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ANR Update
UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Catastrophic leave donations, frequency of ANR Updates
Catastrophic leave donations
UC ANR's Catastrophic Leave Donation program is expanding to support our people during the COVID-19 emergency. This program allows employees to donate accrued vacation to support colleagues who have exhausted their paid leave due to a catastrophic illness or injury of an employee or family member; the death of a family member; or, a catastrophic casualty loss suffered due to a terrorist attack, fire or natural disaster.
Until now, UC ANR has administered this program by sending a call for donations to meet individual needs on a case-by-case basis. Now we are expanding the program to accept donations of accrued vacation leave into a central leave “bank” that can be used to support UC ANR academics and staff as needs arise. This will allow us to respond to increased demand if more UC ANR employees are unable to work for extended periods of time due to the COVID-19 emergency. A leave bank is also consistent with how other UC locations manage their Catastrophic Leave Donation programs.
Participation is entirely voluntary, and donations are anonymous. The minimum donation is eight hours. The maximum donation is 50% of the donor's vacation balance or 80 hours in a calendar year, whichever is less.
If you would like to donate some of your accrued vacation leave, please use the Donor Form and submit to humanresources@ucanr.edu. UC ANR's Catastrophic Leave Donation program is separate from programs administered by UCOP and the UC Davis campus.
If you have questions, please visit the Catastrophic Leave Sharing Program page or contact humanresources@ucanr.edu.
Frequency of ANR Updates
We anticipate a change in the frequency of ANR Updates concerning the pandemic now that the situation has stabilized to the extent that it can and our organization has transitioned to remote work status. We will send updates when there is critical information to share rather than issuing a daily update.
Celebration corner
Ken and Christina Hecht at the Nutrition Policy Institute and Anisha Patel (Stanford Univ.) investigated school district actions in California and nationally and produced a two-pager showing districts how school meal service can be continued over spring break. The flyer has been provided to the California Department of Education and will be disseminated through California channels. Amelie Hecht (Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Public Health), Ken, Christina and Anisha also drafted an Op-Ed on the issue for submission to The Washington Post.
Scott Parker, program coordinator for the UC Master Gardener Program of San Diego, and his local board created a PowerPoint video to update UC Master Gardener volunteers in lieu of a meeting. Along with other updates, the video applauded volunteers delivering Saint Patrick's Day-themed flower pots to staff at memory care facilities, and the program's quick transition to managing hotline inquiries remotely.
UC IPM advisor Chris Greer is working with agricultural commissioners in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties to develop online continuing education opportunities for Department of Pesticide Regulation credits for farmers, pest control advisers and licensed pesticide applicators. UC IPM has a number of online courses for continuing education available through the eXtension platform and linked on http://ipm.ucanr.edu/training, and they are working with Monique Rivera, UCCE specialist at UC Riverside, to transition a previously scheduled meeting to online continuing education.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Zoom accounts, critical supplies donations
Zoom accounts available to loan during COVID-19 shelter in place order
While California is under a statewide “stay home” order, UC ANR is still open for business and working to support and accommodate the needs of our partners and stakeholders. Accordingly, UC ANR is making Zoom accounts available to loan to our partners and stakeholders during this period for their use in remotely conducting urgent meetings to strategize and address critical business operations.
If you would like to use a temporary Zoom account, contact your Unit Director, Program Leader, County Director, or REC Director. They will request an account on your behalf and provide guidance on use of the account.
Critical supplies donations
Many of our hospitals and medical centers are accepting donations of critical supplies for frontline care providers, including unused N95 respirators and surgical masks, disposable gloves, protective goggles and eye shields, and sanitizers such as disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer. Find donation details for UC medical centers below:
Celebration corner
The statewide UC Master Gardener Program office has established an online repository of recorded trainings on eXtension campus. The online courses function as a library for UC Master Gardener related trainings that volunteers can view remotely. Recordings, online resources and quizzes for volunteers will be posted in the course as they become available during this time of transition. Access to this resource is free and open to the public.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Letter to Congress, Extension funding
Letter to Congress
President Napolitano and the leaders of the California State University and California Community Colleges systems sent a letter to Congress earlier this week requesting federal financial and regulatory assistance to help manage the significant impacts of the outbreak on our institutions and communities. Read the letter at https://www.ucop.edu/president/_files/20200323_intersegmental_covid-19_stimulus_final.pdf.
Supplemental funding for Cooperative Extension
Wendy Powers, Anne Megaro and I are also working closely with UCDC government relations to advocate for federal funding for Cooperative Extension which will allow us to expand our programming and services to support our local communities during COVID-19 response and recovery. Due to the increased need to reach people where they are, it is imperative that Cooperative Extension transition programming and services into the digital medium and assist communities by providing not only educational content, but in some cases, basic needs like internet connectivity.
Celebration corner
To show how much they appreciate the good work hospital staff are doing with senior homes and sick patents, 4-H youth and families in Santa Cruz and San Benito counties are creating “messages of kindness” to be collected in a slide show for hospital workers and patients.
I wish everyone a safe, restful long weekend in honor of Cesar Chavez.
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
UC ANR COVID-19 Update: Master Gardener volunteer hours, extension resources
Master Gardener volunteer hours
Given the tremendous impact COVID-19 is having on planned spring UC Master Gardener events and gardening activities across the state, program leadership has determined that all UC Master Gardener volunteers who choose to remain active and reappoint during the upcoming reappointment period (June 1 – July 31) will be approved, regardless of the number of volunteer or continuing education hours completed this program year. Further, volunteers will not be responsible for making up any incomplete volunteer and continuing education hours in the following program year. Read the message to volunteers at https://conta.cc/2Jh4pMc.
Extension resources
The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) has organized a collection of Extension resources developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 40 institutions have contributed to the collection at https://virtual.extension.org/extension-responses-to-covid-19/.
Celebration corner
JoLynn Miller is livestreaming embryology lessons on FaceBook for 4-H youth in Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado and Tuolumne counties. Check out yesterday's lesson on chick hatching (featuring JoLynn's crazy hair for Spirit Week) at https://www.facebook.com/Tuolumnecounty4h/videos/235774560806010/.
As our colleagues at UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center remind us, calling out the things you are grateful for is important in this time of crisis. I'm grateful for the incredible work you are doing to help your communities!
Glenda Humiston
Vice President
Discuss COVID-19 driven changes in community-based programming
A national action dialogue on community-based programming in the digital networked COVID-19 age will be hosted by eXtension.
March 26 & April 1, 2020
12 noon - 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Available to all Cooperative Extension professionals
Register at https://bit.ly/2JrlROd
Panelists include:
Chuck Hibberd, Dean & Director of Nebraska Extension
Paul Hill, Extension Associate Professor, County Director, Community Economic Development, Utah State University
Elise Lofgren, Senior Instructional Designer, Purdue University
Doug Edlund, Assistant Director of Operations, UTIA Communications, & ACE President
In partnership with ECOP, eXtension has been mobilized to support Cooperative Extension System (CES) during this tough time of social distancing and in response we have started a webinar series to address working virtually and connecting with your audiences through digital technology. You will also find more information at virtual.extension.org and in the Connect Extension Group: Extension Response & Resources for Extension Professionals Working Online you might consider joining.
What next?
To take this all one step further, eXtension will be hosting a National Action Dialogue around Community Based Programming (CBP) in the Digital Networked COVID-19 Age as a two-session online event starting March 26, available for all CES professionals across the country regardless of eXtension Foundation, Inc. membership. Registration is Open
Online Event: Community Based Programming (CBP) in the Digital Networked COVID-19 Age
- Part 1: Thursday, March 26, 12 noon-1:30 p.m.
- Part 2: Wednesday, April 1, 12 noon-1:30 p.m.
Purpose/Outcome: The purpose of this National Action Dialogue is to position our universities to rapidly respond to CBP in the Digital networked COVID-19 issue by delving in, capturing collective wisdom, inspiring innovative thinking, and focusing on new opportunities, partnerships, solutions, tangible actions and collaborations on issues for farms, families, businesses, and communities that will exist long beyond this public health crisis. This is open to all Cooperative Extension professionals.
- The first day in Part 1, a panel of speakers will seed the conversations around the topic and time will be allowed for small breakout groups to discuss the issues and groups will report back the main outcomes of their conversations to the entire attendance.
- The second day in Part 2, the top issues will be explored more deeply by breakout groups to share strategies for addressing these issues and potential needs to address the issues.
Register at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfj0bHoIQ0kIUNRt_N75lO6sbpohWFip8SlmIwoxgyQdlv8OQ/viewform. (Sorry for the long URL, but if the link breaks you can copy and paste the URL.)
