ANR Update

Sad news about Lowell Lewis

Dear Colleagues,

I have received the sad news of Lowell Lewis's passing from Henry Vaux, former ANR associate vice president. Our longtime employees and emeriti will remember Lowell from his 30-plus years of service to ANR. Although Lowell retired as AVP in 1991, he remained in contact with many ANR colleagues over the years, both professionally and personally.  

I offer my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. Please see Henry's note below.

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

Sadly I write to inform you that Professor Emeritus Lowell Lewis, Professor of Horticultural Science and also Associate Vice President Emeritus, passed away last week. He was 89 and had been in declining health for some months. 

Lowell served as an active faculty member in Horticultural Science at UCR from 1960 until about 1981. During the later years of the 70s and early years of the 80s he was Associate Dean of what was then CNAS though it was called by a different name then. Lowell then served beginning in 1981 as Associate Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Office of the President. He retired in 1991 and was an international consultant for some years after that. He resided in Barcelona, Spain, until returning to the U.S. two years ago. He resided then in Irvine. 

Although it has been many years since Lowell was on the campus there are probably a few faculty who remember him. He will also be remembered by members of the Riverside community where he was active. I do not know what sort of announcement or press release you may wish to get out or even if you wish to do either. In any event, I thought it important that you be aware of Lowell's passing. He will be missed by those who knew him. 

Sincerely yours,

Henry Vaux, Jr. 
Professor Emeritus
Associate V.P. Emeritus

 

Register to share your ideas on how to improve UC ANR

Every Tuesday during the month of August, UC ANR leaders will be hosting two-hour online meetings to share their draft 5-year goals and get your input into the ANR Strategic Plan Refresh 2020-2025.

Teams of goal owners will review challenges we face, briefly share accomplishments to date, and present draft strategies for the future. They want to hear what you think may be missing and your ideas on how to shape the future of ANR. There will be breakout groups to provide the opportunity for you to talk with colleagues and submit your ideas to inform the final ANR strategic plan.

See the table below with specific dates for certain topics and draft goals – and sign up! 

All UC ANR staff and academics – campus-based AES faculty and CE specialists – are invited.

Register at http://ucanr.edu/survey/survey.cfm?surveynumber=31683.

Sessions are limited to 1,000 people per the Zoom meeting license. If you have constraints joining by Zoom, please talk to your supervisor and strategize how the local office/REC can help accommodate you.

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

Date/ Time	Topic	Presenters
8/4 10 a.m. - 12 noon	Increasing Program Resources Goal 9: Generate Revenue and Optimize Resource Deployment Goal 10: Expand and Diversify Fund Development Goal 11: Improve Efficiency and Strengthen Infrastructure Goal 12: Strengthen Communication and Advocacy	Tu Tran, Associate Vice President - Business Operations Lorna Krkich, Development Services Executive Director Linda Forbes, Strategic Communications Director Anne Megaro, Government and Community Relations Director
8/11 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.	Strengthening Partnerships Goal 1: Strengthen Research and Extension Partnerships Goal 3: Build Sustainable Economies for Working Landscapes Goal 4: Scale-up the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program	Wendy Powers, Associate Vice President - Programs Glenda Humiston, Vice President Gabe Youtsey, Chief Innovation Officer
8/18 10 a.m. - 12 noon	Fostering a Positive Work Environment Goal 6: Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Goal 7: Recruit, Develop and Retain People Goal 8: Support Volunteerism	John Fox, Executive Director Human Resources Missy Gable,  UC Master Gardener Statewide Program Director Gemma Miner, Academic Coordinator for Volunteer Engagement Bethanie Brown, Director of Human Resources
8/25 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.	Expanding Virtual Reach Goal 2: Increase UC ANR's Virtual Reach Goal 5: Modernize Digital Information Delivery System	Mark Bell, Vice Provost of Strategic Initiatives and Statewide Programs Linda Forbes, Director of Strategic Communications

UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Modified safety standards

This week, in response to a trend of increasing COVID-19 cases and potential strains on hospital capacity in many areas of the state, Governor Newsom ordered that certain business sectors and activities must scale back their operations. Additional business sectors were ordered to cease indoor operations in more than 30 counties that are on the State's Monitoring List due to their current testing rates, disease transmission data, and hospital status. As a result of this roll-back of the State's plan for re-opening, UC ANR is modifying its Stage 2 safety guidelines for offices located in counties that are on the State's Monitoring List.

Effective Monday, July 20, 2020, UC ANR offices located in counties on the State's Monitoring List must return to Stage 1 remote work status until State and County restrictions are lifted and UC ANR advises it is appropriate to return to in-person operations. These UC ANR offices will be closed to the public; visits may be arranged by appointment only.  

UC ANR employees and volunteers should work or engage remotely and/or in outdoor environments as much as possible. Research and Extension activities and programs that have been approved to resume under UC ANR Stage 2 Location Safety Plans and protocols may continue outdoors or online.

Directors and supervisors must re-evaluate which employees need to come to the office for work. At this time, employees should only come to the office for the following types of critical work activities:

• Previously approved research and extension activities (such as research, animal care, agricultural operations, critical maintenance, etc.) that were approved during Stage 1.
• Essential business functions needed to support remote work.
• Situations where an employee cannot perform his/her duties or work effectively remotely.
• Short duration visits to pick up or drop off materials needed for work.

All previously approved UC ANR Stage 2 Location Safety Plans must be updated to include this modified guidance. Stage 2 safety protocols for UC ANR offices, labs, field sites, and all program locations still apply.  

UC ANR employees and volunteers (acting as agents of the University), that have been approved to resume in-person work (indoors or outdoors) must, at a minimum, continue to abide by these five basic protocols even when County requirements are less restrictive:

1. Do not come to work or participate in any in-person ANR activities if sick (frequent cough, fever, difficulty breathing, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, recent loss of taste or smell, etc.) or if you or someone you have been in contact with has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
2. Maintain six feet of distance between people at all times.
3. Wear face coverings (cloth or paper masks, cloth bandanas, etc.) for indoor activities and when six feet of separation between people cannot be maintained.
4. No group meetings/gatherings/events with more than 10 persons.
5. Maintain sanitary practices – frequently clean and disinfect workspaces and equipment, wash hands often, and use hand sanitizer.

ANR locations must continue to implement additional Stage 2 mitigation measures for any in-person activities (whether in the office or at outdoor field locations). These include:

• Daily symptom surveys must continue for any employees who are working at sites other than at home.
• Offices must continue to maintain a daily log of attendance at the location.
• Employees must continue to maintain a log of their daily contacts with colleagues or clientele.
• Maintain enhanced cleaning procedures if more than one person will be present in the office.
• Maintain hand sanitizer and personal hygiene practices.
• Maintain limits on non-essential business travel.
• Maintain and update communication with employees, volunteers, and other program participants.

ANR's safety standards may continue to be modified at any time by UC ANR or other authority of the University of California as conditions change or new information is available. Questions regarding any of these protocol modifications should be directed to your location Director or Brian Oatman, UC ANR Risk & Safety Services.

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

 

Cyber attacks slow UC ANR servers

UC ANR Colleagues,

Our server-security monitoring tool Malwarebytes has detected and mitigated eight malware variants, one ransomware attempt, and 379 potentially unwanted program accesses. It also appears to have blocked thousands (2,648) of malicious web traffic destined to webservers. This malicious traffic accounts for increased CPU processing by Malwarebytes, which is our “firewall” designed to mitigate the swarm of attacks that reach each server.

Due to the significantly heightened level of processing required, we are currently experiencing intermittent disruptions within Information Technology applications over the last few days, which could affect one or more of the following services:

• Site Builder websites & UC ANR blogs
• Portal access to tools including login, Zoom and Zendesk
• Survey and registration system, as well as credit card processing for event registrations
• Communication systems such as Collaborative Tools and Mailing Lists
• Administrative systems such as the Grant Tracking System, Universal Review System, ANR Directory, and DANRIS-X

Our teams are aware of the issue and are actively working to resolve it as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconveniences is caused by this situation and assure you that we are using all resources available to restore service as quickly as we can.

If you have any questions in the interim, feel free to email the HelpDesk at help@ucanr.edu.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

Regards,

Sree Mada
Chief Information Officer

Budget update and strategies

Colleagues,

As you know, the University is experiencing severe fiscal challenges across all locations because of COVID-19 and its economic fallout. UC ANR is facing a possible 12.7% budget reduction for the 20-21 fiscal year. The University is hoping for a supplemental federal appropriation from Congress which may help to reduce the budget cut, but until we know more about our fiscal position for the coming year, we are implementing measures to ensure that we are able to continue to deliver the UC ANR mission. As these fiscal challenges become more apparent, many of you have expressed concerns about continued job security and what's next. 

Our Commitment 
UC ANR's strength lies squarely with its people. We have a strong commitment to our employees and seek to implement this by being proactive, transparent and innovative wherever possible. In addition to this ongoing commitment, we will prioritize protecting programmatic goals and current positions. Layoffs will be considered only as a tool of last resort to address the fiscal challenges. 

We will approach this situation as we have faced many other challenges - thoughtfully, strategically and with our employees and mission in mind. To do this effectively and equitably across UC ANR, we are implementing a series of strategies.

Our Strategies 
In order to achieve the above we initiated a hiring freeze effective July 1 and deferred funding requests for new staff positions and expenditures. Staffing requests will only be approved by exception based on compelling priorities. This hiring freeze will remain in effect for 12 months, unless the budgetary condition improves. Additionally, we are:

• Ensuring a high level of flexibility to reassign current staff to critical positions using the current Redeployment program, wherever possible.
• Approving reasonable use of the voluntary Employee Initiated Reduction in Time (ERIT).
• Proactively considering other UC systemwide strategies for actions to reduce costs such as voluntary reduction in time and voluntary early retirement.
• Working to grow and diversify the Division's revenue streams, prioritizing the development of contracts and grants, gifts, and other independent revenue sources.
• Maintaining programmatic delivery and continuing to invest in key areas, including those identified in the strategic plan, to strengthen delivery of extension and operational efficiency to further our mission.

Our hope is that the hiring freeze and other cost-cutting measures will be short-lived and that Congress will provide the necessary funds to minimize cuts to the University. UC has initiated an advocacy campaign to encourage Congress to support state funding as well as supplemental research and cooperative extension funding.

Glenda Humiston 
Vice President

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