ANR Update

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.

President Drake 's message about this week's election

Dear Colleagues,

Please read the letter below from President Drake about tomorrow's presidential election. During these trying times, I strongly agree with his call to remember our shared UC community values. We are here because we care about the mission we deliver, no matter the results of the election, we will continue to deliver our mission and serve all Californians. If you haven't voted yet, I hope you will make time to do so.

Best wishes,
Glenda

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

November 2, 2020

Dear friends,

A presidential election is always a significant event for the country; conducting one in the middle of a global pandemic, and as the nation confronts systemic racism, only heightens the far-reaching impacts of electoral outcomes.

We are living through a time of much turmoil and anxiety, with strong emotions and views all along the political spectrum being expressed. In times like these, I find it helpful to lean on what has guided us through past challenges: our core community values of respect, equity, and inclusion. We cherish the free exchange of ideas and views — including views that differ from our own — and the right to peaceful protest. We believe in making decisions based on facts and data. And we support vulnerable populations, including the undocumented community. These are bedrock values for UC and won't change.

By now, many of you have already exercised your right to vote. Thank you for making your voice heard. The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, and something we should never take for granted.

If you are eligible to vote but haven't done so yet, it's not too late! You can learn about same-day voter registration, find your polling place, and get information about what's on your ballot here.

We are all here at UC because we want a better future for ourselves and our communities. No matter the results of the election, we will continue to move forward – together.

Fiat Lux,

Michael V. Drake, MD
President, University of California

Update on proposed systemwide curtailment program

Dear Colleagues,

Please see the attached update from the UC Office of the President regarding possible changes to the systemwide curtailment program. UCOP invites comments to the proposal by email to 2021options@ucop.edu.

John Fox
Executive Director of Human Resources

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