- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
“I would not be standing in front of you here today in this job if it were not for 4-H,” VP Glenda Humiston told the audience at UC Office of the President, where she was the featured speaker on Aug. 16 for the Women We Admire speaker series. Humiston, who was the first in her family to attend college, credits attending 4-H camps held on a college campus for sparking her interest in higher education.
The Women We Admire series, initiated by the President's Advisory Committee on the Status of Women in 2009, brings women to UCOP from around the UC system to share insights about their careers, workplace challenges and work-life balance.
“My work has taken some really weird angles,” Humiston said. “In fact, when I talk to young people, one of the key messages I give them is to have a big goal out there, but to be flexible about which path you take to get there because you never know where the opportunity is going to show up.”
Humiston talked about the path – from her family's cattle ranch in Colorado, through Tunisia as a Peace Corps volunteer and various USDA posts – that led her to become UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources on Aug. 3, 2015. She also talked about what UC ANR is and what it could be.
The link to the hour-long audio and slides from Humiston's talk is http://www.ucop.edu/pacsw/_files/women-we-admire/humiston.mp4.
- Author: Jodi Azulai
UC Learning Center offers new look and new tools
Visit the updated online UC Learning Center and you will find enhanced learning and development tools, an improved user experience and a new look.
New features of the system include a Talent Profile, which will allow you to customize your profile and share your professional qualifications with others in the UC Davis-UC ANR Learning Center portal.
Check out your new personal dashboard “My Learner Dashboard,” which will list compliance training you need to complete.
ANR People Manager: Driving team performance
You can learn how to steer your team to better performance by watching Gartner's (formerly CEB) recorded webinar “Becoming an Enterprise Manager.” In it, you can explore
- how you can drive better performance on your team
- capabilities employees need to possess, and
- how you can enable employees to work differently
Then register for the Sept. 14 webinar “Performance Management for Enterprise Contribution,” where you can learn how to:
- Connect employees' performance goals to enterprise goals
- Assess the enterprise contribution of your employees
- Conduct performance conversations that improve enterprise contribution
“Grow, Empower, Lead” Conference a success
Several ANR people managers were sponsored by ANR Learning and Development funds to attend the first UC systemwide UC People Management Conference. Held on Aug. 2 and 3 at the UCLA Luskin Center, the theme of the conference was “Grow, Empower, and Lead.”
ANR managers at the conference completed or participated in one of three prerequisites: The UC People Management Certificate Series, the UC Management Development Program, or the UC-CORO Systemwide Leadership Collaborative.
Surendra Dara, Emily Melton Casado, Jan Gonzales, Kimberly Lamar, Shirley Salado and Lori Renstom are among the first ANR supervisors to complete the UC Performance Management Series Certificate. Lisa Fischer attended the conference as a graduate and John Fox as a participant in the CORO Systemwide Leadership Collaborative.
Interested in attending the conference next year? Read the following conference endorsements:
- "Thank you UC ANR for supporting my participation in the UC People Management Conference – it was a great experience! From the networking, keynote speakers, on-point breakout sessions and resources for continued learning, I am encouraged and feel better equipped to improve capacity to successfully achieve Cooperative Extension objectives using the tools and strategies learned for positive and effective self-management and team building." - Jan Gonzales, Project Coordinator, UCCE San Diego
- “I wanted to thank ANR Learning and Development for this excellent and rewarding opportunity to attend the UC People Management Conference. It was truly inspiring and has expanded my skill set in order to “grow, empower, and lead.” I have connected with so many across the UC system and augmented my network.” – Kimberly Lamar, Office of Contracts & Grants, Davis
- "This is the first time I attended a conference/training like this and found it useful. I was surprised to see the emphasis on health and well-being as well as the communication, management strategies, and leadership skills.” – Surendra Dara, Strawberry and Vegetable Crops Advisor, UCCE Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo
- “The conference was a very positive experience and a great way to reconnect with current colleagues, seek out new collaborations, as well as educate many in attendance on who ANR is and what great work we do. Almost all the workshops and keynote speakers were inspirational and extremely upbeat. I realized that many of the issues and problems that plague ANR, plague all the campuses as well. This led to several ‘ah ha' moments where I had to look inward to really analyze how my actions and behaviors affected those around me – some of which weren't too positive. I have vowed to work harder on keeping and maintaining that positive attitude that was so prevalent at the conference. – Lori Renstrom, Administrative Officer 3, UCCE San Diego
- The UC People Management Conference was an excellent source for information. Much of the content allowed for self-reflection, helping to identify strengths and weaknesses as managers. I would highly recommend this conference to anyone willing to be introspective while engaging and interacting with other managers across the UC system. –Emily Melton Casado, Financial Services Manager, BOC-Kearney
For more information about professional development in managing people, see the ANR Learning & Development People Manager Page.
Six principles of an effective meeting
Are you planning a meeting and want it to be productive? You can increase the effectiveness of your next meeting by incorporating the advice of David Crenshaw in this LinkedIn Learning Blog and you can take his Lynda.com course "Leading Productive Meetings."
Get sleep, learn a new skill
Are you tired on a regular basis? Does it affect your ability at home and on the job? See the study by Karunesh Ganguly, associate professor of neurology at UCSF, on how sleep may affect learning and Arianna Huffington's Lynda.com course Thrive 01: Discovering Meditation and Sleep to help you get the rest you need!
Three talking points to help an overwhelmed colleague
If you could prevent a "train wreck" for one of your overwhelmed co-workers, direct reports or boss, what would you do? In this 2.5-minute video, Jones Loflin offers three talking points to help.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Groppe, who grew up in Lincoln, Neb., earned a B.S. in nutrition science at the University of Nebraska and an M.S. in nutrition from Michigan State University.
She began her career as a nutrition specialist with the U.S. Agricultural Service in Ohio. In 1946, Groppe joined UC Cooperative Extension as a nutrition home advisor for Alameda County. After serving as an advisor for 12 years, Groppe became a UCCE nutrition specialist at UC Berkeley.
“Christine was the Cooperative Extension nutrition specialist on the UC Berkeley campus when I was hired in the early 1970s,” said Joanne Ikeda, UCCE nutrition specialist emeritus at UC Berkeley. “She was very popular with county advisors and had an excellent reputation. She was my mentor and an amazing person.”
Ikeda added, “She was the most generous person I have ever known. She gave so much money to charity that the IRS investigated her – and found it was true! She gave over half of her salary to charities both before and after retirement. She wore clothes that her sister sent to her. ‘They are like new!' she would exclaim.”
She is survived by her daughter, Lynn Hardaway (Gary) and grandchildren Robin Hardaway, Brent Hardaway, Scott (Noel) Hardaway, and Michael (Denise) Brumley.
Read more in The Santa Barbara News-Press online edition at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newspress/obituary.aspx?pid=186143698.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
De Moura worked with many UC ANR specialists and advisors on cost and return studies over the years.
He was born in Merced and raised in Chowchilla on a dairy farm where he would wake up every morning before dawn to milk the cows. He earned his B.S. in plant science at Fresno State University in 1963.
After graduation, he began working for UC Davis as a plant breeder in the Department of Agronomy and Range Science under Francis Smith. In 1983, De Moura earned his M.S. in agronomy and later left the university. He returned in 2001 as a staff research associate to work with Karen Klonsky, UC Cooperative Extension agricultural economics specialist, on the Cost and Return Studies Project until he retired in 2014 with almost 38 years of university service.
“He loved the work he did and the people he worked with,” said his son, Matthew De Moura. “He was extremely proud to be part of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and to work for Karen Klonsky.”
De Moura is survived by his wife, Phyllis, daughter Caryn and son Matthew.
University of California President Janet Napolitano today (August 14) sent the following letter to the UC community in response to the violence in Charlottesville:
To the University of California Community:
Over the weekend, our country experienced violent and tragic events on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia. As the leader of the University of California, an institution dedicated to the vibrant and respectful exchange of ideas, I write to you today to condemn these hateful actions by white supremacists and to reaffirm UC's values of diversity and inclusion.
As I stated over the weekend, UC abhors the violence and hate displayed in Charlottesville that perverted Americans' right to speak freely. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at the University of Virginia in denouncing this shameful display and with the UVA students who bravely stood up to a crowd bent on violence. We offer our profound condolences to the family and friends of Heather Heyer, to all the individuals injured in the course of peaceful counterprotests, and to the Virginia state troopers who lost their lives.
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants us all freedom of expression. University campuses in particular are meant to foster an exchange of ideas, and to teach students how to respectfully approach viewpoints different from their own — even when those viewpoints are offensive and hurtful. But the acts of domestic terrorism we saw in Charlottesville represented an assault on our cherished values of diversity, inclusiveness and tolerance. We must continue to speak and act against the shameful behavior we witnessed over the weekend and ensure that our colleges and universities, and our nation as a whole, remain safe and civil for all.
Diversity is a defining feature of the University of California and we embrace it as a necessary and valued part of our campus communities. I believe, as I know you do, that our differences — in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, socioeconomic status, abilities, experience and more — make us stronger.
UC remains committed to providing a safe, supportive, responsive and equitable environment for every member of the university community. We reject all forms of discrimination, commit to fostering an atmosphere of respect and inclusion, and pledge to defend the right to free speech.
This summer and fall, as UC students, faculty and staff return to their campuses, I ask that we all recommit to these enduring values of diversity, equity and inclusion, and work to live up to these ideals in all that we do.
Yours very truly,
Janet Napolitano
President
