More than 350 people participated, with the greatest number attending the lunch conversation with President Janet Napolitano and VP Glenda Humiston. Among the topics Napolitano and Humiston discussed was ANR's role in the President's Initiatives, including Global Food, UC-Mexico and Carbon Neutrality.
If you attended the conference and haven't already evaluated the conference, send your comments by completing an anonymous survey. Your input is instrumental in understanding what was done well and what can be improved.
Videos of trainings, PowerPoint presentations and posters have been linked to the conference website:
- Some of the in-service trainings were recorded. To listen to the speakers deliver their presentations and view their PowerPoints, visit the In-service Trainings website and click on “Video” under each presentation. Not all of the trainings were recorded.
- PDF files of Tuesday's highlighted presentations PowerPoints have been added online. Click the titles in the online conference agenda (not the PDF) to view the description for each presentation and to open the PDFs.
- PDFs of posters displayed at both of the receptions are posted. Poster presenters, if you do not see your file, please send it to ANR Program Support so it can be added.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Registration is now open for the 2015 UC ANR Joint Strategic Initiative Conference, which will be held Oct. 5-7 at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 1230 J Street, in Sacramento.
UC Cooperative Extension advisors, UC Cooperative Extension specialists, Agricultural Extension Station faculty, program directors, academic coordinators and programmatic staff are encouraged to attend.
At the conference, you'll have the opportunity to
- Meet Vice President Glenda Humiston at the Monday evening reception.
- Participate in a discussion with UC President Janet Napolitano and Vice President Humiston at Tuesday's luncheon.
- Learn about ANR competitive grant-funded research projects.
- Engage in planning for the Strategic Initiatives.
- Attend program team and workgroup meetings.
- Take advantage of free training sessions.
- Network at the stakeholders' reception on Tuesday evening.
The conference is being coordinated through the five UC ANR Strategic Initiatives:
- Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases
- Healthy Families and Communities
- Sustainable Food Systems
- Sustainable Natural Ecosystems
- Water Quality, Quantity and Security
There's still time to submit a poster abstract for a poster session, the deadline for submit poster abstracts is Sept 9. Posters will be displayed on Monday and Tuesday nights. For details, see http://ucanr.edu/sites/2015jointsiconference/Call_for_Posters.
For the conference rate at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, reserve lodging by Sept. 11 by calling (800) 325-3535 or booking online at https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/ucanr2015. UC ANR will provide travel funding for participants who are affiliated with ANR.
For more information, contact UC ANR Program Support Unit, Sherry Cooper, (530) 750-1256, or Saundra Wais, (530) 750-1260 or anrprogramsupport@ucanr.edu.
President Napolitano gave updates on the Global Food Initiative and tuition and discussed the importance of both to the state of California. Ever engaging, Napolitano solicited suggestions and opinions from the commissioners, encouraged an open dialogue on her many initiatives and discussed her most recent decision to increase tuition. For their part, the commissioners offered the president their assistance and support.
To round out the session, the industry leaders had an opportunity to learn more about ANR's California Institute for Water Resources and the newly formed Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI). Director Doug Parker told the group what UC has been doing to help Californians cope with the drought. Director Lorrene Ritchie explained the Nutrition Policy Institute's mission, their work on the UC Global Food Initiative, and NPI's current collaboration with PAC member Rodney Taylor on the Fruit and Veggie Hub. The presentations provided the commissioners and President Napolitano a better understanding of the depth of ANR's research and the extent to which ANR's research positively impacts individuals and communities in California.
Dan Dooley, who was a charter PAC member and former VP of ANR, attended the meeting and reception. PAC members thanked him for his leadership over the years. Dooley retired from UC as senior VP for External Relations on Jan. 2.
The PAC will meet again in the spring.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
UC faculty are invited to join President Janet Napolitano and their faculty colleagues from across the UC system at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14, for a one-hour online conversation on topics of interest.
Expected discussion topics during the Google Hangout include preserving UC's quality and standing as the world's top public research university, investing in UC innovation through the new UC Ventures fund, online education, maintaining access and affordability, and faculty compensation and benefits.
This is President Napolitano's fourth Google Hangout with members of various UC groups, and is being held to further her goal of fostering an ongoing dialogue with the UC community. Previous hangouts were held with UC students, staff and alumni.
The panelists for this Hangout are:
- Mary Gilly, Academic Senate chair and business professor at UC Irvine (moderator)
- Kimberly Lau, professor of literature, UC Santa Cruz
- Lori Lubin, professor of physics, UC Davis
- Ilhem Messaoudi, associate professor of biomedical sciences, UC Riverside
- Rudy Ortiz, associate professor of natural sciences, UC Merced
- Kris Pister, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, UC Berkeley
President Napolitano will take live questions from the online audience during the event for those that sign up to watch. Sign in with your Google account.
Faculty members who do not have a gmail address can still watch the Google Hangout live, but they will not be able to post questions.

- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
If you missed the president's webchat with staff, a recap and video are posted at http://link.ucop.edu/2014/04/21/uc-president-janet-napolitano-holds-webchat-with-staff. Below is the original announcement.
Join University of California President Janet Napolitano and staff employees from across the UC system on Wednesday, April 16, at 2 p.m. for a one-hour online conversation. Topics will include campus climate survey results, compensation and benefits and investments in technology and infrastructure.
President Napolitano will share with employees her views on these issues, discuss her priorities for the university, and speak with staff about their concerns, hopes and challenges.
This is the second in a series of Google Hangouts between President Napolitano and various groups within the UC community to help foster open and ongoing dialogue concerning university issues. The president held a webchat with students in January [https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/crrgpgkc0j00qb22i6land19j80], and a Hangout with faculty is being planned for later this year.
Kathy Barton, Staff Advisor to the Regents and executive director of strategic initiatives for the UC Riverside School of Medicine, will moderate the discussion.
The panelists for this Hangout will be:
- Donna Coyne, Staff Advisor-designate and UC Santa Barbara associate director of admissions
- Susan Forstat, UC San Francisco health care facilitator
- Rob Kerner, IT manager for the UC Davis Plant Sciences department and incoming chair of the Council of UC Staff Assemblies (CUCSA)
- Mia Watson, UCLA community programs office advisor
- Sarah Woodside, associate college administrative officer at UC Santa Cruz
President Napolitano will be taking questions from the online staff audience as well as the panelists.
Sign up for the webchat at https://plus.google.com/events/c4saqghab1bsjc2beoc7gae540c. You can post your questions in the comments section prior to the Hangout, or during the session. Just sign in with your Google account.