- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
For UC ANR, that means UC systemwide assessment funds, which include state funds, cannot be used for travel to banned states.
Under Assembly Bill 1887, which targets states with laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, UC ANR employees are currently prohibited from traveling to Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. UC cannot require employees to travel to these states, regardless of funding source, and there can be no repercussions if an employee declines to travel to these states.
AB 1887 provides some exceptions, such as to participate in meetings or training required by a grant or required to maintain grant funding.
Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee are on the initial list of prohibited states, however, please check https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887 before planning out of state travel as California's attorney general will update the list of states as necessary.
If you have questions, please submit your inquiry via the Ask button at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/Administration/Business_Operations/Business_Operations_Center_-_Kearney.
For more information, see these resources:
- UC Davis travel office http://afs.ucdavis.edu/our_services/travel-e-entertainment/travel/restricted-travel-law.html
- California Department of Justice https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887
- California Legislative Information http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1887
- Author: Robin Sanchez
February is Privacy Awareness Month. I know what you are thinking: October was cybersecurity month, isn't Privacy Awareness Month the same thing?
Although cybersecurity and privacy overlap and are interconnected, privacy principles are somewhat different. In the simplest terms, cybersecurity is about protecting unauthorized access to electronically stored data. Privacy is also about protecting data, but it is mostly concerned about protecting information that identifies individuals. Privacy comprises the appropriate protection, use and dissemination of information about individuals.
The purpose of Privacy Awareness Month, therefore, is to take a moment to inventory the ways we willingly provide data about ourselves to others and the ways we manage information others provide to us.
As you probably know, social media and phone applications are key ways we share information about ourselves to others. Without reading, we gladly check the “Terms & Conditions” box so an algorithm can tell us which Game of Thrones character we are. We allow Pokémon to follow our every move so that we can catch enough Magikarp to evolve to a Gyarados. We even send our DNA to firms like 23andMe for testing and analysis to receive information on our ancestry or to know whether we carry genetic traits like cystic fibrosis or male pattern baldness. These applications give us something, but they collect quite a bit of information from us and use that information for various things.
For more information about what you are actually agreeing to check out the movie “Terms and Conditions May Apply” available on Netflix.
We trust random companies we know little about with our personal information, yet, when someone wants to mine data from medical files for studies, it is at that juncture that privacy becomes a concern for us.
What is the difference between 23andMe's genetic database and medical records' genetic database? They have the same information, right? The difference comes down to informed consent and the freedom to decide how our information is utilized.
At UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, we collect quite a bit of information about people. We require new employees to submit their Social Security number, their birth date, their family's information, their medical information and so on. The communities we serve provide personal information to us as well. Think about how well you protect and in what ways you use their information. For example, is your laptop's hard-drive encrypted to protect its contents if it is lost or stolen? Have you ever emailed a social security number through an unencrypted email system or fax system? Do you still keep sensitive personal information after its usefulness has passed? Do you delete, shred or redact private personal information about others?
University policy follows the law, and employees who are responsible for the maintenance of personal and confidential records must take precautions to assure we follow the proper administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect information containing personal or confidential information in our possession.
During Privacy Awareness Month, think about the personally identifiable information (PII) that you collect and for whose safekeeping you are responsible. ANR's current approach to the management of privacy and information security risk is decentralized and relies on individuals in various units throughout the division to ensure compliance with numerous UC policies, as well as state and federal regulations.
ANR is subject to an enormous number of privacy laws and privacy principles. Luckily, we have resources that can help you navigate the privacy and information landscape. For instance, we have a Privacy and Information Security Board , an ANR Privacy Statement and a Records Retention schedule.
In addition, to these resources, ANR has its own Privacy Official and Information Practices Coordinator. The Privacy Official is the administrative resource for implementing privacy best practices at ANR. The Information Practices Coordinator is the subject matter expert regarding the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information about individuals.
For more information about privacy, cybersecurity and information practices, please visit the resources listed above or contact the individuals listed below:
Privacy and Information Practices Resources
Principal Analyst Robin Sanchez, J.D.
Phone: (530) 750-1235
Email: rgsanchez@ucanr.edu
Director Catherine Montano
Phone: (510) 987-0103
Email: catherine.montano@ucop.edu
Cybersecurity Resource
Tolgay Kizilelma, Ph.D.
Phone: (530) 750-1233
Email: tkizilelma@ucanr.edu
- Author: Jodi Azulai
UC ANR's new strategic plan emphasizes expanding career and leadership development for our members in one of its goals. Strategies for achieving the goal include training staff and academics in people management, preparing future leaders and developing cultural competencies. To foster your own professional development, you can talk with your supervisor and peruse the career development tools at ANR Learning and Development.
“Onboarding New ANR Employees: Supervisor's Guide” just published
Congratulations to supervisors who have recently hired a new employee. Before you go searching for your old checklist and other HR resources to make sense of the orientation process, check our new guide.
ANR Learning & Development just published “Onboarding New ANR Employees: Supervisor's Guide” to help supervisors onboard new staff and academic employees.
In addition, and currently underway, is a guide for new ANR employees. ANR L&D will also develop an onboarding buddy guide for employees to help new colleagues.
If you have any additional information or comments, please contact me, Jodi Azulai, at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.
What happened to Lynda?
If you try to log in to Lynda.com from your ANR Portal, you will see that we are taking a break to upgrade our subscription.
The new subscription to Lynda.com will give each ANR employee a personalized dashboard, transcripts for completed courses, and certificates of completion that can be added to your LinkedIn profile. When you take a break from a session, it will show you where you left off.
By mid-February we should be fully integrated. We will send out announcements on how to sign in and access a new Lynda.com experience.
Upcoming employee learning events
Below is a list of some upcoming training events that ANR Learning and Development is sponsoring.
Crucial Conversations®
Crucial Conversations® training is aimed at providing skills and confidence to improve your performance at work, strengthen a strained relationship, speak up and advocate for yourself and your ideas, engage in productive dialogue, and more.
Dates: Feb. 1-2, 2017, Davis, and April 26-27, 2017, South Coast REC in Irvine
Contact: Jan Corlett
Sustainable Communities: Online course explores community systems (eXtension)
As communities struggle with increasingly complex social, economic and environmental issues related to sustainability they need the expertise of community development professionals now more than ever. Whether your expertise is in agriculture, natural resources, youth, family or economic development you will be asked to help guide a stakeholder group through a difficult decision making process. The Foundations of Practice course, Sustainable Communities, offers you the tools, skills and knowledge to be the trusted resource community groups need in the emerging dialogs around local foods, energy and natural resources. For more information read here.
Contact: Mary Peabody, Mary.Peabody@uvm.edu or 802-656-7232. (Individuals requesting a disability-related accommodation to participate in this program should contact Mary Peabody by Jan. 27, 2017.)
Webinar: Beyond Surveys
Program evaluation is critical to help develop and improve programs, share program outcomes and generate funding for further programming. However, evaluation is commonly in the form of long, tedious surveys that can lead to inaccurate data. The purpose of this webinar is to share ideas with and among participants of engaging ways to collect program delivery (formative) and outcome (summative) data from youth. (Kendra Lewis, Academic Coordinator California 4-H)
Date: Feb. 2, 2017
Time: 10-11 am
Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/598226612
Dial: +1 646 558 8656 (US toll) or +1 408 638 0968 (US toll)
Meeting ID: 598 226 612
Contact: Gemma Miner
Informatics and GIS Training
Agricultural Remote Sensing with Drones
Date: Wednesday Feb. 8, 2017
Time: TBD
Location: Desert Research and Extension Center
Image Processing and GIS for Agricultural Mapping
Date: Thursday Feb. 9, 2017
Time: TBD
Location: Desert Research and Extension Center
Drone Technology and Regulations for Agriculture and Natural Resources
Date: Tuesday Feb. 21, 2017
Time: 1-4:30 pm
Location: Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center
For more IGIS training events, check out the IGIS website.
Programmatic Orientation (register here)
Who should attend? All early career UC Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists, academic coordinators, academic administrators, and Agricultural Experiment Station faculty.
Join ANR leadership to discuss the mission of UC ANR and our varied roles in California and the University, as well as see examples of successful research and outreach programs.
The program will begin at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 22, and end at noon on Friday, Feb. 24. Take this opportunity to engage in discussions with colleagues about the resources and opportunities available through ANR as a division.
Contact: ANR Program Support (530) 750-1256.
Webinar: Culturally Relevant Programming (Karina Diaz Rios, UC ANR Specialist)
This session will explore concepts to consider when communicating with culturally diverse audiences, and strategies to develop cultural competency.
Date: March 2, 2017
Time: 10-11 am
Zoom: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/598226612
Dial: +1 646 558 8656 (US Toll) or +1 408 638 0968 (US Toll)
Meeting ID: 598 226 612
Contact: Gemma Miner
Water Strategic Initiative & Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Conference
The conference will provide an opportunity for colleagues to learn about the projects, programs and research efforts related to water that are happening throughout the division. Presentations and discussions will include:
- Climate Change
- Salinity: What are Remediation Steps?
- Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA)
- SGMA Town Hall Discussion: The State of Your Water Resources
- Water Conservation Goals Across the State
Date: March 14-17, 2017
Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Ontario Airport
More information: http://ucanr.edu/sites/SIconferences/2017_Water_Strategic_Initiative_Conference_
Essential Facilitation®
The skills and techniques offered in Essential Facilitation® are designed to produce significant performance improvement, career development and personal growth. Essential Facilitation® shows how to effectively facilitate in situations that have one or more of the following "three Cs":
- Complex or high-stakes content.
- Conflict — the situation is emotionally-charged or controversial.
- Context — when you must balance multiple stakeholders' needs and points of view
Date: March 28-30, 2017, Davis
Contact: Jodi Azulai
Statewide Manager Workshop
Training objectives include providing updates of UCCE financial services, account management, and timekeeping/payroll processes between UCCE county offices and the Business Operations Center. These include purchasing, travel, entertainment, gift acceptance, cash collections, timekeeping, payroll changes, and account management updates. This two-day session will also serve as an orientation opportunity for new UCCE office managers to network with other office managers and meet BOC staff. (Cherie McDougald, Emily Larue)
Date: March 7-8, 2017, Davis
Contact: Emily Larue
Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP)
The Management Skills Assessment Program is designed to strengthen the engagement and preparation of high potential UC supervisors, managers, and professionals. It offers an intensive, off-site, assessment center experience for early career managers.
Date: April 17-20, 2017, at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead
Contact: Jodi Azulai
UC Cybersecurity
As part of the university's ongoing efforts to secure our information systems and data, the UC Office of the President maintains a mandatory security awareness training program for all UC employees. All UC faculty, staff and student employees are required to complete the standard online UC Cybersecurity Awareness Training when they begin their jobs, as well as complete a shorter, refresher course during each subsequent year. The refresher training has been updated for 2017 and is accessible through the UC Learning Center (http://lms.ucdavis.edu).
ANR Learning and Development
To position ANR as the premiere source of knowledge and science for agricultural and natural resources issues, it is vital that our people keep their knowledge and skills at peak performance. The ANR Learning and Development website offers an array of opportunities for employee learning and professional development that can help serve that goal. I strongly encourage employees to take full advantage of these resources as well as other opportunities to enhance their personal and professional growth. –Glenda Humiston, Vice President
The proposed UAS policy is posted at http://ucanr.edu/sites/anrstaff/files/254913.pdf.
Please send your comments or suggestions to Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than April 18, 2017.
The UC Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center (SFREC) is soliciting proposals to support new and continuing research on rangeland and oak woodland ecology and management, beef cattle health, production and management, and related agricultural and natural resource themes important to California.
Academics from UC and non-UC institutions are eligible to apply for support. SFREC contributes labor to support development of experimental infrastructure, experimental manipulations, data collection, animal handling and other activities necessary to conduct field research.
Proposals are due by March 2, 2017. Proposals must be submitted through the REC Manage System via the SFREC website at http://sfrec.ucanr.edu.
Basic resources and facilities to support research include 5,000 acres of northern Sierra foothill oak woodland and annual grass rangeland as well as irrigated pastures, riparian areas and access to the Yuba River. An approximately 160-head cow-calf herd and access to up to 300 head of steers/heifers are available to support animal production, animal health and grazing research. SFREC maintains a wet/dry lab for sample processing, rooms in a house available for long-term research stays, a 16-bed dormitory and large and small conference rooms.
For further information regarding research opportunities, contact
Jeremy James, SFREC director at (530) 639-8803 or jjjames@ucanr.edu, or visit SFREC's website at http://sfrec.ucanr.edu.