On every UC campus, the percentage of new California-resident, underrepresented freshmen decreased. While racial and ethnic diversity have improved in the past two decades, much of that growth is attributable to systemwide enrollment growth. UC still does not reflect the diversity of California's population. Another negative impact: The percentage of students from underrepresented groups enrolled in UC's outreach programs dropped from 90 percent before Proposition 209 to 75 percent thereafter.  

Despite the failure of Proposition 16, the University will continue to look for innovative and creative approaches to further improve the diversity of its student body through outreach to underserved groups, schools and communities; support for college preparation; and efforts to close equity gaps among students attaining a UC education.

To uphold its commitment to diversity, UC will continue comprehensive review in admissions. The holistic method is used by most campuses and seeks to fully understand and evaluate each applicant through multiple dimensions. However, excluding race and gender from that consideration continues to be a tall barrier to women and students from underrepresented groups. UC will also explore opportunities to further encourage underrepresented groups to apply for and join UC's outstanding student body. It will utilize and refine the many race-neutral alternatives developed following Proposition 209 for both outreach and admissions.

Employee comments invited on proposed Presidential Policy, Business and Finance Bulletin, IS-12 IT Recovery

The University of California Office of the President invites comments on a proposed Presidential Policy Business and Finance Bulletin IS-12 IT Recovery. The rewritten policy addresses the following key issues:

• Updated to reflect modern technology (i.e. CD-ROMS are removed, ransomware and cloud computing are addressed).
• Aligned with the current state of emergency planning at UC.

o   Narrowed the scope to IT Recovery.

• Adopted the concept of “recovery level already adopted by UC Health and their academic Locations.” There are 5 recovery levels.
• Granted Location control to manage budget and risk.  See the accompanying presentation. Key features:

o   Location defined scope.

o   Location administered exception process.

o   Iterative model of compliance to support a roadmap to desired state.

• Made the policy directly implementable.
• Included uniform requirements to support inter and intra Location dependencies.
• Ensured that responsibilities are clearly assigned.
• Addressed the key gaps identified by Business Continuity Planners and Risk Managers responsible for continuity and emergency planning.

The policy was written by a systemwide workgroup. The systemwide workgroup consisted of 14 cross-functional representatives from:

• ANR
• UC Berkeley
• UC Davis
• UC Davis Health
• UCLA
• UCLA Health
• UCOP
• UC Merced
• UCSF
• UC Santa Cruz

The proposed policy is posted here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Controller/Administrative_Policies_-_Business_Contracts/Policy_and_administrative_handbooks/ANR_Administrative_Handbook/Recent_Updates/

If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than March 5, 2021. Please indicate “Proposed Presidential Policy, Business and Finance Bulletin, IS-12 IT Recovery” in the subject line.

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