ANR Update

Emergency resources

Dear UC ANR Community,

We have all experienced so many challenges this year, and now we face the challenges wrought by more than 300 wildfires around the state. Some of you have had to evacuate to safety, wondering if your homes will be standing when you return. Others are sheltering family and friends who have had to evacuate. Power outages and poor air quality are adding to the stresses we face in the midst of a global pandemic.

We would like to remind you of resources that are available to help the UC ANR community weather this time of crisis.

• Supervisors are encouraged to be flexible and understanding with staff who have been impacted by the fires or power outages. If you cannot work due to fire impacts, contact your supervisor. Supervisors should contact Jodi Rosenbaum (jrosenbaum@ucanr.edu) about paid leave options.
• For those in need of further assistance, the Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP) offers confidential and cost-free assessment, intervention, consultation and referral services to you and your families.
• Emergency resources from UC's benefit plans can be found at: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/emergency-resources.html
• Use the following safety notes and UC ANR fire website links to help with emergency preparedness and safety:

          167 Be Informed about Emergencies

          168 Make a Plan for Emergencies

          169 Build a Kit of Emergency Supplies

          https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Prepare/

          https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Safety/Evacuation/

          https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Safety/Current/

          https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Safety/AirQuality/

• Monitor air quality in your area using https://www.airnow.gov. Your local Air Quality Management District may also be a good source of detailed information. When checking the Air Quality Index, be sure to look specifically for the rating/number associated with AQI for5. Particulate Matter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) is the pollutant of concern that is most typically associated with wildfire smoke. Anything above an AQI of 151 for PM2.5 is considered unhealthy.
• Use social media to stay up to date on the situation in your area: follow your County's emergency services, the Sheriff's office, CalFire, etc. to stay informed.

I am grateful to the firefighters who are working so hard to protect our state and to all of you for your resiliency and commitment to our mission. Thanks for all you do and stay safe out there!

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

Multi-factor authentication roll-out scheduled to begin August 19

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an important method for securing access to critical online systems and is recommended for improving information security across the entire University of California.  The application selected to fulfill this security function is Duo.

Once enrolled in Duo, UC ANR personnel will be required to 1) sign in as usual and 2) authenticate with the Duo application, prior to accessing most UC ANR online services that utilize single sign-on, including the UC ANR Portal and UCPath. 

UC ANR personnel will be automatically enrolled in Duo using a phased approach. You will receive an invitation email from MFA Duo when you have been added to the Multi-factor Authentication group. You will then have 5 business days to complete the enrollment.  Enrollment includes a secondary, security authorization step. 

There are two ways to complete the secondary authentication step, as required by Duo: 

Option 1:  Smartphone: This is the most convenient and preferred method for using MFA Duo. You may use either your UC ANR phone or tablet, or your personal phone or tablet.  

v  IF YOU HAVE NOT DOWNLOADED THE DUO MOBILE APPLICATION TO YOUR SMARTPHONE, PLEASE DO SO NOW.  

• Using your smartphone, download the “Duo Mobile” application from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
• You will receive an email from Duo Security with instructions on how to register your smartphone. 

v  If the Duo Mobile App was installed on your phone as part of UC Davis MFA Duo rollout, the UC ANR version must be added to the same app.  Instructions.

Option 2:  Duo key token: This option will require you to use a physical token – a key fob. To get a token, please contact help@ucanr.edu ASAP.  UC ANR IT will help you get, register and activate your assigned token. 

Thank you, 

Sree Mada, Chief Information Officer

The Multi-factor Authentication Project Team 

New look to our single sign on page:

We made new changes to the look-and-feel of our single sign on page. Please see the new layout, above and below, which will appear every time you authenticate using SSO. This new look will be rolled out during August 2020.

UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Higher ed cyberattacks, UC travel directive

Higher ed cyberattacks 

Cyberattacks on higher education institutions are on the rise. Universities with medical centers and substantial research profiles were identified as the most vulnerable to cyberattack. Federally funded research is also at risk from cyberespionage. According to a recent Pandemic Impact Survey, there is an increase in cyberattacks targeting employees who are working from home.

Since mid-March, there continues to be an increase in the volume, severity, and/or scope of these cyberattacks. Please review what you can do to protect yourself and UC ANR below.

What you can do 
Here are some recommendations for UC ANR employees to help protect our organization:

• Exercise caution when opening emails. Due to phishing attempts, be cautious when opening emails about COVID-19, especially those from outside the organization. Whenever in doubt, please contact UC ANR IT.
• Coming soon: Enable UCANR DUO. UC ANR will be rolling out DUO multi-factor authentication (MFA) for access into our systems. In the next few weeks, you will receive an email notification from MFA DUO with instructions to enroll; please follow the steps in order to enable your account.
• Protect your personal devices. Some employees may be using personal equipment instead of, or alongside, UCANR-issued hardware. Here are some steps you should take to secure your own devices, especially when you are using them for work purposes:
  • Home computers– We recommend that all employees implement security on these devices, including installing anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware.
  • USB devices– Employees should limit the use of any USB devices that have been previously used to access various other devices.
  • Lock devices when not in use - It is critical for all of us to keep work devices for work use only and lock our devices when we step away from them. Innocent activity on a work computer could potentially lead to a breach. This is also an excellent opportunity to educate your family members on cybersecurity.
• Secure your home network. While conducting business through aVPN can add a layer of security for all, be aware of what router/modem devices are being used while working from home and enable additional protection.
  • Enable automatic updates for all routers and modems. If the equipment is outdated and can no longer be updated, it should be replaced.
  • Secure router or modem with a unique password. Please make sure your router or modem is secured with a unique password and enable the firewall. For specific issues on modems or routers, contact your Internet Service Provider if they provided the devices. If you still have questions, contact UC ANR IT.

Want to do more to be more secure? 
Here are a few free tools to help identify potential vulnerabilities on your home computers. Note: work computers may have restricted admin rights prohibiting the use of these tools.

• KnowBe4's Ransomware Simulator – Scans for ways into your network by malicious actors.
• Shodan– Reviews for vulnerable devices on your network.
• Censys– Reviews for vulnerable devices on your network.

For any questions or more information on what is listed, please feel free to contact ANR IT at help@ucanr.edu.

 

UC Travel Directive 
Beginning in January, the University issued a series of executive directives that restricted nonessential, University-related international travel to all CDC Level 2 and 3 Travel Warning countries. These directives remain in effect, as outlined in a recent UCOP travel directive.

Additionally, all travelers, including those traveling for personal purposes, must follow the CDC's guidance for returning from international travel – including the requirement to quarantine for 14 days (if applicable) before returning to a UC facility.

For the well-being and safety of those who must travel internationally or domestically, it is important that travelers register their trip with the UC Travel Insurance Program, UCAway in order to ensure appropriate travel insurance coverage and trip intelligence services. Registration is an important step in reducing the risks of traveling while keeping the UC community safe, especially in environments with heightened health risks such as COVID-19. See the UCANR Risk & Safety Business Travel page for more general travel safety information and links.

Domestically, non-essential work-related travel is discouraged, particularly by air. For UCANR personnel, this means work-related travel outside of your normally assigned County(ies) or regional program area.

If travel is considered essential for University business or programmatic needs, and the activity cannot be conducted via alternative methods, consider the following:

1. The employee's own current personal health condition
2. Current community spread of destination location
3. The possibility that extended self-isolation period may be required (both upon arrival at the destination and after return to California) if the destination location is subject to heightened COVID-19 activity

Given the widespread rate of COVID-19 infections across the country, domestic travel is now considered a risk factor in diagnosing COVID-19. CDC U.S. travel guidance recommends staying home as the best way to protect from getting sick and provides additional guidelines for those who are considering traveling within the U.S. Those approved to travel for work domestically should take appropriate precautions while traveling and upon their return to work.

You can also find more COVID-19 travel safety information for ANR travelers at: http://safety.ucanr.edu/Programs/emergency/Current_Health_Alerts/Travel/

 

Celebration Corner 
The 4-H Healthy Living advisory team launched a statewide virtual Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak program. More than 40 youth participants met online twice a week from June 16-July 13 to learn about disease outbreaks, virus transmissions, public health investigations and how protective actions like hand washing, wearing masks, vaccinations, and herd immunity help manage negative public health outcomes. The advisory team has also trained more than 50 volunteers, staff and community members nationally to lead this project.

 

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

 

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Energy emergency, President Drake, Town Hall reminder

Energy emergency

On August 16, Governor Newsom signed an emergency proclamation designed to free up energy capacity and reduce the need for temporary energy service disruptions amid the record-breaking heat wave.

I join Secretary Karen Ross and other officials around the state in asking every Californian to please shift energy use outside of the hours of 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and to conserve energy in every way during those hours. Three simple actions individuals and businesses can take to reduce energy consumption include setting your thermostat to 78° or higher, refraining from major appliance use and turning off unnecessary lights and appliances.

We are mindful that this is a critical harvesting and processing time for agriculture. The order waives requirements to allow use of backup generators to take pressure off the grid from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

Thank you for your help in reducing energy use and communicating this important message to your clients and stakeholders. 

 

President Drake

President Michael V. Drake, M.D., assumed his new role as UC's 21st president today, and sent this short video message to the UC community. Welcome back to UC, Dr. Drake!

 

Town Hall reminder

Join the Town Hall meeting this Thursday from 1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m. Topics include updates from Senior Leadership, 2020 ANR@Work Survey results, a demographic analysis of survey results by the DEI Alliance Evaluation Committee and a Q&A session.

 

Celebration corner

Clean, safe water is critical to public health. Doug Parker and Faith Kearns created a new California Institute for Water Resources webpage in April with resources for water safety, water use and water supply issues related to COVID-19, including numerous multilingual resources. The page is continually updated with new resources.

 

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

UC ANR COVID-19 Update: flu vaccine and COVID-19 leave options

New flu vaccine requirement

To support the health and well-being of UC students, faculty and staff and our communities, the University of California, in consultation with UC Health leadership, has issued a systemwide executive order requiring all members of the UC community to receive an influenza immunization before Nov. 1, 2020.

The executive order applies to UC ANR employees. Human Resources and Risk & Safety Services are working with ANR Leadership to develop guidelines for the ANR community. We will share more information as we confirm how the order will apply to ANR's many programs and workplaces.

A process will be put in place for UC ANR employees to request medical exemptions. Requests for disability or religious accommodations will be handled through the interactive process. Again, we will share information about the exception process in the coming weeks.

All UC medical plans include coverage for flu vaccinations at no cost to employees covered by the plan. In addition, for those without group health care coverage, all ACA-compliant health plans also cover flu vaccinations as part of a preventive care package that includes no copay.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the best source for information on this year's flu vaccination and when it will be available. According to the CDC, September and October are good times to get vaccinated.

See the announcement about the new flu vaccine requirement on UCNet at https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/2020/08/new-flu-vaccine-requirement-for-uc-student-faculty-and-staff.html.

Reminder about COVID-19 leave options

As schools begin to reopen, we want to remind you of the leave options available to UC ANR employees (both staff and academic) whose ability to work at full capacity is impacted by the COVID-19 situation:

• COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave – On March 16, President Napolitano issued an Executive Order outlining expanded paid administrative leave to address the extraordinary demands placed on UC employees due to impacts related to COVID-19 on themselves and their family members.
• Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) – Effective April 1, 2020, the FFCRA provides employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.
• Others – Eligible employees continue to have access to traditional options such as flexible work schedules and standard UC leave programs.

Human Resources is available to help employees and supervisors understand the leave options. The UC Office of the President has developed COVID-19 Related Leaves and Job Protections Guidance with detailed information. The leave options are complex, and there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Should you have further questions, please contact Jodi Rosenbaum at jrosenbaum@ucanr.edu. 

Celebration corner

As Californians began hunkering down at home, they started growing their own food. In addition to gardening, people have begun adopting chickens for eggs. For those who have little to no experience raising poultry, UCCE Sonoma's Randi Black and Karen Giovannini collaborated with UCCE poultry specialist Maurice Pitesky in the School of Veterinary Medicine to create Poultry 101. Share their tips with new poultry parents: http://ucanr.edu/poultry101.

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

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