ANR Update

End of academic review period sparks conversations about streamlining paperwork

We are now just one week from of the end of the current review period for UC ANR academics. I know many of you have confirmed your intended salary advancement action for the review period. Whether you intend to seek a salary advancement action or prepare an annual evaluation, you have likely noticed that a few of our trainings on those topics have been postponed.

The postponement is due to efforts underway to make document preparation for all actions less time consuming, regardless of your planned action. At the request of AVP Powers, the Academic Assembly Council Personnel Committee and the 2019 Peer Review Committee are working together to develop recommendations to greatly streamline and improve those processes. Following AVP Powers' review and decision, training dates will be established. All trainings will to take place this fall.

Many of our UC ANR academics say report that they spend over a month preparing their merit and promotion documents and that the current process can be quite stressful. Annual evaluation documents take almost as much time to compile. While the merit and promotion process is important, what's most important is that one's document provide the opportunity for an academic to share their accomplishments and contributions to UC ANR as well as their community, and their profession. The review process does is supposed to help evaluate one's work; it's not supposed to get in the way of an academic actually conducting their work. Similarly, the purpose of the annual evaluation is to guide activities towards achievement of an academic's stated goals without taking so much time that the process itself impedes success.

As we finalize enhancements to the document preparation guidelines that reflect the needed improvements recommended by many of you, I want to share the results of the 2019 merit and promotion review process. Case numbers vary from year to year, as do success rates; however, what we strive to ensure does not change is the rigor and high expectations we ask of our UC ANR academics. Because of this, our UC ANR academics not only progress well throughout their career but they are highly respected throughout the nation and in many sectors.

The message I want to leave you with is that we are committed to ensuring that paperwork and evaluations do not get in the way of the important work research and extension you do. The mission we serve and the work you contribute toward that is where we need to focus our energy. As always, many thanks for all the great work you do!

The following table provides a comparison of Program Review Outcomes over the past 5 years.

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.

This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

 

Dave Krause to leave UC ANR in October

It is with mixed emotions that I announce Dave Krause's departure from the Division October 11.  After nearly 14 years with UCANR, Dave has accepted a new role with Driscoll's Berries to help improve the technology in their research environment. This opportunity will take Dave to some of Driscoll's global locations, yet allow him to stay connected to many of us at ANR and at UC.

Dave started his UC career as a programmer with ANR Communication Services in 2006. Initially hired to build a new version of Site Builder and Collaborative Tools, Dave has since architected and implemented dozens of applications to support the work of our staff and academics. In recent years, Dave went on to become the IT Manager and Interim Chief Information Officer for the Division.

Please join me in thanking Dave for his many contributions to the arduous work of the Division in supporting the communities and the people of this state. I am proud of Dave's accomplishments and I know he is also.

Please join me in wishing him the best in his future endeavors, and I look forward to continuing the friendship.

We will work immediately on selecting Dave's successor and will keep you informed.

Best regards,

Tu Tran
Associate Vice President, Business Operations

 

View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.

This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

UC President Napolitano stepping down

Earlier today (Sept. 18), UC President Janet Napolitano announced that she will be stepping down as president of the University in August 2020. President Napolitano joined UC as the first woman to lead the university in 2013. 

We are thankful for President Napolitano's leadership and vision to address critical issues that affect California, the rest of the country and the world.

Recognizing the challenge of feeding a growing worldwide population, Napolitano launched the Global Food Initiative to inspire more collaboration and draw from the collective resources of all 10 UC campuses, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop solutions for food security, health and sustainability.

To address the threat of climate change, she created the Carbon Neutrality Initiative, which marshals resources from across the UC system to research and develop ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

To attract and retain top-flight academics, she created the Presidential Match for Endowed Chairs to help UC campuses and UC ANR encourage donors to establish endowed chairs to fund research. The Presidential Match has enabled UC ANR to fill five endowed positions in UC Cooperative Extension, ensuring the scientists will have a dedicated source of funding for their ongoing agricultural research.

Finally, she emphasized the university's commitment to diversity by taking actions to let immigrant and LGBTQ members of the UC community know they are welcome and supported.

The UC Board of Regents will soon appoint a search committee to start a national search for the next president of the University. Per policy, the search committee will include student, academic and alumni representatives who will seek input from the UC community and the public.

More information, including highlights of President Napolitano's tenure at the University, can be found at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university-california-president-janet-napolitano-announces-decision-step-down-next-year. 

Glenda Humiston
Vice President

 

View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.

This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

Employee comments sought on copyright ownership policy

The University invites comments on proposed modifications to the Presidential Policy on Copyright Ownership, which updates the 1992 Copyright Policy. Given the significant copyright landscape changes over the years, it has become clear that the time for a policy update is now. Aside from streamlining the language, the policy also includes updates in the following areas:

• Expands eligibility to own copyrights. The definition of “Academic Authors” in the revised policy expands the pool of those eligible to own copyright.
• Expands and clarifies the pool of works eligible for copyright ownership. The policy provides a definition of “Scholarly & Aesthetic Works” – a definition that does not exist in the existing policy. It also clarifies that software is a work for which eligible employees may own the copyright.
• Creates a definition for “Significant University Resources” as a limitation on the University's ownership. The current policy has a broad definition of “University Resources,” which directs, in some instances, that the University asserts copyright ownership when the University's resources contributed to the development of the copyright work. The revised policy now includes a key limitation such that the level of University resources must be “significant” and beyond the support provided to similarly situated authors.
• Clarifies graduate student copyright ownership. The revised policy provides clarity regarding copyright ownership by graduate students of their theses, dissertations and other copyrightable works. 
• Clarifies copyright ownership for represented employees. The revised policy specifically states that if an inconsistency exists between a union employee's collective bargaining agreement regarding copyright ownership and the revised policy, the copyright provisions of the union agreement prevail.
• Expands supplemental references. The revised policy expands the “Related Information” and “Revision History” sections to reference additional resources and other supplemental information.

The policy proposal is posted here: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/academic-personnel-policy/policies-under-review/pres-policy-copyright.html.

If you have any questions or if you wish to comment, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than Dec. 15,  2019.

 

View or leave comments for ANR Leadership at http://ucanr.edu/sites/ANRUpdate/Comments.

This announcement is also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

 

Monthly paid employees must submit August timesheets Sept. 9-13

In preparation for UCPath, a new version of the time reporting system (TRS) will be deployed in early September for August monthly timesheets. 

• Monthly paid employees will use the new TRS to report August vacation and sick leave 
• Wait until Monday, Sept. 9, to log into TRS (trs.ucdavis.edu) to enter your August leave usage
• Submit your August timesheet by Friday, Sept. 13
• Supervisors approve by Tuesday, Sept 17, 10 a.m.

If monthly paid employees submit their time before Sept. 9 in the old TRS, the timesheet WILL NOT be saved or processed! 

Bi-weekly timesheets will process as normal during this time. Send questions to ucpath@ucanr.edu.

Read more