Posts Tagged: advocacy

UC ANR must stabilize and increase funding to serve California

Dear Colleagues,

As part of my job, I have the pleasure of talking to many audiences about the marvelous work you do. People are always blown away by the breadth of issues ANR addresses and the impact it has for Californians. From the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture in Washington D.C. to Silicon Valley venture capitalists at the Forbes AgTech Summit, I have met people who were surprised and amazed to learn UC ANR is working with individuals in every county to find solutions specifically suited for their community.

Past budget cuts and rising costs, coupled with serious concerns that our traditional state and federal funding may shrink or – at best – remain flat for the foreseeable future, means that UC ANR must develop new sources of funding.  To do that, we have got to start telling our story! 

Studies have shown California gets a 20 to 1 return on the state's investment in UC ANR programs and we have multitudes of examples of our impact. Those examples, along with other tools from our communications shop, are available for your use. Utilize them to keep your local decision-makers and stakeholders apprised of the ways Californians benefit from UC ANR's work in their community.

Invite legislators and their staff members to speak at award ceremonies, to attend field days and workshops or send them news articles about the impact of your research. Do the same for current and potential funders of all types. In short, educate them about the valuable contributions we make to the nutrition and food security of families, the sustainability of farms and health of the environment.

In 1990, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources employed 528 UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists. As of July 1, after retirements, we have only 278 UCCE advisors and specialists – barely over half of our earlier academic footprint. Those of you who are covering more than one county can really feel how very stretched we are to provide quality service to Californians throughout the state. These reductions in ANR's workforce were made to accommodate cuts in state support; since 2002, ANR's state support has been cut by $30 million.

To preserve research and extension programs as much as possible, UC ANR has carefully managed its limited resources. We reduced ANR administration, closed facilities and the administrative offices of several statewide programs and offered less in internal grants. At the same time, we have unfunded obligations including increased health care costs, pension liability and academic merit and promotion.

Even though our funding has stabilized in the past two years, it has not grown to meet the needs of the expanding and diverse California population we serve. To achieve our vision of helping the people of California attain a high quality of life, a healthy environment, and economic success in a global economy, we will need more support.

Please look for opportunities to build stronger relationships with policymakers and stakeholders. Personal stories of how UC ANR efforts have improved people's lives are best at conveying a message. If you need help explaining in general what UC ANR does or where we are located, use the video and map at http://ucanr.edu/WeAreUCANR.

It's been said that UC ANR is UC's best kept secret. I, for one, am really tired of hearing that. If you aren't comfortable tooting your horn on your own behalf, please do it for the people and landscapes that we serve. For UC ANR to serve our mission, people need to know what we do – and you are doing some great work. Thanks for all the great work you do!

Sincerely,

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.

Urgent action needed today

Yesterday, President Mark Yudof asked UC supporters to communicate now with public officials to express their support for increased funding for this year and for a commitment to reliable, predictable funding levels for UC going forward.

If your clientele, cooperators and volunteers want information on how to express their support, they can go to http://bit.ly/Ldk5dN (UC’s advocacy website) for information and web tools. While there is nothing more effective than direct personal contact, especially at the local level, being part of the UC advocacy effort is another way for people to engage.

On Monday, May 14, Governor Brown will release his revised budget plan and now is the time to act.

View or leave comments for the Executive Working Group.

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

Budget message from VP Dooley

Colleagues,

In his State of the State address on Monday, Governor Brown reinforced the fact that our budget difficulties are unprecedented and that virtually everything that depends on state funding must adapt to new realities. 

While many things must happen before we have a final state budget, here are some things we do know:

• The governor’s budget proposes a $500 million cut for UC in 2011-12, a 16.4 percent reduction.  State budget cuts could be deeper if proposed tax extensions fail because the cuts cover only half of the shortfall in state revenues.

• UC’s budget gap is really closer to $1 billion, when factoring in state General Fund reductions and unfunded cost increases for expenses such as health benefits, utilities, and UC contributions to the retirement system.

• The governor is attempting to create an honest budget with no borrowing. The resulting budget isn’t favorable to UC, ANR, or any other program that depends on state funds. We expect to share in the pain with hope for sharing the gain when the economy improves.

• County governments have suffered severe budget cuts. We are working closely with our county partners to minimize the long-term damage to the services Cooperative Extension provides to their communities and devotes the largest portion of our scarce resources to program delivery as possible.

• As you know, ANR has consolidated a considerable amount of administrative work over the past year for cost savings and we will continue to look for administrative efficiencies where possible.

• President Yudof has launched an immediate review, due in early March, of what the proposed cuts will mean at each campus, for ANR and at the Office of the President.  I will keep you apprised as the budget picture becomes clearer.

I appreciate your dedication, especially during these tough times, to keeping California healthy, prosperous and sustainable. Let’s continue to remind Californians of the unique ways ANR contributes to the improvement of agriculture, natural resources and the lives of the youth and families of our state.

Dan Dooley
Senior Vice President

View or leave comments for the Executive Working Group

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

ANR Update, March 9, 2010

These announcements are also posted and archived on the ANR Update pages.

County directors to discuss fundraising

Don Klingborg will be holding conference calls with the county directors to discuss fundraising in the counties. During the calls on March 19 and 24, Klingborg will ask the CDs for their opinions about whether we should pursue fundraising at the local level and, if so, what are the potential roles and approaches that should be standardized?

Business Operations Centers

Two ANR Business Operations Centers have been established, one in Davis and one at the Kearney Research & Extension Center in Parlier.

Nikki Humphreys is the lead for the Business Operations Center-Davis (BOC-Davis).  The unit is charged with the responsibility to provide administrative services to Davis-based ANR service units & statewide programs.

Cherie McDougald is the lead for the Business Operations Center—Kearney (BOC-Kearney).  This unit is charged with the responsibility for providing administrative services to county-based Cooperative Extension offices throughout the state.

Some of the major functions of the Business Operations Centers include:

• Contracts & Grants (budget review, new account set up and notice, cost-share/effort reporting)
• Payroll (time & leave reporting for academic and staff employees)
• Payroll/Personnel System (personnel action entries for academic and staff employees)
• Gift acceptance
• Purchasing
• Accounts payable
• Bank accounts
• Direct charges
• Travel and entertainment

Joining Humphreys in the BOC-Davis unit will be Marianne Goetze from the REC A/O and Laura Hernandez from IPM, both transferring from their respective units effective April 1. Jeri Hansen from Communication Services and Information Technology (CSIT) will follow on May 1. The Administrative Review Council (ARC) will continue discussing the design and make-up of this unit at its March 16 meeting.

The BOC-Kearney unit is currently staffed by McDougald, Kathy Montanez, Kennieth Nasalroad, Diane Chadwick, Lorraine Holm, Nora Rodriguez, Cathy Edwards, and Joyce Hatanaka, all formerly with the Central Valley Regional Office. Currently, the BOC-Kearney provides services to advisors and staff from the Central Valley and North Coast & Mountain regions. In April, they will begin phasing in services to the Central Coast & Southern Region CE advisors and staff. The BOC-Kearney is now recruiting to fill one payroll services assistant position and three financial services assistant positions as part of the approved staffing plan.

Program Support Unit

The new Program Support Unit is up and running under the leadership of Joni Rippee. While the entire scope of responsibilities for the ANR Program Support Unit is still in development, the major responsibilities have been identified as follows:

• Support for regional/statewide workshops/conferences/symposia—Provide logistical support in terms of planning, coordination, meeting arrangements, business and contract management associated with the meeting, catering, A/V, other hotel agreements, etc.
• Support for ANR initiatives—Work with initiative leaders to plan, coordinate and conduct meetings of initiative panels, advisory group, etc., to facilitate the development and implementation of programs.
• Support for ANR advocacy efforts—Work with advocacy leaders to plan, coordinate and conduct meetings to facilitate the development and implementation of advocacy goals.
• Support for internal ANR competitive grants programs—Assist appropriate leaders in developing requests for proposals, coordination of review panels, compilation of funding decisions, and interfacing with Business Operations Centers to communicate funding decisions.

Working with Rippee are Sherry Cooper, who was formerly based at UCCE Shasta County and joined the Program Support Unit on January 1, Heidi O’Guinn from the REC AO, and Melanie Caruso from IPM who both joined March 1. The Program Support Unit is directed by Bill Frost.

View or leave comments for the Executive Working Group

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